The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1899-03-01
will the People Turn a Deaf Ear
to Greed's Clamorous Yoicep
SACRED MISSION OF AMERICA.
Not by the Sword Must She Spread oIv-
ilIzation aud Liberty Among the
Nations of the world-A Chap
ter Destiny and
AugIo-saxonISm.


of Washington's birthday, Colonel Will
liam j. Bryan was the guest of the
evening. Mr.. Bryan spoke on Amer
ica's Mission" Said he:
When the advocates of imperialism
dnd 1T impossible to reconcile colon
ial policy with the principles of our
government or with the canons of mo-
rality; when they are unable to defend
1t on the ground of religious duty or
pecuniary profit, they fall back in help
less despair on the assertion that it is
destiny. Suppose it does violate the
constitution they say. Suppose it does
break all the commandments; suppose
1t does entail upon the nation an incal-
culable expenditure of blood and mon
ey; 1t is destiny and we must submit
THE people have not voted for i'm
perialism; no national convention has
declared for 1t; no congress has passed
upon 1t. To whom, then, has the flu
ture been revealed? Whence this voice
of authority? We can all prophesy, but
our prOphesies are merely guesses, COL
ored by our hopes and our surround
ings. Mans opinion of what is to be is
half wish and half environment. Az
arice paints destiny with dollar mark
before 1t, militarism equips it with a
sword
"He is the best prophet who, recog-
nizing the omnipotence of truth. com
prehends most clearly the great forces
which are working out the progress.
not of one party, not of one nation, but
of the human race,
"A Word About "DestIny."
History is replete with predictions
which once wore the hue of destiny
but which failed of fulnlIment because
those who uttered them saw too small
an arc of the circle of events. When
Pharoah pursued the feeting Israelites
to the edge of the Red sea he was con-
fident that their bondage would be re-
newed and that they would again make
bricks without straw, but destiny was
not revealed until Moses and his fol-
lowers reached the further shore
dry shod and the waves rolled over
the horses and chariots of the Egypt
tians. When Belshazzar, on the last
night of his reign, lead his thousand
lords into the Babylonian banquet hall
and sat down to n table glittering with
vessels of silver and gold he felt sure
OF his kingdom for many years to
como, but destiny was not revealed un~
til the hand wrote upon the wall those
awe-inspiring words, Meme, meme, TEX
ell upharsin. When Abderrahman
swept northward with his conquering
hosts his imagination saw the crescent
triumphant throughout the world, but
destiny was not revealed until Charles
Martel raised the cross above the bat
tleheld of Tours and saved Europe
from Mohammedanism. When Napol-
con emerged victorious from Marango,
from Ulm and from Austerlitz he
thought himself the child of destiny,
but destiny was not revealed until Blu
cher's forces Joined the army of We'll
lington and the vanquished Corsican
began his melancholy march 10 st.
Helena. When the redcoats of George
III routed the New Englanders at Lex
ington and Bunker Hill there rose be-
fore the British sovereign visions of
colonies taxed without representation
and drained of their wealth by foreign
made laws, but destiny was not re-
vealeh until the surrender OF Cornwall
lis completed the work begun at In
dependence hall and ushered into ex-
istence a government deriving its just
powers from the consent of the gov
erned.
Veal woe7
1--WE have reached another crisis.
The ancient doctrine of Imperialism,
banished from our land more than a
century ago, has e.crosscd the Allan
tic and challenged democracy to NOR.
tai combat upon American soil. Wheth-
er the Spanish war shall be known in
history as a war for liberty or as a war
of conquest; whether the principles of
self-goyernment shall be strengthened
or abandoned; whether this nation
shall remain homogeneous republic or
become a heterogeneous empire-these
questions must be answered by the
American people-when they speak.
and not until then, will destiny be re-
vealed.
Destiny is not a matter of chance;
It is a matter of choice; 1t is not a
thing to be waited for; 1t is thing to
be achieved.
10 man ce0 see the end from the
beginning, but everyone can make his
course an honorable one from begin
ming TO end. by adhering to the right
under all circumstances. Whether a
man steals much or little may depend
upon his opportunities, but whether ne
steals at all depends upon his own Yo-
lition.
$50 with our nation. II we embark
upon career of conquest, NO one can
tell how many islands we may be able
to seize or how many races we may be
able to subjugate; neither can anyone
estimate the cost, immediate and re-
mote. to the nations purse and to the
nations character. but whether we
shall enter upon such a career is a
question which the people have a right
to decide for themselves.
Unexpected events may retard or
advance the nations growth. but the
nations purpose determines its des-
tiny.
Stand by the Constellation.
What is the nations purpose7 That
purpose is set forth clearly and unmis-
takably in the first sentence of the con-
Ltitution: