The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-05-15

1
an officer came to Gen. Andrew jack
SON and said: There is an unusual
noise in the camp; it ought to be
stopped" Gen. jackson said. what
Is the noise?" The officer sail, 1T Is
the voice of prayer and praise" Then
the general said, God forbid that
prayer and praise should be an unu-
susl noise in the eDcampment You
had better go and join them"
Oh, you are stupid man IL you do
not understand how God answered
Abraham Lincoln's prayer in the white
house and Stonewall Jackson's prayer
in the saddle, and answered all the
prayers of all the cathedrals on both
sides of Mason and Dixon's line. Gods
country all the way past; Gods coun-
try now. Put his name in your pro-
nunciamentos. Put His name on your
ensigns. Put His name on your city
and state and national enterprises
Put His name in your heart We can
not sleep we'll the last sleep. until we
are assured that the God of our Ameri-
can institutions in the past will be the
God of our American institutions in
Lne days tnat are 10 come.
take a step further, and say that
before the gavels of our senate and
house of representatives and our po-
litical conventions pound adjournment
there ought to be passed law or
adopted q plank of intelligent helpful
ness for the great foreign populations
which are coming among us II is too
late now TO discuss whether we had
better let them come. They are here.
They are coming this moment through
the Narrows. They are this moment
taking the first full inhalation of the
air of America And they will con-
tinue to come as long as this country
is the best place to live in.
Why did God spread out the
prairies of the Dakotas and roll the
precious ore into Colorado? It was
that all the earth might come, and
pillow, and come, and dig. Just as long
as the centrifugal force of foreign des-
potisms throw them off, just so long
will the centripetal force of American
institutions draw them here. And
that is what is going TO make this the
mightiest nation on the earth. Inter
marriage of nationalities! Not circle
intermarrying circle, and nation inter-
marrying nation. But it is going to
be Italian and Norwegian, Russian
and Celt, Scotch and French, English
and American. The American of a
hundred years from now is to be diff
ferent from the American of to-day.
German brain, Irish wit, French civil
lich q
Italian aesthetics packed into one man,
and he an American! 1t is this inter-
marriage of nationalities that is going
to make the American nation the
greatest nation of the ages. But what
are we doing for the moral and INTEL
lectual culture of the 500, 900 foreigners
who came in one year, and the 100000
who came in another year, and the
800, 900 who came in another year, and
the /, 200, 900 who are coming into our
American ports? What are we doing
for them? Well. we are doing a great
deal for them. We steal their baggage
as soon as they get here. We send them
up to a clearinghouse where the
least they lose is their money. We
swindle them within ten minutes after
they get ashore Whe are doing a
great deal for them. But what are we
doing to introduce them into the duties
of good citizenship? Many of them
never saw ballot box. Many of them
never heard of the constitution of the
United States. Many of them have no
acquaintanc with our laws. Now, 1
say, let the government of the United
States, so commanded by one political
party or both political parties, give to
every immigrant who lands here a
volume, in good type and well
bound for long usage-a volume
containing the Declaration Of
Independence, the constitution
of the United States, and a chapter on
the spirit of our government. Let
there be such book on the shelf of
every free library in America While
the American Bible society puts into
the right hand of every immigrant g.
copy of the Holy Scriptures, let the
government of the United States, COM
manded by some political party, put
into the left hand of every immigrant
volume instructing him in the duties
of good citizenship. There are thou
sands of foreigners in this land who
need to learn that the ballot box Is not
a footstool, but throne-not some
thing to put your foot on. but some
thing to bow before.
There are three great reasons why
You and should do our best for this
country-three great reasons: Our
fathers graves, our cradle, our chill
dren's birthright When 1 say your
fathers graves, your pulses run quick
~. Whether they sleep in city ceme-
terry or country graveyard, their dust
is very precious to you. think they
lived well and that they died right.
Never submit to have any government
over their tombs other than that gov
eminent under which they lived and
died. And then this country Is our
cradle. 1t may have rocked US very
roughly, but it was good cradle to
be rocked in. Oh, how much we owe
to i'll Our boyhood and girlhood, it
was spent in this blessed country. I
never have any patience with a man
who talks against this country. Glo-