Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-10

ment If it we're possible to exceed the
enthusiasm OF the reception OF his previous
remarks. this was evident when he said
And 1t is my conclusion that war be-
tween Great Britain and the United States
would be criminal-just as criminal as war
between two sections Of this great country"
The welcome extended to Sir Wilfrid was
repeated when the next speaker, Vice Presi-
dent Mariscal OF Mexico, rose and spoke to
the toast, THE Republic OF Mexico"
Vice President Mariscal said;
! rise principally to thank you very cor
daily for the toast proposed and drunk in
honor of Mexico and its president, yet on
memorate the wonderful resurrection Of
this phoenix city and when the presence
Of the first magistrate of the nation gives
ms banquet the greatest soiemnity ! be-
lteVe | should venture some few and brief
remarks In order to express the feelings of
President Diaz and the Mexican govern
ment toward the United States.
Mexico gentlemen, as YOU may know, has
fought twice for its independence which
its people really do,Ze The first time was
at the beginning of this century and dur
ing eleven years, when no nation could or
wished to give us any assistance. The sec
ond time, less than forty years ago. we
had to battle against Napoleonic interVen-
ton and in spite of our heroic resistance,
prolonged for five long years, we might
not been for the powerful influence of the
United States which promptly settled mat
ters in our favor.
Mexicnns Have Not Forgotten.
That historical fact has not been for
gotten by any true Mexican and We all keep
1t engraved in our hearts. Today, gentle
men, everybody knows that our country
under an independent republican govern
ment is fairly advancing on the road of a
peace progress. 1t is developing its natural
resources by means of domestic and foreign
capital, chiefly American, invested in rail-
roads and other great improvements. The
Mexican government welcomes that capi-
tai as well as American industry and all
kinds of traffic and honest immigration.
our foreign policy consists, solely and
simply, in cultivating the most friendly in
tercourse with all the nations of the world
and real intimacy with the United States.
Providence made us neighbors and our
commercial interests require us to remain
as nmGe binG frends 1t is not not, only unity
institutions; We have shaped our political
being after your model and the very sym
Dol of our nationality is almost identical
with yours-,both as the famous bird of
JoVe an eagle. May. then these two eagles
soar forever flying along pareiei ,inesmthe
always encouraged by the example of her
elder sister.
Secretary Long Speaks.
Secretary Long Of the navy, who responded
to The Navy" received a greeting that
Will live with him for many a day. He
was frequently interrupted by cheers dur
ing his speech, which was as follows:
Your toast to the navy is all the more
q compliment because you are 1000 miles
the navy has in the hearts of all the peo-
pie and how much they all alike share its
glories. 1t has always been dear to the
American heart and has continued to con-
tribute some of the most brilliant pages in
American history. But its exploits during
the recent war have given it a stronger
hot
sides 1t is a department which pertains
TO any section of the country or to any
class among the people, it is one of the
very fundamental elements of American
popular growth. 1t is as much the product
OF our schools our homes and common life
as in the shop of the mechanic, the ware
house of the merchant the harvest of the
farmer. Jack halls from the inland ham,
let as well as from the seaport town.
The admiral commanding one of our
great squadrons winning victory unprece-
dented in naval history is the son of a
prominent financial business man; another
the son OF an Irish laborer, working in a
ditch by his fathers side and went from it
TO the naval academy. Every congressional
by its cadet. The result is that the splen-
did body of naval officers who today so
highly command the confidence and admi-
ration or the people are themselves the
immediate representatives of the people
and of their common intelligence, spirit
Our late antagonist had officers and men
of undoubted bravery. But in education,
versatility, ability to plan and to meet
emergencies, in short in what Mrs. Stowe
called faculty our superiority was such
that 'the battle. was won the moment it
begun" L can the more properly, gentle
men, join with you in your appreciation
of the navy, because although its head, L
am only yet temporarily connected with
1t, and can look at 1t from the outside.
Remembers Boys Behind the Guns.
I sometimes think, however, that the
great public ,appauding the salient merits
overlooks Others which are quite as de-
serving.
You cheer for the men behind the guns;
you give swords and banquets here and
there to an admiral,and both most, richly
up and down the line there are individuals
if So, are. already forgotten, who have
navy has rendered such service, however
great. that Others were not ready to fill
the place and do as Well The navy is full
through it,, the high sense of duty; the
lofty standards of service to which its
| hearts are loyal and which make them all
equal to any duty. Who sings the praises
Of the chief of the naval stations and of
the bureaus of the Navy department who
wept that there We're no battles and glory
for them, who remaining at their depart
ment headquarters made provision for the
fitting out the arming, the supplying, the
feeding. the coaling, the equipping Of your
fleets, that the commanding officer on the
which these, his brothers, had put in his
hands?
Who repeats the names of the young
officers who pleaded for Hobson'S chance
TO risk his life in the huh and hell of the
Merrimac? Who mentions the scores of
seamen who begged to be of the immortal
seven who We're his companions in that
forlOrn hope? In the long watches before
Santiago the terror of our great battle
ships was the two Spanish torpedo boat
deStroyerS, those swift, fiendish sharks of
the sea- engines of death and destruction
and yet, when the great battle came it
was the unprotected Gloucester a con-
verted yacht, the former plaything and
pleasure boat of summer vacation,
which without hesitation or without turn
ing attacked these demons of the sea and
sunk them both. | have always thought it
the most heroic and gallant individual in
stance of fighting during the war. 1t was
as If some lght-clad youth with no de-
fense but his sword, threw himself into the
arena with armored gladiatOrs and by his
very dash and spirit laid them low And
yet who has given sword or spread n
feast to that purest flame Of chivalrous
heroism, Richard Wainwright?
Who recalls all the still more varied
services of our navy-its exploits and re-
searches in the interest of science, its
stimulus to international commerce, its
surveys to foreign harbors; it's chartng
of the sea and marking of the pathway
of the merchant marine; its study of the
stars its contributions in short TO all the
interest of enlightened and progressive
country?
Beginning of 81 New Era.