Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-09-24

President that he sought to show this
truth in practice in the most exalted
position to which man can be called.
1t was his aim to become known as a
citizen as well as a President to all
OF his countrymen.
Though our minds are filed with
sadness so that they can contain little
else yet it is impossible to entirely eX
clude the thought OF the responsible
ity resting upon us to visit swift pun
ishment upon the perpetrator of this
terrible deed. l am we'll aware this
is not the place nor the occasion to
speak of vengeance nor to seek to
arouse resentment against the MUIR
derer. But l cannot resist the I'M
pulse which moves us all to demand
prompt justice for the wretch who has
outraged the feelings of great ma
ton and taken the life of one of the
most blameless and illustrious of it's
citizens. Within very few years the
executive of one of our greatest cities,
the governor of one of our great
states. and the President of the Unit
ed States have been murdered by
assassins. In this counry there is no
room for murderers. TINS is a nation
of law loving people. The nation must
protect it's representatives and wheth-
er the act of murder be by an individ,
ual or by organization of any sort. the
nation must secure prompt justice.
Liberty of thought and liberty of
speech must be preserved, but he who
resorts to murder, or teaches murder
is an enemy to both. The man who
teaches disorder and homicide is ty-
rant and no tyrant is worthy of the
protection of government. Let us
hope and trust that under the guidance
of Divine Providence our beloved coun-
try may escape permanent harm from
this awful crime and that we may be
so guided as to escape repetition in
all time to come.
At the conclusion OF the address by
Mayor Piclller, Rev. Lynch gave the
address OF the day, filled with patriotic
sentiment, and deep sorrow. He gave
a short history of the assassination
of our two former Presidents, giving
causes for the shooting of both. Alb
raham Lincoln lost his life after one
of the most bloody and disastrous
wars in the history of the country,
when sentiment feeling, and passion
ran so high that it was easy for des-
perate man to do the deed. Lincoln,
like Moses, was only allowed to see
the promised land, and not permitted
to enter. He saw the accomplishment
of his most sacred wish, the establish
ment OF free country, but just at it's
elimination, he was shot by an assas-
sin. His death, however, served a
great purpose, in that it cemented the
union more closely together. and made
possible the complete reconstruction
of our government. 1t is a fact that
there is nothing so strong in bringing
the people nearer together than {
common grief or common peril.
Emperor William of Germany sue
ceeded by a foreign war, to cement the
separate states of the German govern
ment into one solid union, so the
death of President Garfield, after a
most bitter political compaign that
fired the disordered brain of an i'm
passioned, disappointed man until he
thought he was doing the country a
great act Of loyalty by killing the chief
executive, served to bring cur people
nearer together by the long weeks of
anxiety and prayer that Immediately
| followed his shooting.
| The death of President Mckinley,
| however, had no such times to produce
cause for the shooting. The civil
war is past and gone, politics were
quiet and we supposed ourselves to be
prosperous, happy, and at peace with
all mankind. The deed was not done
in state of passion or excitement, but
was cody planned and deliberately
carried out at a time when the Presi-
dent was endeayoring to remove any
barriers that had existed between the
chief executive and the common PEG.
pie, ,by getting as near to them as was
] possible. 1t was not blow at VIM.
| Mckinley as a man, but as President
| Mckinley; blow at our government
and free institutions. He was shot
because he was President, and be,
cause he stood for all that was good
and grand in our republic. Other men
whose influence for good was as great
as President McKinley's have died and
we have felt sorrow, but never mourn.
| ed as a nation like we do today. We
placed him in the Presidents chair
| We made it possible that he should
| be shot by advancing him to that high
Office, and leaving him in that position
of peril. He died for us, and we all
grieve. But his death has served tc
cement us closer together, and bring
us to realization of the danger con
fronting us as a nation. We have
found out that there is dangerous
class of people in the nation, who
threaten the very life of our free gov
eminent, and has started us to think
ing of a remedy for this condition OF
affairs.
Rev. Lynch did not claim the wis
dom to perfect wise course to pur
sue in the matter, but he did advance
the idea that we should be more care
full in the selection of the kind of PEG
pie we allowed to enter the doors OF
our nation. He also said we should
take steps to rid ourselves of those al
ready here,and suggested that the PEG
pie of the country put a ban upor
them by absolutely refusing to have
|anything to do with them or associate
with them in any way whatever, ant
make it SO uncomfortable that they
would leave of their own accord. HI
was panied and grieved that there