Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-08-08
OLD HOME WEEK.
Continued from page ~

| 1t has been in the past, it is now
and 1 believe it will be in the future
and / make this statement advisedly-
the especial prerogative of Maine to
produce an excellent type of man and
to furnish to many other states and
| territories some of their best men
Il will not attempt to enumeratc
those that have gone before, their
| names are almost legion; many are IA
miiar to you and have. in fact. be-
| come household words. They are to
be found in every vocation and are Of
the highest degree of intelligence and
| ability. We have a right to point with
pride and qualification to the sons of
| Maine representing our own and other
states on the roll of the republic: great
| and good men.
yet 1T is not especially to those who
have achieved immortal honor and I'M
dying fame that / would bid welcome
| here, today, nor even those whose eff
forts in the great swirl of life, but it is
| to those others whose names are not
| known to fame; those who have been
compelled to meet the stern realities
of life and are obliged to labor at night
| and live in obscurity days.
nv MECHANIC, tHc teacher. Ile wage
Garner, the small manufacturer and the
| men in the factory. and. of all others
the farmer and the men on the ever
| restless. bounding ocean. have been a
| factor in making this country of ours
the grandest, freest and best that the
world ever knew. For it is to this class
more than any other that we are in
debted for what we now are and for
| what we may hope to be.
Perhaps it might be we'll to close nv
welcome here, but l wish to refer to
| some interests connected with the early
history of our State and it's present
prospects and position. 1t is true we
| have not within our borders a Ply
| mouth rock. Lexington or a Bunker
hlli but our forefathers contributed
their full part and did their duty in
all that makes this place historic and
almost sacred, though the history of
Maine does not begin with its admission
into the Federal union in 1920 Maine.
or the most of it, was debatable
ground. 1t is claimed. and / think
rightly. that there were settlements at
time coeval with the Pilgrim Fathers
on Plymouth rock. Certainly in those
early days England and France. the
two most powerful and enlightened
| nations at that time contended on our
shore and along our coast for suprem
| acy on this continent
Nor could any one realize that there
would be so powerful a republic that
in 200 years it was destined to extend
| from ocean to ocean, from the Allan
! tic to the Pacific, and to the golden
| Orient.
AS time moved on. many descen-
| dants of the Pilgrims and of the SOL
diers of the Revolutionary war and of
the War of 1912 We're among the earli-
est settlers of our State. There could
be no better stock than these ances-
tors of many of us. who We're men Of
action and strong determination. who
| loved liberty and who had fought for
it and sacrificed much to obtain it and
who hated tyranny of every kind ex-
cept, perhaps, their own.
Il think | may confidently claim that
| there is no spot or place on Gods green
earth where the same number of people
enjoy more of the real comforts of life
! than within our State, today.
| Our invigorating climate, our unriV-
allied seacoast with it's great harbors;
rivers, our grand. magnificent forests,
all show that nature has been kind and
generous to us and they attract within
| our borders, each year. more than
| 100000 summer visitors which number
is constantly increasing. Our people
enjoy in superlative degree the pleas
ures of individual liberty and personal
security. Everywhere is hope, not dis
| Nd ind, frxy
Maine has championed every i'm
portant motion in the interest of liber
ty and equality to all, regardless of
race or color, so as to make that part
Of the Declaration of Independence
| that declares all men free and equal.
political axiom and verify, instead Of
mere glittering generality. She has
done her full share to hasten the time
foretold by Daniel Webster.
Il suppose some of you will go from
here to visit once again your former
dwelling places in other portions of the
State, and you will be welcomed in the
cities and towns where you will, L
trust, find. contented and happy, many
of the friends and relatives that you
have left behind, but 1 am confident
| YOU will find that during your absence
| Name mas kept pace Will VIC On" al u
march Of events. Not perhaps in
wealth. though we have fair amount
of this worlds goods, very generally
and equitably distributed among our
people: not in population. which. how
ever is of secondary Importance in a
country like ours, where to raise true
men is a contamination devoutly to
| be wished.
Permit me in closing to indulge in
the hope and to express the wish that
YOU may find your visit here pleasant
and profitable, and one OF the bright
spots in life that will induce you to
come again, another year. And that
when YOU shall be about to return to
YOUR homes. the land of your adoption,
the remembrance of Maine and what
she has been and what her bright pros
poets for the future are. you will feel
| n inst pride and an increased love and
reverence for your native State