The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-27
cheney and thorough training of its Off

VI the lDleleneSS OF llS SYSTEM duu
the competency of its personnel. OF its
professional spirit / cannot speak too
highly. That spirit animated the off,
Ger on the deck, the commandant at
the yard, the chief in the bureau, and
no less the grades, every one of them,
below these. Line and staff, superior
and subordinate, have all worked with
matchless fidelity and ability, and in
harmonious cooperation, and deserve
equal honor.
The glory of the navy and the glory
of the war which it shares with the ar
my, is not, however in battle alone; or
rather, it is not in the brutal elements
Of battle. 1t is rathere in the fine in
stinct, the heroic courage, the splendid
devotion, the intense patiotism which
nerve men to endure what otherwise
were the objectionable horrors of
armed conflict, for the sake of the great
ends and causes for which battles are
fought The war through which we
have just passed was not waged for the
exultation of victory
1t was for the unloosing of the yoke
of bondage, the elevation of an OPP
pressed people, the diviner civilization
of the coming century. It's finer touches
We're more in the generous humanity it
aroused than in the splendid courage it
evoked. Not a trace of personal ami
mostly toward the foe was visible from
beginning to end. Few words win last
longer than those which Capt. Evans
uttered when he said of his men during
the battle of Santiago that, 80 long as
the enemy flew its flag, they fought like
American seamen, but when the flag
was hauled down they We're as gentle
and tender as American women" 1t
was a revelation to the Spanish prison
ers when they found themselves re-
celved in their encampment rather than
prison at Portsmouth with Christian
Kindness, their wounds bound up and
every want provided for.
The lesson has not been lost on the
civilization of the time when CerVera
returning to his seat in the Spanish
senate, proclairns the humanity of Am
erica, and suggests to Spain that she
benefit by our example, waken from her
bondage to old limitations, and follow
| the lead of American enterprise and
American institutions
II l may say one more word concern
ing the navy, agree with the evident
proposition that with the recent ex-
tension of our territory, the new duties
| that are upon us, and the now en-
larged importance of our sea power,
the increase in our naval force should
go on But | am not one of those who
would have it extravagantly expanded,
ana l would prefer a reasonable in
crease commensurate with the in
creased need. Too rapid a DEVELOPMENT
will surely lead to a reaction in the
popular mind and a tendency to the
other extreme, as happened after the
war for the Union.
| Nor must we forget that the increase
OF the army and the navy is necessarily
attended with very great increase in
| expenditure and, therefore, in taxation.
ana that in the zeal of the present mo-
ment we must stand on the old funda-
mental principle that under no cireum-
stances should this become a country
where the military arm is a burden in
stead of a defence, and that the mill
tary establishment must be subordin-
| ate by long interval to the educa-
tional and the industrial
But why dwell on the navy. when
that is only a part of the triumphant
responsive and glorious administration
| OF President Mckinley. Is there an
! American who is not proud of that ad-
ministration? Is there an American
| who viii not sustain it, What We're
| you all saying six months ago-you
| republicans; you democrats; you re-
formers; you sound money men; YOU
| patriots everywhere? What were YOU
saying then, except words of praise for
| the president and his performance Of
his duties; for his firm stand for the
Improvement of the civil service: for
MS confirming and assuring words in
| behalf of sound money; for his gener-
| GUS efforts at reuniting, in the bonds
of a union of heart as well as of form.
all sections of the country for mis- Ell
forts to avert the grim vizage of war
| and to maintain peace?
/ Where then was the failure? What
| did you mean when you crowded about
MIN with congratulations; when in edi-
| torlal and press dispatch Won had no
word too cordial in his behalf: when
II you saw him or any member % his
| cabinet, you had only expressions OF
| satisfaction with his course? Is it pos
sible that now in the meaner zest of a
| political campaign any of you will for
| get all this? Does he deserve less at
your hands because, reluctant to pros
eeute the war which congress declared
| he has prosecuted it with the utmost
| Ylgor with unflinching perseverance,
and with swift, sure, triumph of your
| arms on land and on sea; or because
on the first intimation of the possibility
! of peace, he has led the way to it by
the most generous terms that ever con
| queror granted to the conquered? There
| nave been faults and shortcomings;
| mistakes here and mistakes there
| But when you sweep the field from
| the hill top of fairness and good sense
| and not from the sWamps of PARTISAN
| ship, what pit Of corruption or dis
| honesty has been exposed. and what
is the result but the most complete sue
! cess won at the expense of the least
| possible extravaganza and failures? 1t
is true that new problems of the gray
| est import have been suddenly sprung
| upon the country. The administration
| was responsible, when congress de-
| clared the war, that it should be pres
| al xHrffh to
and most comprehensive success. But
it is not responsible for the fact that
| success has brought with it new phases
| OF territorial expansion and the grave
question of dealing with the tremen>
dous responsibilities which the war has
tossed upon the shoulders of the Amer
lean government.
They will be dealt with with all the
| wisdom that the administration can
bring to bear, and with all that it can
! gather from the best intelligence, sem
| timent and counsel of the American
people. 1t is not a new thing for a
president of the United States to
meet sudden and weighty problems. 1t
is not the first time they have come
of the same kind as now, though not
! perhaps to the same degree. 1t is not
the first time that the air has rung
With over-sanguine cries on the one
hand, or dark prophecies of ruin and
| shipwreck on the other. But the re.
| public has swung clear hitherto and
moved on to its place IN the world =
destiny. Hitherto the man has not
been found wanting. And he will rot
be found wanting now. 1 speak With
some knowledge of him upon whom
the greatest burden of this RESPONSE
| bility falls.
! ! know that If ever there was a man
| who loved his country servant of the
public whose sole purpose was to do
his duty, and who was guided by a
prayerful sense of accountability to God
| and felloW-men it is President McKin-