The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-18

| that there is beneath it all a solid vein of
| kindly feeling and genuine good fellowship,
| of cordial sincere welcome which pervadeS
| this entire company and to which l re-
| spond with my whole heart. / feel-you, sir,
and you gentlemen-have made me feel
| friends. That am with men of the same
| language. the same traditions interests, as
| sociationS and aspirations as myself-that
| am with such men, and the sons of such
| men as have made Indiana what she is to-
| day, one of the most enlightened, prosper
/ Gus and progressive commemorative in the
world
II confess-not only here tonight, but
upon proper occasions everywhere-my deep
| attachment for my native State. l take
| the greatest pride in her grand history and
| her glorious traditions. never leave the
| State without touch of regret nor return
| to it save with an emotion of gladness.
| 1t is no doubt true that but for circum-
stances entirely beyond my control my resi-
| dence abroad might have been more pro-
| longed. But whether longer or shorter, at
| it's end / should certainly have turned
my face in gladness, as | did, toward this
center Of my interests and my affections.
| To me, sir, the soil of Indiana, with which
are mingled the ashes of those ! have held
most dear, is, and ever will be- sacred.
| Wherever in future my steps may wander
| / devOutly trust that when my eyes take
| their last survey of earthly scenes 1t shall
| be in this noble State, amidst the familiar
| and cherished surroundings Of my youth,
| and that here at last LIES fitful fever over,
may sleep.
Let others laud Italas cline,
| Or call Helvetias land sublime,
| Or Gallia praise in prose or rhyme,
| Or worship old Hispania;
The The wnds OF ne meyer
| The borders of a better land-than In
diana 2"
1.-THE subject that has been assigned me
| tonight is How to Make Indianapolis a
Better City" Although the tha7ne is most
suggestive and inspiring, feel that 1T saw
ors of presumption on my part to speak to
1T before such a company as is here as
sembled. / appreciate the fact that this is
| no kindergarten, but a party of gentlemen
who have been giving so mucn study and
thought to municipal questions and to such
excellent purposes. Therefore an elementary
treatment of these questions in such pres
ence would be entirely out of order / feel
my inability to DO justice to the subject in
its larger aspects. But it has been said
that the art of after-dinner speaking con-
sfsts in saying nothing and saying it well.
/ have been practicing the art and have
progressed so far that l am able to
talk a great deal and say nothing. If
as / can and hope for better luck next time.
So cannot promise to contribute anything
| ideas on the subject of making Indianapo-
| lis a better city,
SAW A GREAT CHANGE.
81 can however, and do most heartily
| congratulate you upon what has already
| been accomplished in this direction. I
| tell you as 1 have told some of you pri-
vately, of the impression Indianapolis made
upon me at my return last summer, after an
| absence of several yeats. 1 think those of
| you who have remained at home with only
brief absences during this period, can hard
| ly form an adequate idea of the great trans
| formation which has been wrought in In
dianapolis. 1 myself had heard much of
| the changes and improvements which had
| been maue, but l must say that the half
t had not been cen tod dnd h upon my return
| Nor did l fully realize the completeness of
| the transformation until l had traVerSed
| every part of the city and seen with my
| own eyes at every step the solid and en-
| during footprints of the march of progress.
| 1t may be said, think. that the new era
| dates from the passage OF our splendid char
! ter in 1891. / am glad to testify to the ac-
| tive part which the Commercial Club took in
| the framing and passage of this enactment,
| and although 1t has rendered many impOr-
| tant services to Indianapolis, think none
| greater than that 1t is not too much to say
| that since the adoption of the charter a
new indianapolis has literally grown up
| and when it is remembered that this great
| achievement has been wrought in a period
| of profound business depression 1T speaks
| volumes for the pluck and vitality and re-
| sources of Indianapolis, and justifies the
most sanguine forecast of her future. We
| all have every reason to be prOund of this
record and | am glad to know that you
| are proud of it. In fact, no characteristic
of the new indianapolis has impressed me
| so strongly or so favorably as the all
| Astounding civic pride among our people,
| Civic pride-that is to say pride in your
| city, love Tor 1t, devotion to II, jealousy OF
| it's honor, dignity and good name, readi-
ness to give time and labor to its service
and to make sacrifices in its behalf-civic
| pride, / say, is the very foundation of all
true municipal greatness. Without civic
pride you may have large city-a great
| city, never
| stepping stones of their dead selves to high
er things And so, l think, of cities. And
| so, / think, it has been with Indianapolis
| She has risen on the stepping stones of old
| fogyism. narrow provincialiSm and bourbon
| ism, and that nasty thing, which, for want
| of q more expressive term we sometimes
| call peanut politics., to her present promi-
nence. These forces of stagnation, decay
and reaction made their last united stand
they have never made a combined rally
either for purposes of aggression or defense
The overthrow of these forces has made
Indianapolis a far better city to live in
and better city to hail from. Bob Inger-
soil says this world has not been fit for a
| gentleman to live in more than fifty years.
| Now, / am not going to make such a sweep
| ing assertion as to Indianapolis under the
old dispensation. | am ready to admit that
in the old days before Indianapolis had cast
off village garments and donned the habili-
mentS of a metropolis the highest types of
manhood and womanhood flourished here.
But / do insist that Indianapolis has never
been quite so fit for gentleman to live in as
it is to-day, thanks to the changes l have
referred to. And l here the word
man or woman having the habits tastes and
manners of modern city life. Why, it is not
so long ago, gentlemen, when the average
Indianapolis man when travelling went
about in deprecating way, and when asked
where he hailed from said, with an apol-
ogetic air and in whisper, so to speak,
that he was from Indianapolis and that it
was not very far from Chicago. When he
registered at hotel outside of this State
he usually bluShed / don't say that he had
cause to blush. Quite the contrary. But that
made the act even more lnexcuSable. He
thought he had He lacked confidence in his
city and pride in it and faith in it. But it is
all very different now. When the Indianap-
oils man enters a hotel in any Eastern or
Western city now he does so with the air
of Mr.. Somebody from Somewhere and not
Mr.. Nobody. from Nowhere. He writes
Indianapolis opposite his name in bold
characters which spread all over the page,
and the gentlemanly clerk at once assigns
him the best room in the house. Nobody
asks him where indianapolis is Benjamin
Harrison and James Whitcomb Riley have
settled all that. He hears very little about
Chicago and seldom has occasion to men
ton it. If he does he explains that
Chicago is not very far from Indianapolis,
inwardly thanking the Lord that it is no
nearer. You see that civic pride manifests
citizens are travelling they carry it with
them and | find to-day, while not given to
idle Boosting, they always ready to
speak a good word for their city
II had thought of dwelling little upon the
material achievements of the last few years
well-kept streets, our purified water supply,
our improved sanitary condition, and the
many things which have been done to pro-
mote the health, happiness. comfort and
curity of the people. But l don't know
that it is worth while. These things all
speak for themselves. They tell their own
story. We are not here, as / understand it,
tonight to celebrate past victories, but to