The Taney County republican., 1900-06-14
and have defended the rights of the pooR
without preaching gospel of hate against

without preaching gospel of hate against
the rich.
For a third of a century this great ~.
public enjoyed the blessings of peace. AN
sections of its people were united and en-
5oJing an era of commercial and material
prosperity never before eQualed In the his.
tory of the world. Sitting by our own fire.
sides. enjoying the greatest blessings that
ever came to a free people. we endeavored
to close our eyes to the groans of distress
that came from the island of Cuba; groanS
that came from wrtthing under the heel
OF desOptism that had existed 400 years.
Then came the explosion in Havana har.
Dor, which lifted into the sky an exclama-
ton point with which history closed one
epoch and began another Then this re-
public lifted up Its proud head among the
nations of the earth and heard the chal-
lenge of destiny ringing clear as a bugle
call on the line of battle. Then an army
was mobilized that came from the SOUTH
land and from the northland. Joe Wheeler.
who had worn the confederat gray, was
clothed In the union blue and he was given
the sword of the republic; and upon the
hills of Ell Caney and San Juan, with the
sun so hot that the boys could scarcely
hold the rifle barrels. marched side by side
those who had worn the blue and those
who had worn the gray; the black man and
the white man; the old slave and his for
mer master; and amid the heat and dust
and blood and tears they fought until they
had torn down the Spanish flag, never
again to be hoisted upon the western hemi-
sphere, and hauled up the stars and stripes.
the emblem of freedom: and under the
burning rays of the sun of liberty the lash
of superstition and darkness that came
from the middle ages melted away into
oblivion. Under the rays of that common
victory melted away forever the hate be-
tween the north and the south.
ION that May morning. when Dewey
sailed his fleet across the mines of Manila
harbor and sunk the Spanish ships. we set
the confines of liberty further out into the
dark confines of the earth, even unto the
gateway of the world.
God never gave us this heritage of lib
erty and enlightenment that we might sit
at home in idle enjoyment resistlesS
destiny moves the American people on
ward and forward. and you and cannot
measure the length and breadth and depth
of that great destiny. only know that
nations. like individuals. are permitted to
take one step at a time. and that no human
force can withhold or erase the future rec
ord that destiny has written for the Amer
lean republic.
"Some timorous people who take counsel
of their fears recall the gloomy prophecy
of Lord Byron: t-.
'Tis but the same rehearsal of the past.
First freedom, and then glory-when that
fails,
Wealth. vice, corruption, barbarism at
last;
And History with all her volumes vast.
Hath but one page"
colder nations that had their arts and
sciences, their armies and their navies.
have perished from the face of the earth.
but they were built wrong. They forgot the
people. A few were rich and learned and
powerful. but the many were slaves.
1.-TWO thousand years ago flower Divine
closed its petals upon the cross of Calvary.
and to-day 1t bears its ripened fruit in that
great spirit of human liberty that finds its
highest manifestation in the American re-
public-a republic that is based upon equal
ity and upon manhood's suffrage: a repub-
lie that shows to the world that the hui
man race has broken the bonds of servi-
tude, and. escaping at last from its impris-
onment. has struck out on a new pathway.
The scroll of the century is rolled to-
gether. The work is done. Peace to the
memory of the fathers! Green be the
graves where sleep the warriors. patriots
and sages! Calm be the resting place of all
the brave and true. Gentle be the summer
rains on famous fields where armies met in
battle! Forgotten be the animosities and
heartburnings of the strife! Sacred be the
trusts committed to our care and bright
the visions of the coming ages!'
Not In vain the distance beacons. For
ward, forward let us range;
Let the great world spin forever down tho
ringing grooves of change.
Through the shadows of the globe we
sweep into the younger day:
Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle Of
Cathay.
" Far along the worldwide whisper of the
south wind rushing warm,
With the standards Of the peoples plunging
through the thunder storm;
Till the war drum throbbed no longer.
and the battle flags were furled
In the parliament of man, the federation OF
the world.
'' There the common sense Of most shall
hold fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber. lapt in
universal law"
OThe prospective value of our new