The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1900-01-19
Present-Day Thoughts.

'fN''AN " t'lAiAl AHn lllA AllE I AINl-
dental chair, by very careful delibera-
ton with his cabinet and others and
by revising and rewriting the article
several times he enunciated his fare
well message. To read it is to feel
thrilled with the devotion of the man.
1t is touching to note his solicitude i'm
relation to the varied perls that he
foresaw; and because there is so much
human feeling, 50 much of heart, /
might say in every word of the round
ed sentences, it will ever be iavorite
document. But if we are willing to
concede that Washington was "A man
with finite powers and not a demigod
we shall have to own that his previ-
sion must have had some limitations.
He and those who labored with him
certainly had no idea that the fringe of
thirteen colonies would stretch and ex-
tend until they were forty-five magni-
licent States covering an unbroken
territory more than three thousand
miles wide. Neither could they have
foreseen that methods Of transportation
would make San Francisco more ac-
cesslble to New York than was Boston
in earlier days; nor that the telegraph
would bring the most widely separa-
ted portions Of the country as near one
another as early neighboring States,
nor that the telephone would exert its
mysterious influence so that a thou
sand miles should seem less of a diyi-
sion than a wall. Neither could they
have foreseen that with the extending
territory Of the United States there
would come instead Of purely agricul-
tural pursuits tremendous manufactur-
ing developments that together with
mining have caused this country to be
practically the richest in its reserve
possessions Of any country in the
world. Neither could they know of
the disappearance Of the war vessels
that sailed favor Of those that were
propelled, leading to cOaling stations
aud diplomatic re-adjustments. Meth
er could they have foreseen the decay
ing power of Spain and the brutality
of Spain as a consequence Of that
decay, and finally the interference Of
the United States in the purely domes-
tic affairs Of Spain because we love
gentleness rather than cruelty, and
righteousness rather than rapine.
The fringe Of l776 spread by natural
expansion over Louisiana, over Spanish
America, over Texas and the West,
and the genius Of the Englsh-speaking
race has caused it now to spread over
certain distant islands Of the sea, max
ing Us take our stand with England in
stretching progressiveinhuen around
the world. The country that lives,
grows; with growth comes change;
with change must necessarily come
REIMBURSEMENT or calamity. Therefore,
if the voice Of Washington could now
be heard, | think that he would be the
last to maintain the liberal construc-
ton of his own message in view Of un-
foreseen development. The past had
its lessons for him; the past has It's
lessons for Us. Yet in meeting the
circumstances Of his career, he was
not blind follower Of the past, but
adjusted himself magniiicently to the
present as he met it, and he would
contend for our liberty in the same
direction. A glorious past belongs to
America an equally glorious present is
hers; only divine wisdom can foresee
how great and glorious her future Will
be; but if she goes forward TO meet
that future solely in the light Of the
past, she will cast the darkness Of her
own shadow upon the pathway before
her-she Will be doing the very thing
that Washington, the far-seeing man
of his day, would not have done.