El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-12-19


lives of the south. congratulate them
upon their accurate observation OF
events, which enabled them to
fix q date which insured them the pri-
vilege of being the first to celebrate
the signing of the treaty of peace by
the American and Spanish commission
ers. Under hostile fire on q foreign
SOIL fighting in common cause, the
memory of old disagreements has faded
into history. From camp and cam
paipn there come the magic healing
which has closed ancient wounds aud
effaced their scars. For this result
every American patriot will forever
rejoice It is no small indemnity for
the cost OF war. :.
This government has proved 1seell
inviucible in the recent war and out OF
it has come q nation which will re-
main indivisible for evermore. NO
neutrality-suspicious. have been made
in patriotism and in men tn an by the
people OF these southern states. When
at last the opportunity came they were
eager to met 1t, and with promptness
responded to the call OF the country:
In trusted with tho able leadership OF
with their fathers, under another flag,
now fighting under the old flag again,
they have gloriously helped to defend
it's spotless folds and added new lus-
ter to it's shining stars. That flag mas
been planted in two hemispheres and
there it remains the symbol of liberty
and law. of peace and progress. Who
will withdraw from the people over
whom it floats its protecting folds!
Who will haul it down?
The victory we celebrate is not that
of q ruler, q president or a congress,
but of q people. The army whose VAL
| lor we admire and the navy whose
achievements we applaud. were not
assembled by draft or CONSUMPTION, but
from voluntary enlistment. The
heroes game from civil as we'll as mill
tary life. Trained and unframed sol
diers wrought our triumPhs
The peace we have won ia not self
ish truce of arms, but one whose condl-
lions presage good to humanity. The
domains secured under the treaty yet to
be acted upon by the senate came TO US
not as the result of crusade OF con-
| Quest, but as the reward OF temperate,
faithful and fearless response to the
call of conscience which could no be dis,
regarded by liberty-lov1ng and
Christian people.
We have 80 borne ourselves in the
conflict and in our intercourse with the
DOW ere of the world as to escape com
plafnt of complies ton and give uni
versal confidence of our high purpose
and unselfish sacrifices for struggi 1nR
peoples.
The task il not fulfilled. Indeed, il
is only just begun. The most serious
energy of heart and mind must be
bent and the impulses of partisanship
subordinated to It's faithful execution.
This is the time for earnest, not fam
hearts.
New occasions teach new duties
To this nation ss to every nation
there come formative periods In its life
| and history. New conditions can b.
met only by new methods. Meeting
these conditions hopefully and tacini
them bravely and wisely is to be tht
mightiest test of American virtue aut
capacity. Wlt.ous abandoning pas
Limitations. traditions and principles
, but by meeting present opportunitie
and obligations, we shall show our
} selves worthy of the great trusts which
civilization has imposed upon US.
| We will have our difficulties and ou
, embarrsssments. They follow all vic
) tories and accompany all great re
, sponsibilities. They are inseparsbl
from every great movement or reform
But American capacity has triumphe'
over all in the past. Doubts have Il
: the end vanished. Apparent danger
= have been averted or avoided and on
: own history shows that progress ha
| come so naturally and steadily on tn
t heels of new and grave respons1olI1tle
i. that as we look back upon the acqufs1
: tons of territory by our fathers we ar
, filed with wonder that any douh
. could have existed or any appreher
= sion could have been felt of the wisdor
, of their action or their capacity t
erapple with the then untried an
e mighty problems.
f The republic is today larger, stron g
: err and better prepared than ever be
+ fore for wi ,e aud profitable develop
u ment in ne W directions and along me-
= l;ces. Even if the minds of some {
our own people are still disturbed b
: perplexing and anxious doubts,
b which all of us have shared and sti
t share, the genius of American civilizt
d ton will, I believe, be found bot
d original aoo creative and capable {
e subserving all the great interes
l. which shall be confded to our keel
ing.
Il Forever in the right, following tt
g best impulses and clinging to 'hig
n purposes, using properly and With
It right limits our power and opportun
ties, honorable reward must 1uevitabl
o follow. The outcome can not be
doubt.
We could have avoided all the di
iculties that lie across the pathway
: the nation if a few months ago we hs
coldly ignored the piteous appeals
the starving and oppressed inhabitan
of Cuba. If we had blinded Ourselv'
to the conditions 80 near our shor'
y and turned deaf ear to our suffer1r
neighbors the issue of territorial e.
y pansion in the Antilles and Il
East Indies would not have been raj
d ed.
D. But could we have justified such