Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-05

quickened the national conscience and in
creased our own national self-respect. 1t
has widened the area of human freedom
and extended the limits of civil and reli-
glous liberty. 1t has placed us in the
very front rank of the nations Of the
earth and given to us a place, a power
and a prestige to which we should have
long been strangers. 1t has added to our
flag a glory and a luster which can never
1t has given new names to the
roster of the earth's great heroes, and
hereafter when we read of the great his
toric naval battles Of the world we shall
recall with exultant pride Manila bay and
Santiago. And when the names of How
ard and Drake and the great Nelson are
called. we shall proudly answer back
with those of Admiral Dewey and Schley
and Sampson, and all the rest of hat
splendid galaxy of heroes whose gallant
deeds have made the American navy the
envy and the admiration of the navies of
the world.
Ana as upon the sea. so also upon the
land. We shall search in vain through
the annals of human kline from ancient
to modern times for anything more in
spring. more dashing, more brilliant in
conception or more superb in execution,
than the charge of the American soldiers,
regulars and volunteers alike, at San
Juan. at Ell Caney. at Santiago. and later
on in the magnificent fighting in the far
away Philippine islands, where the cour-
age and dash and daring of the volun-
unteers from the western states has ex-
cited the enthusiastic admiration of all
beholders, n has made for them a
Worldwide reputation.
Our own commonwealth has cause to
feel proud indeed of the part it has played
in the great drama of the war. When
last year the president called for volun-
teers. from no state in the union did there
come a quicker or more generous re-
Spouse; nowhere in this broad land did
the tide of patriotic fervor run higher,
and from no section. population cQnsid-
cred, were there so many patriots anxious
and willing to bear arms in support or
the honor and dignity of the nation as
from our own beloved state. Our volun-
teer regiment of infantry was the first to
be enrolled and to report for duty. We
had faith and confidence in them then.
We believed that if the opportunity pre-
scented they would creditably sustain the
dignity and good name of our state. The
opportunity came, n nObly indeed have
the men of Montana met every obligation
of duty and honor and of manhood. In
a strange land. under a tropical sun, sur
rounded by difficulties and dangers CAL
culated to appal men of less heroic mold,
confronted by treacherous savage foes,
who are not amenable to the laws of
civilized warfare, who murder under flags
of truce, who mutilate the dead and
wounded pom the field. who cut he
throats Of their own followers to enforce
submission. and who ass%assinate their
own leaders. Under these adverse condi-
tons, laughing at danger inc defying
death, the First Montana infantry has
shown a discipline and courage, a daring
and herolsm, a loyalty to country which
fills the heart of every true son and
daughter Of this commonwealth with
pride and admiration. Every mar Of
them, from Kessler and Wallace and
Cook n Green, down to the humblest
private in the ranks, is a hero. BY the
s%plendor of their achievements they have
shed a glory upon the escutcheon of this
fair young state which the passing of
years can never dim. They rave borne
our banner proudly aloft in the fore
front of the conflict, and by their noble,
unselfish devotion to duty they have set
an example to the coming generations
whose value is beyond computation.
1t is true hat our pride in the glory
of their deeds is saddened by the knowl-
edge that not all who left us, filled with
so much ardor and enthusiasm, will re-
turn to receive our praise and COM
mendatlon. Precious lives rave been Of
fered up on the altar of country and duty.
Deeply do we mourn the loss of brennan
and French and lilly, and all the rest
Of the noble boys who rave fallen in bat
tie. They were as manly and brave, as
loyal and true, as the heroes and martyrs
of any land in any age. The record of
their deeds is the priceless heritage of the
state they loved SO well. High upon the
scroll of honor and fame we will inscribe
their names in letters of imperishable
light. While to their memory it will be-
come our loving duty to erect in some
suitable spot a monument that shall fifty
commemorate their virtues.
And as for the living, for those who re-
turn to us, we will prepare a welcome
that shall make them forget the hard
ships and dangers and sufferings through
which they have passed; a welcome as
spontaneous, as generous, as magnifi-
cent and unselfish as their own splendid
courage and patriotism; a welcome that
shall convey to them in some small degree
at least the sentiments of pride and graf
itude, of appreciation and admiration in
| which we hold them.
Blu it is not alone in the glory and
prestige of our naval and military
achievements and in the spread of re-
publican forms of government that We
have cause to rejoice. There is a materia,
view which, while secondary perhaps in
Importance, is nevertheless too vast to
be overlooked.
Beyond the Pacific shores lies the great
Orient. 1t contains more than one-hali
Of the population Of the world and is Just
beginning TO feel the magic touch of civil
lization. The western shore of the Unit
ed States forms the gateway to this as
yet unexpected and undeveloped field OF
commerce. We enjoy natural advantages
which place in our hands the key to the
situation, and the question is, shall we
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