The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-05-03
THE UNION MENACED.
Cities Tend to Separation From
the Common Body.
THE BOND ANOTHER DANGER.
Bonds Cherish Dislike of Democracy
Perpetual Bond and Perpetual
Republic DO Not Consist.

aSaadere Is Il not Inevitable that We
sa1A be broken into many by the co.,
Htst Of interests I said. being young
and nred with patriotism from the war
uae: Yes. certainly: We are one. and
Will be one forever Esto Psrpetua. Moth
iag can break OF renG US" This was in
ls7S
Tine has rot finally answered the great
orators question. / know not how sieepiy
seated was his doubt about the perp-s fsIty
OF the Union. He NAV have been using
me as a foil-biess his mexnory,-as II fsei-
ing for some significant pulse beating 10
The rhythm Of Possibility that was in
his mind Alaska had been purchased
eleven years previously. BY that act the
central east ami west meridian of our
country had beer al one remove trans
ferred from Eastern Kansas to San Fran
cisco. We had been converssng about Mr..
SeSare's purchase ard the territorial and
social results of IL.
In the past eighteen years many things
nave happened. and some that have been
reassuring. One thing has been fixed IN
history. ard that is the uneuuivocal
stretching of national authority over every
loot OF American soil. The civil war has
brought its logical result. As to the old
doctrine OF local sovereignty, that has be-
come Renaissance. There is hardly any
logger an American so immersed in the
L
belongs already to that museum OF sacred
relics in which the old biology and the
Ptolemalc system Of the universe are laid
side by side with the hell OF Dante and
the divine right of kings. There are men
who SIN believe that the earth is Hat
that man appeared on it's surface sso
wears ago. ard that state. without vio-
lating the constitution. may secede from
the Union
But is the American republic safe
against the menace of disruptiong Are
We so unified by the establishment OF IA
uoHai sovereignty as 10 be really what
We are ostelsibly. one people. with one
Destiny? Agreeing that those peculiar
causes which occasionei the civil war and
for ausdrennium threatened US with
an eternal break up have expended them
selves and are no longer existent among
the living forces of society. are there not
others, unfeared and unforeseen by cur
predecessors. that may gather head and
shatter us into Fragments
The territorial unity OF North Amer
lea is by no means a settled fact Our po-
litical geography is SIN at skies and
ssvens. In the last administration some
interested patriots were very eager 10 an
mex Hawaii. II now appears that the
American eagle will soon come home with
Cuba In his claw. The dividing line be-
tween Us and Canada is a historical and
clinical absur3itv Such a lire Is as
difficult to find in right reason as II is In
geography. On the southwest border there
IS between us and Mexico a broad. shallow
river. as big as the Wabash. but by no
means as voiuminous as the Tennessee.
Otherwise the seas are around US and the
sky overhead.
Another thing favorable to the Union
is the splendid development Of the means
Of transportation II cannot be doubted
that in the last half century the means
OF rapid transfer for both property and
man have been improved more than COM
meDsurately with the outspreading OF ths
national domains. The avenues of life.
stretching everywhere. and the circula-
ton Of the vital forces are unobstructej.
IT the body has grown. the veins and ar
teries and nerves have grown and deVel-
oped also to the remotest cap.liaries OF
this vast entity called the United States.
The practical problems of governing. Of
administering. OF sending out authority
and recovering revenue. Of making COM
mon the civil life OF the American people.
are simpler and easier of solution thsn
they were al the establishment OF the
Union. They are much easier thar they
were at the period of the Mexican war. In
fact. the organic life of the people is much
more perfect IN every part than at any
previous period in our history. The symp-
tirctly seen In the features and move
ments Of our country than they were
forty years ago
Another favorable fact In the great or
ganie whole OF America is the COMPARE
tive oneness of character which has been
established IN all sections OF the country.
The man OF Passamaquoddy and the mar
of San Diego are little distinguishable IN
features. slightly distinguishable in
speech. and let us believe not at all dis
tlnvulshahle in patriotism. The man Of
Tampa and the man OF Duluth are df like
similarities and Identities I; IS true that
the Uniformity. the unity. Is not perfect
or entire hut the approximation Is mora
noticeable than was ever before to Re
found IN any country or dominion OF the
world Of like extent and variety. Dis
tinctions Of race UNDERGO a rapid obuiera-
tan in America. rev race type is fix
iug itself in the United States. which
there are good grounds for hopfng will H.
ore of the strongest. most high minded
and aspiring forms Of human life ever
know on the globe.
American Institutions ard the Union ms
particular. have reriis also There are
Ewo facts in our structural rfe. either o's
% which is sufficient to cause alarm The
first of these Is the grsvitatiou Of the
peeple into the cities All the sluices OF
our population run edward Every
stream rtIrs toward the uaetroD0lls. ard in
the metropolis a spirit Of locaiization ex-
ists more dangerous than aHv form o.
ourside or sectional rruvincislisn- How
hardly can the great CITY coexist with re-
publican fratttutloUst How vel uiEh i'm
possible Is IL 10 MAINTAIN n a great city a
government that has even the seTnhlance
90 honesty ard virtue. 70 say uothirg 90
fostering therein sentiment OF patriot
f. devotion 70 the nation at large,
world 50 therN a great city that cares for
aught hut itSelf9 Whore IS there ore that
finds an Interest in anything but Itself or
in some other city Ike ftself7 The city as
Il becomes great departs more and more
from that civil simplicity which cSusti-
tutes the s<sence Of a Cersuln~ democracy.
There Is ID great city tn the woriS thai
Is truly Democratic cr Esnui-siv repusli-
can Every great city - imperial Nearly
every ore IL under the doniniors % an EN-
yeror in comparison with whose ahsclut-
isn the rule Of the car. the u1skaao Or
the shah IS ulosfsi Of frantic liberalism
The greA. city separates itself more saf
more from the country IN which Il Is 10
Gated Il develops a he Of ia o~u. II
isolates Itself and CONS % look unors all
the rest Of the world a. the outlying prov
incss from which It Is 20 draK It's corn
and ~lne.
Tia American republic has fos;srsd or
tts breast a form % municipal lfe that
has grown ard fatt@za3 - tie common
lie u the coUutry % az alarming degree.
II he process goes % for the mex hair
century as IN tAe last. ne overwhelming
rsrsponterance q population VII be fegod
within Ire corporate limits - re cities.
ara OUTSIDE of TIA; ~f1 he found psliy =
~eAE ard uuarnh.tlog. II not a seTvlle
reas41:ry. IS Hnllke me robust dsEaocrztAe
farmers AID -aeohsnacs who nsasss rs ara
made shis IA saoz a. though thsy we're ot