The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-24

tlondl plety,=to celebrate the memory OF Cnelr
elders-devotees, like themselves. Of liberty.
To-day, just as they did 12o years ago. the
soldiers and sailors OF France and of the
United States stand side by side; they sur
round this monument: they march under one
and the same command; they blend in one
common chord their national hymns, and In
celebrating their common glory they give the
world an example of fidelity in friendship.
This friendship YOU have proven to us. The
French Antilles have just suffered the shock
Of a tragic event. of catastrophe the like
of which the world has not witnessed for
twenty centuries. The President of the United
States, congress and the American people
have WED with one another in promptness to
send relief to oHr stricken countryunen. Per-
nit me to avail myself of this solemn occa-
sion and to thank publicly in the name Of my
government and country. you yourself, Mr.:
President, and the entire population of these
United States 44F 80 81 ~ -e... 80. -..>.:.t
You have shown by this act that something
new had taken birth between the nations,
that they might be united by bond; of disin-
terested syn3DHthY and. Of mutual good will
ana that these ideals of justice and of liberty
for which Our fathers fought and bled togeth-
or 120 years since had realls borne fruit in
the hearts Of men = -,s-s, .'' ..-s. .s,g
A little humanity has won its way into in
ternatonal relations, and three years ago we
hehelG representatives from all nations gath
cred together to devise means of insuring the
maintenance of peace TetWeen the nations. II
is happy coincidence that even. while am
speaking here the youthful and generous
sovereign who had summoned the peace con-
ference at The Hague and the President OF
the French republic are together In st, Pc
tersburg. Thus we may behold everywhere
even in the remotest regions Of the earth. a
manifest expression of the same sentiments
Of union by and between the highest and
supreme representatives of nations
Nor are these mere barren manifestations
The world gradually gaining in self-con-
seriousness, begins to frown more and more
severely on those who seek tc disturb, Its
peace; and when we measure thework accom-
plished and the advance made since Washing
ton and Rochambeau fought together for the
good of humanity, we may well conclude that
they have not conbated in vain.
This monument shall bear witness to this
fact, and shall endure as a symbol thereof in
the eyes Of the generations to come.
General Porter's Speech. ....
Following the French ambassador, Gen.
eral Horace Porter, the United States am
bassador to France, spoke as follows:
Two years ago it became my pleasant duty
to take part in the dedication of the statue
of the distinguished French marshal erected
in his native city Vendome. When upon that
occasion I saw our country's flags every
where displayed from the housetops, heard
our national airs played through all the
streets and witnessed the touching demon
strations of the people without regard to
class, expressive of their sympathy for
America, l felt that the effect of the treaty
of friendship and alliance made century
and quarter ago was still potent for good.
Upon returning from the land of Rocham-
beau it is an especial pleasure to participate
in the inauguration Of his statue in the land
Of Washington. Two countries claim a share
in the glory which illumined his career. His
remains repose on the banks Of the Loire;
it is fitting that his statue should stand on
the banks of the Potomac.
In the heart of the nations capital, in
the presence of this vast assemblage of rep
resentative citizens Of the old world and the
new, in memory Of a contest In which French
and American blood moistened the same soil
in battling for common cause, we meet to
dedicate statue In honor of a hero of two
continents-the illustrious Rochambeau.
Its dedication celebrates the joint victory
which terminated struggle that gave free
dom to the American colonies and conse-
Grated all the new world eventually to lib
erty and the rights Of man.
He came to our shores with a proud army,
handsomely equipped, brilliantly uniformed
and disciplined in the rigid school OF lead
himself associated with the modest yeo-
many OF the colonies who constituted the
American forces, who were not supplied with
clothing enough to cover their honorable
wounds, and the march Of whose shoeless
battaions could be traced by the blood which
flowed from their lacerated feet. Frequent
communication with France was impossible
and Rochambeau had been given almost un-
restricted liberty of action, Under these cir
cumstances a man with less modesty and
magnanimity of character and "a less earnest
spirit Of accommodation, might have beer
overbearing, arrogant and indisposed to lool
with favor upon plans presented by the
American commander, but he manifested from
the outset an undisguised willingness tt
adopt all measures which might facilitate
the Joint military operations upon this DIFF,
1cult theater Of war and sank all consid
erations other than those which would con.
duce to the complete success Of the allied
armies
His nnodesty was provernial. He says in hi.
memoirs, in speaking OF the surrender Of
Yorktown: "Lord CORVALLIS was Ill and
General O'Hara marched out at the head o.
| the garrison On arriving, he presented hi
sword to me. / pointed opposite to Genera
Washington at the head Of the American
army. and / said that the French army being
auxiliary upon that continent, 1t was to Thu
American general that he must look for hi