The Portland daily press., 1898-11-24

commercial scheme can Wofk ~ o
welfare Of every part of the country
alike. Only the development Oh nioto
unselfish national life can perlec' ehe
national unity in which we rejoice
s'We rejoice tonight that no oener
nation has larger place in the ese',na-
ton of the world than has the ohiaco
Safes. Undoubtedly we are looKeu upon
now as great power, whose ioroes
must be recognized. We have righo ior
just pride in this fact, but this very iact
ought to impel us to the consecratlon
of ourselves to this determination ol enose
things of which we cannot speak "iuh-
out u blush of shame. We are uhe envy
of the European nations because u our
success and Immediately our ampi1ion
is aroused to fly the Stars and otripes
over the islands of the sea. But let US
see what the world sees in us while we
are boasting of the glory OF our nag
before wa give vent to our ambition IN
this respect While we are talking OF
the glory of our flag the colored people
Of our land are shot down because they
demand the rights of citizens. That ter
rible tragedy in the South is only one OF
the many things which cause the THINK
ing men to ask if after all the Philippine
islands entered into paradise when the
Stars and Stripes vera foetsd over them.
This tragedy is only one of the many
things which make men ask If tyranny
was Done away with when our flag was
a. sell Is thQTa
thing more tyranica1 than men shot
down because they insist upon their pollt-
ical rights? The truth is, this country
has not been particularly successful as
nation to govern the alien classes OF peo-
pie. There is nothing in our political
history which can inspire especial en-
thusiasm among the people under our
flag in those distant seas. Tru3, our
crimes are not the crimes of Spain. We
have no tyranny here, we say, no unjust
taxation, but we do not know by what
code of ethics it can be proved that IL Is
a lesser crime to shoot men down in cold
blood than to tax them unjustly. ! do
not know what the solution of this prob
lem is to be, but do not know that
after 80 years of trial we are not able to
give eight millions of colored people their
political rights. Have we right to
extend this problem over twenty millions
more?
"But this is not our only failure.
The president Of the Leland Stanford uni
yersity, our highest authority on the con-
dition of Alaska, said: The condition
of affairs in Alaska affords Russia as
good reason to make war against the
United States as ever we had to go to war
with Spain on account of Cuba OF
course we do not believe this and we
would not believe it If an angel from
heaven should come and tell us that this
is true, because the beam in our own
eyes is insignificant compared with the
mote in our brothers. eye. No question is
SO desperate as is this and yet it is lmpos-
sible to arouse the slightest enthusiasm
among our people who were SO ready to
right the wrongs of the Cubans by going
to war.
1--WE may give thanks that our natIpn.
has larger place in the affairs OF the
world, but in doing this let us say that
we will consecrate ourselves to remove
from our country several things of which
we are ashamed. Let us say that we are
not ended yet, but have just begun. /
yield TO no one in tine love OF my coun-
try. He who loves his country most
would willingly do thu most for its
publication and this is whyI speak of the
burning questions.
"The war which we have just waged
showed us the superiority of the indiyid-
ual manhood as force of civilization.
The danger of wars is always that it may
demonstrate the superiority of brute
force and cause depreciation of the
moral and spiritual force. But this war
has had the opposite effect, With the
modern machines of war everything de-
ponds upon intelligence and self
control. When men fought with swords
the battle was largely question of brute
force, but when they stand off miles and
miles away and aim by mathematical
calculation the great engines of destruo7
ton, victory Is a question Of character.
Nothing is mora fortunate than the en-
phasis which this war has put upon char
acter. Just now we hear much about the
Anglo-Saxo blood and what il has ar-
complished and may accomplish. The
credit is due not to the Anglo-Saxon
blood, but to the Anglo-Saxon institu-
tions which have proved the finest in the
world for the development of character.
The soldiers of our land do not come from
the slums of the great cities, but from
the best homes of our land. All of the
great heroes of the late war are men who
have pronounced faith in Jesus Christ.
The foundation of this nation is right
BUSINESS. Poor Spain was not founded
on this principle and she has withered
away like the fig. tree in the parable.
Nothing has done SO much for our flag as
the church. he coming wars will be
wars of character.
'The war brought great wave of
optimism over this country We are conf
dent that we can do greater things than
any we have yet undertaken. We have
no fear of the future. That sDirit is good