The herald., 1898-02-22
IF WASHINGTON SHOULD COME

If Washington should come to the
United States today, the one hundred
and sixty-s sixth anniversary of his first
appearance, he would doubtless be more
or less bewildered by the mixed emotions
that would crowd in upon him.
His great heart could not but swell
with pride as he contemplated the mar
velous expansion of the country he took
early occasion to father, its territorial
extension from the Blue Ridge to the
Pacific sea, and from the Rio Grande to
the distant straits dividing the conti
nent.
He might not altogether approve the
means adopted to acquire such peer
less domain, but he could scarcely fail
to appreciate the benefits conferred upon
humanity by the extension of freedom
over so vast an area, with its multiply
ing population, and the discovery and
development within it's borders of re-
sources so varied and inexhaustible as to
render its people practically inde-
pendent.
He would doubtless contemplate with
something of amazement the wide diff
fusion of knowledge, the progress of
science, the development of in
ventive genius, the advance of intelli-
gence the marvellous increase of wealth,
the growth of power, the multiplication
of public utilities, the improvement in
he of IN
fuence up to the border line upon every
side and beyond.
And he would doubtless contemplate
with something of awe the mighty pos
sibilities suggested by the astonishing
embodiment.
But, after all, would he be wholly sat
isfied?
Would he not more likely be amazed
and grieved over what must appear to
him the net results of the achievements
of the ninety and nine years since he
closed his eyes upon the embryo re-
public, toward the establishment of
which he contributed so much?
Would he not be panied by the dis
covery Of the fact that the people to
whom liberty of conscience had been be-
queathed and freedom guaranteed-a
people unfettered by kingcraft, un-
hampered by feudal limitations, unlim-
tied in the employment of all their facul-
ties in the working out of destiny, in a
land where sure reward is supposed to
follow enterprise and thrft-that a peo-
pie so favored by nature, by inheritance
and environment, were yet unprosper-
Gus and correspondingly unhappy and
Disconnected?
For it may we'll be questioned whether
a people who are not happy have solved
the problem of life; whether sacrifices of
blood and treasure are not in vain when
the ultimate result falls short of con-
tributing to the sum of human COM
fort and human happiness.
If Washington should come, however,
and be disposed to take gloomy view
of the situation, to brood over the mis-
carriage of justice, to deplore the ap-
parent failure of republican govern
ment, and to fear the gradual eXtinc-
tion Of liberty under the conditions OBJ
tanning, we should be constrained to
assure him that all is not yet lost; that
the people of the United States are not
without hope; that they are just begin
ming to realize what has happened to
prevent labor from receiving its just re-
ward-just beginning to see how adverse
legislation has cheated ministry die
couraged thrift, embarrassed enterprise,
dwarfed energy and throttled ambition;
how it has resulted in an appreciated dol
lar, multiplication of the obligations