The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-23
NAPOLEON At ST. LOUIS.

The proposition to erect statue OF
| Napoleon at the ST. Louis exposition in
commemoration of the part he played
in the history of Louisiana is meeting
with opposition from some newspapers
on grounds that reflect no credit on the
boosted broad mindedness of Amer
| icanism.
The discussion of personal and political
| ethics or historical questions in which
the personal equation is dominant, is
very apt to be superficial to a degree.
! This superficiality has been the strong
est characteristic of the editorial COM
ments opposing the erection of a statue
of Napoleon on American soil.
The objections alleged are; first, that
| Napoleon ceded Louisiana to the United
States because he could not keep it, and
/ because he wanted money to oppose
England in the then threatened war; Sec
ond, that Napoleon was an imperialist
and therefore should not be honored by
a statue in country dedicated to de-
| mocracy.
Admitting without comment these allie
cations, are they sufficient reason for
refusing to commemorate in bronze Of
marble ,.le act of man who contributed,
either selfshly or otherwise, more than
any other to the territorial and conse-
| quently national greatness of the United
! States?
| iS WI i,, tI1a
sion of this proposed statue to enter into
the old controversy of the personal char
acter of Napoleon, nor to examine with
microscope his motives in ceding Lou
isiana to the infant republic. On all
questions Napoleouic the world has been
divided and will be divided to the end
of time. Among all Intelligent men, how
ever, there are a sufficient number of
points of agreement on the character,
career, and influence of the great Cor
| sican, to place the erection of a statue
of him on the exposition grounds at st.
! Louis, beyond cavil
! 1t is admitted that Napoleon Bonaparte
was the foremost man of all the world
! That his personal character, his motives
! and his ambitions were, judged by the
| stT1ctest moral code, far superior to those
of the average Nsovereigns of the old
world. That his career, both military
and civil from Toulon to Waterloo, made
for liberty and democracy as against op-
preston and imperialistic legitimacy
| That the cession of Louisiana to the
! United States was Napoleon's personal
act and that the acquisition of this en-
pire made it possible for the republic TO
become world power.
Whether Napoleon harbored an ambi-
| ton to erect world-empire, with him
self at it's head, or was fighting Europe
| in war of self-defense, it matters not.
We think that the evidence is over
whelmingly in favor of the latter prop
| osition, but this as well as the question
of his motives in ceding Louisiana to the
United States, is not germane to the
present discussion.
Notwithstanding the fact that Column
| bus discovered America by accident; al
| though his intentions were to reach
Cathay by sailing west instead of doub-
ling the Cape of Good Hope, we made
| him the chief figure in the celebration OF
the discovery of this continent. The
erection of a statue of Napoleon at St.
Louis is not a matter of sentiment; it is
not intended to perpetuate the memory
! of Napoleon the Emperor or Napoleon
the Exile; it Is not intended to honor
the memory of the Warrior or the States
man, but to honor the Man who was in
strumental in making the expansion OF
the United States from the Atlantic to
the Pacific a possibility. By erecting this
statue, we are not indorsing Imperialism
in the person of the great emperor; we
actuated Napoleon in this diplomatic
coup etat; we are simply commemorate
ing one of the greatest events of ou1
national history, by placing before the
who, by design of by fate, was a domi-
nant factor in our territorial develop.
ment.
To say that the statue of Napoleon
should not occupy a place in the histori.
cal settings to commemorate the Louisi.
ana purchase, because he was at thai
time the imperial head of France, is BELT
ting, not Napoleon but ourselves. Tc
say that the part he took in this most
important event shall not be recorded
because his motives were not wholly I'm.
selfish, is to express a sentiment too mar.
row to deserve comment
From the historical standpoint the fig
ure of Napoleon Bonaparte should stand
first among those who were the instru
ments in shaping the territorial greatness
of the United States. After him SHOULD
come Livingston and Monroe.
1t is becoming apparent that Capt
, Lemley was appointed judge advocate
for purpose. He evidently desires thai
the accused" should be convicted.
Be sure to read the naval romance
running in all the papers. 1t is a grea
story of intrigue. jealousy, bravery and
heroism. When it is finished you car
guess who is the hero.
l Will the Pioneer Press please let tn,
world know what Kitchener is going tx