The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-10-19

strength of your patriotism, the power of
your minds, the purity of your purposes.
The party of destruction fears that you
will change the flag of the Republic into
flag of an empire. VIII you enlist with
them or with us? Will you march with the
party of advance, whose very soul and
breath of life is faith in the American peo-
pie and belief in the vitality of American
institutions, or will you march with the
party of retreat, whose very soul and
breath of life is disbelief in the American
people and infidelity to American institu-
tons?
ADMINISTRATION OF DEPENDENCIES
IF the party of retreat tells you that
this policy of administering American gov
eminent in lands whose people cannot gov
ern themselves robs those people of their
liberties ask them what liberty is. Ask
them whether turning these people over
to the slaughter of each other is giving
them liberty. Ask them whether giving
them orderly government is denying them
liberty. Ask them whether building school
houses for all their children is denying
them liberty. Ask them whether the adj
ministration of impartial justice by incor.
ruptible judges is denying them liberty.
Ask them whether the guardianship of
free speech among them Is denying them
liberty. Ask them whether the bestowal
on them of every one of the sacred privi-
leges enumerated in our bill of rights is
denying them liberty. Ask the party of de-
struction and retreat whether they will not
have more Of the blessings of both liberty
and life under your administration, you
sons of an administering race, than they
would have If left to the anarchy their
dissension would produce. The party of
destruction and retreat declares that these
children of barbarism will establish bet
ter government than the government you
will administer to them, for you, young
men of America, are the administrators of
the future-aye. even of the present, for
your hour is at hand
denies our constitutional power to carry
out this great plan Of national advance and
national salvation-for advance is salvation
as surely as retreat is certain death-we
have only to point to the words of the
Constitution itself. We have only to point
TO the history of our race. We have only
to recite the story of our Nation Our own
immediate history, in its constitutional
aspect, has been one long struggle between
the forces of construction and the forces Of
resistance. The battle to-day between
these forces is only the elimination of a
century's struggle, confined till now
within the borders of the Republic
but extended now tc the field of
forces of resistance denied the Nation
power to do almost everything; but a
Hamilton, and a Marshal and a Washing
ton interpreted that Constitution as a
charter of national growth and not as q
prohibition to national progress. The
forces that are resisting our national adj
vance to-day. only few decades ago de-
clared that the Nation could not char
ter a national bank; but the party of con-
stitutional progress triumphed, and to-day
banks, chartered and supervised by the
Nation, have taken the place of State in
situations throughout the Republic to the
betterment of all the people The forces
of destruction and retreat only a few de-
cades-aye, even years ago-violently re-
sisted the right of the Nation to make in
ternal improvements. to build roads dredge
rivers, equip harbors; the party of con-
stitutional progress triumphed once again.
and to-day the harbors and rivers of every
State are the harbors and rivers of the
Nation. The forces of destruction and
retreat only yesterday affirmed the right
of a part of the Republic to set up it's own
self-government outside of the flag but the
party of constitutional progress, with
Abraham Lincoln at its head, denied that
proposition, and millions of young men Of
America. with muskets in their hands. shot
that proposition to death. And so to-day
the denial by the party of de-
struction and retreat of the right
of this Nation to acquire territory
and administer government over that terri
tory in such way as may be best for it, and
the Nation is only another phase OF the
perpetual objection which for a hundred
years has been made by the forces of de-
struction and retreat at every step OF ma
tional advance. And L ask you young men
of America, whether now with tina. record
behind us, and with the future full of pos
sibilities for you and for the Republic be-
fore US. you Will enlist under the standard
or those WHO nave resisted every QeEelOD-
ment of national power and ATTEMPTED TO
stay at every step the march of the Ma
TONS flag.
AMERICAN ADVANCE
Young men of America not all the
forces of retreat will ever halt American
advance. Our destiny is the mastery OF the
world. the lordship of the nations. 1t is a
destiny determined by the geography of the
globe. Our home is a continent with
earth's two great oceans on either hand.
highways for commerce. bulwarks for de-
tense. We have longer coast lines than anv
three nations in the world combined We
have more harbors and more ports than
any two nations in the world combined
We are the natural rulers of the worlds
high seas. 1t is the logic of nature that
America shall rule the waves and from
Athens to England the power that has
ruled the oceans has been the power that
has ruled the world. Our destiny is The
lordship of the nations. IL is destiny de-
teTmined by the traditions of our race by
every page Of our heroic history. by every
step OF the ceaseiess march OF our advanc-
ing flag Who so mad as TO suppose that
we VIII now reverse the instincts Of our
race? Who so simple to suppose that
we viii now reuouncc the mission
Of extending American authority which
our fathers IN their day so nobly per-
fcr "a 30 I'd