The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-07-05


THE AFTERNOON SPEECHES.
Chas. +. Griffin, John McGregor and
j.. c. Adams mix to the Veterans.
The Inner hour at Lincoln Park was a
social event in which those who were pres
ent enjoyed a good time They We're called
together. at 1:50 o'clock to listen to more
speeches. Charles +. Griffin. ex-Secretary
Of State, was one or the speakers. His
theme was The Perpetuity OF the Re-
public" He said it depends upon the in
telligence and patriotism Of the people. He
told of the changes that have come to
pass since the day when the Liberty Bell
rang out the news of the declaration and
of the later time when it made a triumphal
tour across the country to Indiana, which
now contains the center Of population in
the United States. Paying a tribute to the
State, he said:
''Out of a then unknown wilderness has
been carved this splendid commonwealth
which we call Indiana; a State whose peo-
pie in point of education and intelligence
and everything that goes to make up good
citizens, have no superiors between the
two great oceans; in diversity of natural
resources she is unexcelled by any State
in the Union; she has given to the Nation
| great SOlulCIS Iii 6ACdl SNdlCohiChs 6Atdl
poets and great authors; great historians
and great ~diplomates, and a great Presi-
dent"
Reviewing the valor that marked the sol
der of the war, Mr.. Griffin pointed out
that it was not for money that the soldier
fought, but for the love Of country. and
of his ~country's institutions. The Nation,
he said, can never forget the debt it owes
to. the private soldier. Out OF the sweet
memories and sacred recollections of the
war has been evolved the order Of the
Sons of Veterans, whose representative he
was in his address to the audience. 1t is
an order. he said, whose principles shall
endure as long as the Republic. But with
all our liberties, Mr.. Griffin continued, we
are not without our perils. He then dis
cusSed the danger from the Anarchist and
declared that anarchy must go down. The
time, he maintained, is approaching when
this Nation must lay aside politics Tor pa
triotism. The conquests are to be of peace
and not of war, in all probability, ana this
needs far-seeing craftsmanship. He con-
'If we are wise we shall scatter broad
cast the seeds of genuine PATRIOTISM, not
a sickly sentiment, but that sturdy stun
pies and which is to-day a surer guaranty
of the Nations perpetuity. tnan battle SHIPS
or standing armies; preach PATRIOTISM IRON
your pulpits; teach ii IN your homes teach
IL in the public schools, these great work
shops for the development OF good citi-
Zens.
Not the least of the blessings we owe
to the brave men who made freedom an
established fact, is that this government,
recognizing that q republic far more than
any other form of government must look
to the intelligence OF the people. has es-
tablished in this country our great system
of public schools, the grandest and most
perfect system OF popular education IN the
world; a system that puts upon an equal
footing the high and the low, the ricn
and the moor Here the little diamonds IN
the rough are polished; here the undeVeI-
oped mind learns Ii has wings; here reason
known powers and the world awakes one
morning to learn that some child or low
ly birth and unknown parentage, who
never was inside a college and whose reason
budded for its bloom in the schooihouse
OF the people. has outstripped all his Eel
lows and easily leads them in the race
the names Of a Lincoln and Garfield, men
whose minds were first taught to unfold in
ton was completed in the workshop OF
the world. The public schools OF the
United States. for . the maintenance OF
which we yearly spend S5o,Ov0,Vo ana un-
told thought and energy, are the foundation
stones on which this government, its ciVll-
zation and its social fabric must depeno;
are the schools OF the people; Tor nve nun
dred pupils receive . their education
there to one who studies at a ~collegesor
at an academy. The public school is at once
the common educator and common leveier
of all; here, on a common 1oounS, meet
the children of the rich and OF the poor,
and the shrinking little daughter of the
man who swings a pick upon the pubic
way receives the same e6nsldera nd mos as
powerful: here in the public schools we
educate and fit for citizenship the children
of parents foreign born who come from
every cline and speak in every tongue;
here they learn the ways or the country
of their adoption; here they become a part
of her and learn TO love her and respect
her laws, and here, commingling with a
Heterogeneous mass, We shall forget that
this or hat one was born OF n native tn or
they are now all Americans.
John McGregor, a member or the recent
fact that he was born in Scotland, he said
that he still loved his native land; loves
the memory of Scotlands heroes; loves
rivers but. in accepting citizenship in this
free Republic. he had placed all these upon
the altar of his devotion 70 nis"new nome;
With a power and with a privilege that
his native country could never give him.
Continuing, he said:
uge in this land, who finds in the United
States an asylum and protection from the
oppression and despotis m, Oh the 1ne p nrei w9ru;
which helped to make existence intolerable
TO him in Europe l believe he has no right
transplant in the land of his adoption the
bitter feuds and undying hatred when mas
for so many years divided communities anu
sections of European countries. We have
come here TO begin life anew. We have
come here to establish homes in a land
dedicated to freedom. We had no hand as
individuals in wrenching this land from for-
eign oppressors. We had no hand as indi-
viduals in erecting the grandest temple or
liberty that has ever blessed mankind. |
Then why should we as individuals attempt |
to mar this new home or abuse the privl-
leges we enjoy therein by introducing re-
ligious or political feuds that belong TO the
lands of Europe and nowhere else? Here
we should feel that we have common inter-
ests. Here we know that we have equal
rights and privileges. Here We should real |
ie that no matter what claims We may
have upon others. the community as a whole |
has claims upon us far above any personal
consideration, and il is this very fact which
protects the Individual and secures him in
his rights.
There is another important reason why
I am glad TO be a citizen Of this Union OF
free States. 1t is because people in the
humblest walks of life have here the oppor- |
tunity 10 reach the highest stations in our
government 1 am a plain mar, Ny hands |
are calloused with hard toll. But amid the
heat &nd burden OF the day I am cheered in
my labors By the thought that I am a SOW /
ereien- that l have the same right and !