Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-04
Day of Iron Need Come Again.

And then seventy years and more past,
and then there came again upon the nation
the days of iron need. There came again
the days that demanded all that was best
the life itself Of the bravest and the truest
Of the nations's sons. And with the Sumter's
guns awakened our people and America,
until then the incarnate genius of peace
sprang to her feet, with sword and with
shield, a helmeted queen among nations; ;
when the thunder Of the guns called the
nations children they sprang forward to
do the mighty deeds which, If left. undone,
would have meant that the words to which
We have listened today would have rung
as meaningless platitudes. loud applause.)
Those were the two great epechs in the
nation history, the epoch of the founding
OF the Union and the epoch of its preser-
walton; the epoch of Washington and the
epock og Abraham Lincoln. cloud applause
and cheers.) Those two generations had
the greatest tasks to do, but each genera
ton has its tasks, and woe to the genera
ton which regards the deeds of the mighty
men of the past as an excuse for this fall
ing to do in its turn the work that it finds
ready to hand. (Applause.) The great deeds
of those that have gone before us must
ever serve not a reason for inaction on
our part, but as the keenest of spurs to
drive US forward on the path of national
greatness and justice. (Applause.)
We have had our tasks to do In last four
years, or rather We have had as every gen.
GRAFTON must have, many tasks to do, tasks
affecting abroad, and one of those tasks
being done, as it has been, has signaled our
entry into a larger world. (Applause.)
Praise for the Army.
1t is most appropriate that on this Fourth
of July, this anniversary of the birth of the
nation, it should be our good fortune to
have promulgated the declaration estab-
fishing peace in the Philippines and the ac-
Acknowledgement 20 the army of the praise 40
F1lIa
the uniform of the United States for all
that they have done in the tropic islands
during the past four years Continued ap-
plause and cheers)
We said Cuba should become a free re-
public, and we have kept our word loud
applause) To have turned Cuba over to
the hands of its own people Immediately
after the Withdrawal of the Spanish flag
would have meant ruin and chaos. We es-
tabiished a government in the islands: we
established peace and order; we began to
provide for the payment of the Cuban
troops who had fought against the misruie
| of their OppresSorS; We instituted a public
| school system. modelled upon that which
has been so potent a factor in our own ma
tional progress. (Applause) We cleaned
the cities in Cuba for the first time in their
We changed them from being the most
unhealthy TO being among the healthiest
cities of the civilized world. We introduced
| a system of orderly Justice to succeed one
So that any man, rich or poor, weak or
strong, could appeal to courts and know
that he would receive his rights.
And then when in the fulIness of time we
felt they could walk alone we turned over
the government to them and now the beau
tifui queen of the Antilles has started on
her course free republic among the
| nations of the earth. (Applause)
Our Policy Toward Cuba.
But there Is one thing-our policy toward
Cuba has not yet met with its entire frui-
| tion. 1t will meet with it. tApplause) The
| course of the last few years has made
| more evident than ever before that this ma
| ton must in time to come have pecuniary
interests on the isthmus connecting the two
! Americas and in the waters and among the
| islands adjacent thereto. (Applause.l Ma
| tionally We cannot occupy the position to-
ward these regions that we did toward
| others where our interests are far less, and
| this is doubly true now that Congress with
/ great wisdom has provided for the building
| of an interocean canal. (Applause.)
Cuba must occupy a peculiar relation to
| us in the field of international politics. She
| must in the larger sense be part of the
| general political system in international af-
| fairs of which this republic stands as the
| head. She has assented to that view and
| in return this nation is bound to give her
| special economic privileges not given to
| other nations cloud applause)
| i regret that measure Of reciprocity