The San Francisco call., 1898-02-13
ROLL OF HEROES.
Hon. F. R. Davis Pays Tribute
 to Great Republicans.
5. 8 5. 5. 5: $. 5: 8. 5: 5. :. s. s. 8 5. s

The Hon. Frank F. Davis responded
 as follows to the sentiment, "Our Re
 publican Heroes"
 MT President and Gentlemen: The
 field of heroism is as limitless as
 human endeaYor Wherever the genius of man has crystallized human
 effort into a system there shine its splendid examples. It has been the creation of religion, of business, of po
 litical life in all ages of civilization.
 circumstances and exigencies ere
 ate political parties. Into that new
 creation as it's essence of life comes the
 burning question of the hour. That
 question may be as selfish in char
 acter as what shall be the standard
 medium of exchange, or it may rise to
 the splendid ideality of human liberty;
 but when that question, whatever it
 may be- becomes vital and around it
 gather the hosts which make a polit-
 ical entity, then dawns the day for he-
 roic action. It is the glory and boast
 of the Republican party that it's he
 rOes are the nations heroes, and their
 immortal names the common heritage
 of the republic. The foremost figure
 in the field is the pioneer hero. He is born, reared, perfected under circum- stances of trial, and in the fire which
 tries the hearts and souls of men. He
 is the man of the ax. Beneath the
 strokes of his arm fall the tangled
 forests of human error, and he bares his breast to the impending rocks of human opposition. His the unfaltering
 courage, the clear and well-defined purpose, the never-tiring brain, the never r-ceasing progressive movement, the unalterable faith in the certainty of prevailing truth and the undying
 hope that in the end all things will work out for the welfare of humanity
 Such in character was Abraham Lin coin. What birth and training for the field of heroism. A log cabin in the wilderness, a chore boy upon the farm, a clerk in the corner grocery struggling country lawyer. His sphere of action the field of Western politics, farm wagon for rostrum. the scared and worn toilers of field and forest for audience, the political bat tie fought. by night and by day in school-house, in open field, in country church, on village square. and amid all the struggle for daily bread, with mis- fortune, sorrow, opposition keen, some times almost overwhelming, the daily and nightly wage. So born and trained he came to wield the destinies of a great nation.
 After stirring eulogies of Lincoln. Grant and Blaine, the speaker closed in
 
 This hour of uncertainty demands the genius of the hero statesman. The crisis demanded and received the splen- did leadership of the Plumed Knight, | James G. Blaine. Then was born the watchword, "The American workshop for American labor, protection to home Under the broad utilitari- anism of that gifted genius mark our country's progress. Out into the will derness stretches the iron threads of | railways the whistle of the | steam engine, the roar of the forge and | the crash of machinery awaken the echoes of the forest, and on the broad | fields of the public domain where wild | Indians and still wilder beasts have | made their haunts and lair rise the | humble cabin of the homesteader Into | every line of human activity come | and prosperity. New fields of | action open, the unemployed millions of | other shores invited to participate in | our prosperity join the advancing hosts. | and the unfed and ill-clad millions of | the unemployed find honest work for | honest hands to do. The population | doubles, national wealth increases by | the thousands of millions, capital finds | safe investment, and labor steady and | remunerative employment. It Is but a | sketch, an outline. Time forbids more.
 Tears for the heroes dead. cheers for the living. Grant and Lincoln and | Blaine have passed from the theater of | active life, but the field still demands heroism In that field of | action stand the young men of to-day. | From their ranks must spring the he roes of the future. The strength of the party is in it's young men. That strength is we'll founded The face of youth is ever toward the dawn, and on the uplands of the rising day of action it fights and wins it's battles. From the ranks of the Republican par ty as the hour shall demand, whether for the work of the pioneer in new and untrod paths, that of the soldier on the field of battle or that of the statesman