The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-08-02

needed by really great statesmen.
could not at first grasp what the process
really meant Slowly and with incredi-
BILE labor the backWoodsmen of the old
colonies hewed their way through the
dense forests from the tidewater region
to the crests Of the Alleghenies. But
by the time the Aleghenies were reach
ed about at the moment when our ma
tiOnal life began, the movement had
gained wonderful momentum. Thence
forward it advanced by leaps and
bounds, and the frontier pushed west
ward across the continent with ever in
creaSing rapid1ty until the day came
when it vanished entirely. Our greatest
statesmen have always been those who
believed in the nation; who had faith in
the power of our people to spread until
they should become the nightiest among
the peoples of the world
Under any governmental system
which was known to Europe, the prob
lem offered by the westward thrust,
across a continent, of so masterful and
Hberty-lOVing a race as ours would
have been insOluble. The great
civilized and cOlOnizing races of antiq-
uity, the Greeks and the Romans, had
been utterly unable to devise a scheme
under which when their race spread it
might be possible to preserve
both national unity and local and indi-
vidual freedom. When q Hellenic OF
Latin city sent off a colony, one or two
things happened. Either the colony was
kept in political subsection to the city
or state of which it was an offshoot;
or else it became a wholly independent
and alien and often a hostile nation.
Both systems were fraught with dis
aster. With the Greeks race unity was
sacrificed to local independence, and
as a result the Greek world became the
easy prey of foreign conquerors. The
Romans kept national unity, but only
by means of a crushing centralized
despotism-
When the modern world entered upon
the marvellous era Of expansion which
began with the discoveries of Column
0rre 0r al Il 70 daxyi m
new plan. All the great colOnizing
powers, England, France, Spain, Portu-
gal. Holland. and Russia, managed
their colonies primarily in the interest
of their home country. Some did bet
ter than others-England, for instance,
did far better than Spafn-but in no
case were the colonies treated as citi-
zens of equal rights in a common coun-
try. Our ancestors, who were at once
the strongest and the most lberty-1ov-
ing among all the peoples who had
been thrust out into new continents
We're the first to revolt against this
system; and the lesson taught by their
success has been thoroughly learned.
In applying the new principles to our
conditions we have found the federal
constitution a nearly perfect instru-
ment- The system of a closely knit and
indestructible union of free common
wealths has enabled US to do what
neither Greek nor Roman in their
served the complete unity of an TX
panding race without impairing in the
slightest degree the liberty of the indi-
vidual. When in a given locality the
settlers became sufficiently numerous,
they We're admitted to statehood, and
thenceforward shared all the rights
and all the duties of the citizens of the
older states. AS with Columbus and
the egg, the expedient seems obvious
enough nowadays. but then it was SO
novel that a couple of generations had |
to pass before we ourselves thoroughly |
grasped all it's features. At last we
grew to accept as automatic, the two
facts of national union and local and |
personal freedom. As whatever is axi- !
omatic seems commonplace, we now |
tend to accept what has been accomp- !
hshed as mere matter of course Incl |
dent, of no great moment. The very /
completeness with which the vitality /
important task has been done almost |
blinds US to the extraordinary nature |
of the achievement
You, the men of Colorado, and above |
all, the older among those whom am |
now addressing, have been engaged in |
doing the great typical work of our /
people. Save only the preservation of /
the union itself, no other task has been /
so important as the conquest and SET
tlement of the west This conquest and |
settlement has been the stuperdous |
feat OF our race for the century that |
has just closed. It stands supreme /
among all such feats. The same KIND /
OF thing has been in Australia and Can /
ada, but upon less important seal :.
while the Russian advance in Siberia /
mas been incOmparably slower. In all /
the history Of mankind there is nothing |
that quite parallels the way in which /
our people have filled vacant conti-
nent with self-governing common /
wealths, knit into one nation And of |
all this marvellous history perhaps the /
most wonderful portion is that which /
deals with the way in which the Pacific /
coast and the Rocky mountains were
settled.
The men who founded these COM
Inunlties showed practically by their |
lie work that it is indeed the spirit Of /
adventure which is the maker of com
Inonwealths. Their traits of daring and |
hardihood and iron endurance are not /
merely Indispensable traits for success
1ul pioneers; they are also traits which /
must go to the makeup of every
mighty and successful people. You and |
your fathers who built up the west did /
more even than you thought, for yoii
SNAPPED thereby the destiny of the whole
republic, and as a necessary coroIIarv
profoundly Influenced the course of
events throughout the world More
ana more as the years go by this re-
pupHc VIII find its guidance in the
tnought and action of the west. be-
-~9U LIE GouI1LlOHS or development in |
the west have steadily tended to ac-
~entuate the peculiarly American char
acteristics of its people.
There was scant room for the coward
ana the weakling in the ranks of the
adventurous frontiersmen, the pioneer
settlers who first broke up the wild /
prairie soil, who first hewed their way /
into the primeval forest who guided /
their white-topped wagons across the
endless leagues of Indian-hrnted DESC
iatlon, and explored every remote
mountain chain IN the ..aStIo-c .....,r.s