Arizona republican., 1899-02-12
Annual Picnic of the Illinois
 Society.
IN MEMORY OF LINCOLN
Superintendent s. M. MCCowan of inc Indian School Talks of Ex- panSion and inc Necessity of Taking Up inc White Hans Burden"-HuIFS Tribute to The
 Greatest American of Them All.

Nearly five hundred Illinoisans
 and visitors met at the pavilion in the Phoenix park yesterday to take. part in the annual l Illinois picnic. Most of the per sens were either natives of Illinois or previous residents of that state. They came singly and in families and all united to extend confidence to the un- l fortunates who had never been resi- dents of the great prairie state. The Indian school band was present and pleasantly entertained the pie nickers at various intervals. The long tables were spread at 12:30 o'clock and a cheerful and hospitable gathering was entertained with an abundance from the baskets. At the conclusion of the repast the band struck up an anus ing Apache war chant which had no doubt served to inspire many a ghost dance.
 James MeMillan, the toastmaster. announced that after so palatable a feast it was in crder to feast the mind and reason, and he accordingly called upon Superintendent McCowan Of the Indian school to partially supply the material
 MT. McCowan eu1ogized the character of Abraham Lincoln, speaking of the manner in which he was revered by the whites and adOred by the blacks He spoke extensively upon the toun- daticn MT. Lincoln had established for the subsequent expansion policies adopted by the United States. Said MT. McCowan:
 Tt seems to me, urOn this our pie nic day, with the revered Lincoln as the wOrshiped object of our adoration "a day reminiscent of great men and great deeds-that it would not be amiss to speak for moment upon the new America, the America that would not have been possible had it not been for the wisdom of the honest, angular. great-hearted splitter of rails The great Lincoln stands on a pinnacle alone, revered hy the whites, ,adored by the blacks, and loved by all
 Had it not been for Lincoln. who stood like 9 tower of strength between opposing cyclones, guiding, directing, m0lding, the anti-expansionists of to- day would have been without a theme: the restless, ambitious Cuban would be still making border warfare with the brave, incompetent spaniard; the Ma lay of the east would remain in bliss / full ignorance of the prowess of Amer ican soldiers
 ''It is beautiful theory, as beautiful as a poets dream, that all men are created equal; but the dream vanishes as mist under the cold baptism of fact. It is possible that when the black, red, yellow, brown and white babies make their squalIing saluta- tories to an agonizing world, they pos sess in common the altruistic attrib- utes of equality; but before they have finished their first meal their table manners betray that they were not all begotten in equal stages of refinement; and let me tell you that culture and refinement are the trade marks of the only brand of aristocracy that should be recognized by sensible men, and not every one can wear the signs;
 
 not be. I have known men-and so have you-who, if they had been born birds would have been vultures; if fish, would have been mud cats; but being human, they are liars and scoundrels.
 "I am not pessimist; if I were, and had to entertain my own thoughts, 1 would be ashamed of my guests. I do not believe that Uncle Sam is so old and decrepit that he need sit croon- ing over the old fireplace at home. warming his palsied fingers the while he chat5ers of past glories and van ished greatness. I believe he has not yet reached his prime, but is still in the ambitious age when he looks on strife with eyes of hope, feels liko burning all bridges behind him, like closing fast and forever the door of yesterday and fnging wide the door of tomorrow; willing and eager to ac- cept the goods the gods provide and carry the white mans burden out of he cave Of superstition, through tho slime Of sin and fanaticism, up and ever the troublous rocks of ignor- ,nce, until he stands on the sun-kissei mountain top where intelligence is ting, intellectual hospitality is law, and the unknown GCd supplaHts tho siittering idols of brass
 "The Filipino belongs in the same lass with the American Indian-no ,et5e~, no worse. He is a relic, a fossil, parchment. He is Of interest to us ,nly in 50 far as we glean from him