The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-08-08
The Presidents Tour.

The very first fact which, in my judg-
ment, impressed itself upon the Presi-
dent and his party is the homogeneity
of the American people. We reached
San Francisco by way of Memphis,
New Orleans, Ell PaSO, and Los Angeles.
The journey was over 5000 miles in
length; and yet there was no city en-
route, no crowd which gathered, which
was not thoroughly and typically Ameri-
can. This, it may be remarked, was to
have been expected; and yet the I'M
portance of the fact is not thereby les
sened. l can now well understand why
the weary brain-worker or the broken
down money maker turns his face
toward England and the Continent in
his rest-seeking moments. A few hours
from London and he is amid the kalei-
dOscOpic scenes of Paris; then Switzer-
land is within easy reach; Italy and
Spain lie beyond; Germany and Russia,
or even Turkey and Egypt, are compare
lively near at hand. Within distance
equal to that which separates New
York and San Francisco, there are a
dozen nationalities, each with its dis
tinctive characteristics and each afford
ing the delight of novelty. But the Unit
ed States is the United States from ocean
to ocean, from the Canadian border
to the blue waters of the Gulf of Mex
leo. The city which is reached to-day
is but the counterpart of the city which
was left yesterday. There is an I'M
varying monotony of architecture, an
absolute lack of diversity in dress and
custom The people are actuated by
the same ideas, they speak an identical
language, they sell the same goods in
stores modelled after the same pattern.
Market Street in San Francisco is but a
reproduction of Market Street in Phil
adelphia, even to the ferries at the
lower end; and State Street in Chicago
is but Broadway built up again with
greater width.
Very trite and familiar all this may
seem to the casual traveller who fails to
appreciate its real significance, but it
appealed to the President with tremend-
Gus force. He appreciated, more than
ever, the solidity of the nation, its COM
munity of interest, the singleness of
patriotic purpose which animates its
great pulsating heart AS the states
man he is, he saw that as long as these
conditions continue there is no need to
question the future of the Republic.
Thus we find him, in his speeches. i'm
pressing upon his auditors this idea of
national unity. Zone flag, one coun-
try, one destiny" was his unwavering
text. 1t is no wonder that he found
! therein theme for eloquent utterance.
His words may seem empty rhetoric to
the man whose view is bounded by the
narrow confines of his own town or
| county, and to whom the word San
Francisco conveys no idea as to the vast
expanse which separates that city from
| New York. To those who accompanied
the President, and who witnessed every
where hundreds of thousands of loyal
citizens manifesting by every visible
sign of pleasure their respect for the
Presidential office and their personal re
gard for its occupant, the trans-con-
tinental tour was a continual inspira-
ton. No man could have witnessed
those scenes and remained unthrilled:
no man could have participated in them
without feeling of pride in his Ameri-
can citizenship. What contrast, fol
instance, with Austria-Hungary, where
in a territory embracing only 240,00C
square miles, as compared with the 3,
$1,000 square miles Of the United
States, we find such diversity of Ian
guage that the printed money contains
the denomination of the note expressed
in more than dozen different charac
tiers, and where the discussions Of the
Reichsrath may be likened to modern
Babel. Austria hungary is, indeed, g
i patchwork structure, liable to collapse
the United States is complete, solidi
i fed, harmonious edifice, with a founda
ton as broad and secure as the length
J and breadth of the land-By Henry
/ Litchfield West in the A ugust Forum.