The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-22

enty of the guests were from Minneap-
oils and other points, as the Minnesota
congregational club, under whose aus
p1ces the event was conducted, has
members in many corners of the state
Among those present from out of the
city We're Judge r. D. Russell, Presi-
dent, Minneapolis; Rev. Matt S.
Hughes, Rev. Alexander McGregor,
John T. Baxter, Rev. Lewis H. Keller,
Rey.,C. L. Mears, President Cyrus w.
Northrup, w. o. Jones, DR.. Crosbie, S.
H. fowler. James Crayes, Prof c. w.
Hall, Prof. Constance, Senator McMil-
Ian, President J. A Strong, Carleton
college; Prof. Pierson, H. P. Roberts,
I. K. Keller and others.
The ladies Of the church prepared an
excellent feast for the visitors, and at
z o'clock, after brief business session.
Rev. Matt S. Hughes, of Wesley M. E.
church, Minneapolis, delivered the ad-
dress of the evening upon ultimate
America" Mr.. Hughes is practically
a new conner to Minnesota. He is a
young man Of extraordinary powers
OF eioquence and thought, and is des-
tined to become one of the foremost
pulpit orators of the West His ad-
dress was intensely patriotic. It's clos
ing sentences sounded a note of warn
ing upon theoeperiIs of indiscriminate
immigration, Which received the unlim-
tied Endorsement Of all those who heard
them Mr.. Hughes said in part:
My subject is over three Thousand miles
wide and more than that from north to south
1t has other dimensions even more difficult
TO traverse, and L am to accomplish the
task in less than half an hour The only
explanation OF such an attempt must be found
IN the fact that I belong to what the Meth
odists call ''the travelling connection
labor under another difficulty. I am not
prophet nor a. son of prophet, in the
common idea of a prophets function of fore
telling. But that is not so much Of dis
advantage as it9might seem. There is one
advantage possessed by the one who speaks
OF the future When one talks of the past
he uses historical knowledge, which is com
mon property. If of the present he uses
powers OF observation shared by all. The fut-
ure is largely the creation of inference or
IMAGINATION. Hence men frequently speak
with a great deal more of confidence con-
corning the future than of the past or pres
ent, because they know it will be an indefinite
length OF time before the hearers can possibly
discover the errors in their representations
The problem of ultimate America is first
OF all one OF territory. 1t must have what
the late Mr.. Huxley would call "a physical
basis. Territory is to. a nation what the
body is to man. The indications are that
this Western hemisphere Is to be the theater
where the unfolding panorama of humanity's
grandest and final achievements will be dis
prayed. And there are those who already
talk of the United States of All America
North and South-a gigantic republic stretch
ing from the Arctic ocean to the straits of
Magellan.
But If we believe the declaration of the
Apostle Paul, that while God hath made of
the face of the earth, He hath also .:deter-
mined the times before appointed and the
pounds of their habitation,' we do well to
consider the manifest objections to what
seems to be swollen conception of the mag
America.
We may we'll believe that that long. mar
row serpentine isthmus called Central Amer
lea stands for something in the divine pur-
pose. The two Americas are attached only
by string, and while it may be true that
by steam and electricity the problems of sim
pie distance could be easily solved so that
the vast empire could be directed its soidar-
ity preserved and our institutions as read
lily and effectivelyqextended over a hemisphere
as our present domain, yet there are greater
obstacles than that of extent.
1t involves the. problem Of blending into
a homogeneous people the aborgines and the
descendants of a Latin race of South America
and the people of. our own land, which pre-
sents all the difficulty Of mixing oil and
water; 1t involves the overcoming of radical
social, political and religious condition abb
solutely foreign to the genius of our own
country; it involves ia triumph over those
peculiar and natural obstacles, as set forth
by Mr.. Buckle, which have bound South
America to primitive conditions. This is not
saying that South America may not develop
splendid civilization. and of its own peculiar
natural and acquired conditions. But it says
that ultimate which will be the expansion of
the United States will lie north of the TWEEN
tieth parallel of latitude, and will find its
natural southern boundary along the gulf line
and the Rio Grande.
On the north it would seem that ultimate
America will be bounded by the Arctic regions
The line that now separates us from the
province of Canada is purely artificial. From
Lake Superior to Vancouver there is, on the
two sides, virtually no distinction in either
nature or man. And while it would seem
that our boundaries on the East and the
two oceans mark our limitations, one can
not but cherish q hope that when ultimate
America Is at last compacted the senators and
congressman from the state of Cuba may sit
down in Washington with the representatives
of the commonwealth Of Hawaii. And we
may further hope that when that time does
come we shall be so far advanced that the
governor of Cuba will never tempt the