The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-16
HIS HIGHEST AMBITION
To Aid in Making the Nation Greater
and Better.
SUPERIORITY OF THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
The Irish Societies Declare Against Forming
Any Alliance Tacit or AVowed With The
Monarchies, the Tyranny of Which
Drove Them From Europe.
(By the Associated Press.)


Chicago, Ills. August 15.-Mr. Bryan,
Mr.. Stevenson and others made speeches
today at Sunny Side Park on the occa-
sion OF the annual meeting of the United
Irish Societies of Cook county. The meet
ing was presided over by Rev. f. l.. Rey-
nolds, and the attendance was large, not
Withstanding the stormy weather Mr..
Bryans speech was the first of the series,
bue before he was heard the assembly
at the suggestion OF Judge H. V. Can
non. ado-ted an address from which
the following is an extract:
I'VE are unalterably opposed to any
alliance, tacit or open, with any Euro
pean monarchy and shall resist in every
practical and legal way the imposition
OF Imperialism and militarism upon a
people consecrated to freedom and in this
spirit and with an abiding trust in the
good sense and patriotism of the vast body
of American people, we commit, as far as
we may, the fortunes OF the Republic
of America to the strength and deter
minaticn Of citizens born on American
soil. aided by those sons from other
lands, who sought here refuge from
and military eXaction."
Mr.. Bryan spoke as follows: .
81 do not want you to think that my
happiness depends upon any public office
within the gift of the people of this coun-
try. | have a higher ambition than to
be President. Great applause). The
man whose happiness depends upon what
others do for him, may be doomed to dis
int hui
pends upon what he does for others he
need not be disappointed. I hope you will
credit me with the ambition that is within
the reach Of every citizen OF this land,
an ambition which all can entertain and
which to my mind, is higher ambition
than that Of any office, and that is an
ambition to do what l can to make this
nation SO great and good that to be a
simple citizen will be greater than to be
king in any ether land (Great ap
plause).
THE object of my speech is practi
cal one. l want to use; this occasion TO
POINT to a great lesson. l believe the
fact that this gnation has here the repre-
sentatives of all the races of Europe,
gives it peculiar advantage among the
nations. The fact that the best blood Of
all t1e civilized races mingles here in
the development of the sAmerican charac-
ter enables this nation TO turn upon
every question the light of universal his
tory and avoid the dangers from which
other nations have suffered. Z, (Applause).
When a problemg arises in athis country
we can look back and find, what has been,
the experience of Others. If we know
the history CT our own people only we;
would not be SO well prepared to detect:
danger before we suffer sfrom it, but if
any one does not knowE the growth of
landlordism and its dangers he has only
TO aSk an IriShman what landlordiSm
means and he need not read history to
lind out. Great applause). If any one
wants to know whether an alien govern
ment is good all he has to do is to ask
an Irishman his opinion of an alien gov.
ernment, although the governing power
be separated from the governed only by
a narrow channel (Applause). If you
want to know what militaTism is and
what its burdens are, all you have to do
is to ask a German who came to this
country to avoid the militarism of the old
world. (Applause) And so, l might go
through the various experiences of other
representatives of these people enables
US to scent the danger from afar and to
guard against their experiences here.
And | miss my guess if the American
people, thus made up, will not develop a
civilization higher greater and more en-
during than any civilization which has
preceded ours Great applause).
When any one tells me that we want
to initiate Anglo-Saxon civilization l tell
him that an American civilization is
higher than any other-no matter what
it is. l do not mean to say one word
against the Anglo SaXons. l have not
word to say against the Celt, the Latin,
the Greek or the Teuton But | do be-
lieve that the American, in whom are
combined the virtues of them all is the
greatest citizen the world has ever known
Great applause). And that the civiliza
tion to be developed here will lift bu-
manity to higher plane than it has
occupied in the days gone by" (Renewed
applause).