The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-09-04


Congressman CowherI WAS the orat
selves well paid for having ridden
speech in full:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: In olde
times when n man performed som
deed that seemed beyond the reach O
human effort, the people were wont I
trace his lineage back to the Olympial
gods and find explanation of his sue
cess in his immortal ancestry. And a
we read in history half fable, or fabl'
half history, the chronicle of the demi
gods, we are prone to say and believe
there were giants in those days. W.
stand today in The living presence o
the SCARED and battered remnant of 1
band of men, the record of whose deed;
told in plain unvarnished prose is more
inspiring and wonderful than any page
clipped from Homer or Herodotus.
The story of their valor. should be
told TO every child; should be held up
to the emulation of every youth and
furnish inspiration to American man.
hood. 1t is an honor of which l am
Justly proud that | am permitted to
meet with them upon this occasion.
Some one has said that ''peace hath
her victories no less renowned than
war" The saying is as false as it is
trlte. The victories of peace may
bring more material advantages, con-
sequences more important even for the
welfare of the nation may follow them,
but eqaal renown they cannot give.
The victories of peace should be no less
renowned than those of war, but they
are not. Man after all is a fighting
animal. We never get very far from
nature. We may preach and teach,
we may ~civilIze and sermonize, but C
back on the plains the Indian soon
takes again to his blanket and toma-
hawk. The doctrines of the meek and
lowly Nazarine nave been b inspira-
ton of mankind for two thousand years
but we nave only veneered the savage.
We NAV erect to statesmen
and diplomats, we may recognize their
worth and honor them with Office or
emoluments, but the real heroes who
live forever IN the hearts of the people
are those who won their laurels in The
red glare of actual bloody war.
The English speaking people have
always been a wariike race. They
have lost battles but history records no
great cause on which their hearts were
set tina met defeat on the battlefield
except when they fought against Them
selves.
In these latter days we talk much of
arbitration, the concert of powers and
international agreement. he German
Kaiser and the French President are
entertained by the Russian Gar and
drink toasts TO perpetual peace and
amity. England lays i.r strong hand
on the arm of Turkey ami says the
fighting among the hills of G eece
must stop. The great French author
sees the rainbow of prnce spanning ali
the continents. aud the English poet
dreams of The lime when ..Ihe battle
flags are hurlei, in the congress of the
nations, the federation at the world"
And yet the nations are sIIll armiing
their cisizens; human Ingenuity is lax
ed 10 Increase the power 1T destruction.
England still brlieveS WIN Nelson that
the pescs. of Europe tests in The
strength Of The EugIi,h navy aud all
countries have adopted the puliey of
pr, serving peace b, briug prepared for
war. After all, a. long ~ uian ~ iln-
man, as long as he II lnuvrd by the
lust of weaIIh and a,arlrr nni tear and
love and hate, 50 long will there be war,
If we may judge The future by the past
history has yet TO wrIie the record OF
the greatest war ever waged when the
Saxon and the Siav contend for the
the mastery of the world on The battle
fields of Asia. n
As a nation we have always adyoca- !
ted a policy of peace gong so far at !
times as TO permit national affronts 10 5
go unpublished in order 10 maintain it; y
yet we have spent one-sixth of the Z
hundred years of national life in !
actual and desperate war,and If we may !
Judge today the tone of public senti- :
ment by political platforms, the resolu- =
of popular gatherings and the |
expression of the press, We are spoil i
for another fight. As a nation we g
have always condemned in others and u
Dstensibly opposed for ourselves a pol II
icy of conquest. Always possessed of c
public domain, more than suffici- 3
snt for the needs of our people,w we have a
never experienced the temptation for e
and grabbing that of necessity hangs Il
a 100 crowded country. And yet I
every acquisition of new territory has L
been hailed with delight by the people. 9
No such policy whether by purchase or i
conquest has ever failed to receive pop p
llar approval, and no political party u
mas ever successfully opposed such a
The manifest destiny we read o
10 much about in the speeches of for b
generations, has spread itself over v
he continent from lake 10 gulf, from b
ocean 20 ocean, and is now reaching N
tut with strong a~ntennae to the fertile 81
of Cuba and the coral reefs of W
What will be the result of Il
uch a policy of extension no man can c.
ay. Distant terrIIory and diversified 81
sre not the best circumstan- p
les under which to preserve popular II
government. Such conditions have m
destroyed the great republics of the II
'ast, but the experiment has never been I'll
ried since man uncovered the forces of ii
'ature and made easy communication u
distant lands. OF
The Mexican war vas more nearly a n
of conquest than any ever waged IN
y this nation. The United States I'M NJ
~uestiouably, and l believe rightfully A
Iesired the territory of Texas. There "
7ere, however, other causes that led up cl
0 hostilities, and one of no small influ- W
vas the attitude of the two great n
parties of the day. The DEM W
Gratis favored, the wings opposed, an dt
exation of Texas, and annexation 81
leant ~warthough many refused to be- ii
eve it. II we may believe what each n
( these great political parties said II
+ the other, the one favored war sy
nth or without just provoea- hi
on, and the other favored peace Fl
'ithout national honor. Neither I'll
'as right, and yet there was something rs
I truth in both statements. Viewed nc
ON a political standpoint, the history ii
I those lines furnishes more strange d,
0nditions and political anomalies than til
ny other period of u national life. it,
he south was largely wing, aud yet tr
he south favored annexation because es
lat meant more slave holding terri tr
Dry and the increasing influence of 81
orJh by the admission OF the states in S.
lie northwest carved out of the Louis III
ma purchase was beginning 10 make th
"a eontb rastfva rho north ~as or,