The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1899-02-16

endowed, let him realize his opportu.
nifty and improve it. At this time mil
lions of men are atremble lest t!is ma
ton make mistake, and enter upon
some policy Of government for the ISL
ands of the sea that will founder the re-
public. God will give to few men on
both sides of this question faith and
courage for all the rest. There are
two false positions many are row TAX
ing, false asefalse can be. The one is
that if we decline to take under full
charge Cuba and Porto Rico and the
Philippines we make declaration that
will be disastrous to our nation. and
other nations will take control Of those
arctipelagoes and rule them, and per-
haps to our humiliation and destruc-
tion. The other theory is that if we
take possession of those once Spanish
colonies we invite foreign interference
and enter upon career that will finally
be the demolition of this government
Both positions are immeasurab.c mis-
takes. God has set apart this continent
for free government, and the triumphs
of Christianity, and we may take either
the first or the second course without
ruin. We may say to those islands.
I'VE do not want you, but we have set
you free; now stay free, while we see
that the Spanish panther never again
puts its paw on your neck" or we may
invite the annexation of Cuba and Porto
Rico, and say to the Philippines: "Get
ready, by education and good morals.
for free government, and at the right
time you shall be one of our territories,
on the way to be one of our states.''
And there is no power in Europe, Asia
or Africa or all combined that could
harm this nation in its worldwide en-
deavor. God is on the side of the right,
and by earnest imploration for Divine
guidance on the part of this nation we
will be led to do the right. We are on
the brink of nothing. There is no
frightful crisis. This train of repub-
lican and democratic institutions is a
through train, and all we want is to
have the engineer and the brakeman
and the conductor attend to their busi-
ness and the passengers keep their
places. We want men in this nation
with faith enough for all. We want
here and there David worth 10000
men.
A vast majority of men have no sur
plus of confidence for others and hardly
enough confidence for themselves
They go through life saying depressing
things and dong depressing things.
They chill prayer meetings, discourage
charitable institutions, injure COM
merce and kill churches. They blow out
lights when they ought to be kindling
them. They hover around dull fire
On their own hearth and take up so
much room that no one can catch the
least caioric, instead of stirring the
hearth into blaze, the crackle of
whose backlog would invite the whole
neighborhood to come in to feel the
abounding warmth and see the trains
figuration of the faces. AS we all have
to guess a great deal about the future.
let us guess something good, for it will
be more encouraging and the guess will
be just as apt to come true. What a lot
OF ingrates the Lord has at His table
people who have had three meals day
for so years and yet fear that they will
soon have to rattle their knife and fork
on an empty dinner plate! How many
have had, winter and spring and sum-
mer and fall, clothing for 60 years, but
expect an empty wardrobe shortly.
How many have lived under free insti-
tutions all their days, but fear that the
United States may be teleseoped in
some foreign collision! Oh, but the
taxes have gone up! Yes, but, thank
God, it is easier, with money, to pay the
taxes now that they are up than it was
without money to pay the taxes when
they were down. We want few men
who have faith in God and that mighty
future which holds several things,
among them millennium. Colum-
banus said to his friend: "Deicolus,
why are you always smiling?" The re-
ply was: Because no one can take my
God from mel" We want more men to
feel that they have mission to cheer
Others and to draw up the corners of
people mouths which have long while
been drawn down-more Davids who
can shepherd whole focks of bright
hopes and play harp of encourage
ment and strike down a Goliath of de-
spair, and of whom we can say: Thou
art worth 1OO, 1000 of u.s.
Iadmit that this thought of my text,
fully carried out, would change many
of the worlds statistics. Suppose vii
lage is said to have 1000 inhabitants
and that cne-half of them-namely, 500
have for years been becoming less in
body. and through niggardliness and
grumbling, less in soul. Each one of
these is only one-half of what he once
was, or one-half of what she once was.
The original 500 have been reduced one
half in moral quality, and are really
only ESQ. Suppose that the other 500
have maintained their original status
and are neither better nor worse. Then
the entire popula tion of that village is
$50. But suppose another village of
1000, and 500 of them as the years go
hx fo1