The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-23
AT THE UNION LEAGUE.
Founders Day Banquet, at Which the
President Spoke.

After brief rest President Roosevelt was
escorted to the Union League, arriving
there at $50 o'clock, where he participated
in the founders day banquet and made
the principal address of the evening. At
the Presidents table were seated the men,
bers of his party. Maj Gen. John R.
Brooke, Congressman Dalzell, Governor
Stone, of Pennsylvania, and Charles Emory
Smith The President spoke as follows:
Forty years ago this club was founded,
In the dark days of the civil war, to up
hold the hands of Abraham Lincoln and
give aid to those who battled for the Union
and for human liberty. Two years ago
President Mckinley came here as your
guest to thank you, and through you all
those farsighted and loyal men who had
supported him in his successful effort TO
at home and the national honor abroad,
and to bring back 10 this country the ma
terial well-being which we now so abund-
antly enjoy 1t was no accident which
made the men of this club who stood as
in a peculiar sense the champions and up
holders of the principles of Lincoln In the
early sixties stand no less stoutly for those
typiied in the person of Mckinley during
the closing of the century. The qualities
apt to make men respond to the call of
duty in one crisis are also apt TO make
them respond TO a similar call in crisis
of a different character. The traits which
enabled our people TO pass unscathed
through the fiery ordeal of the civil war
were the traits upon which we had TO rely
in the less serious, but yet serious, dangers
by which we were menaced in 1896, 1898 and
1900.
QUALITIES THAT COUNT,
From the very beginning our people
have markedly combined practical capacity
for affairs with power of devotion to an
ideal The lack of either quality would
have rendered the possession of the other
of small value. Mere ability to achieve
success in things concerning the body
would not have atoned for the failure TO
live the life of high endeavor; and, on the
other hand, without a foundation of those
qualities which bring material prosperity
there would be nothing OH which the high
err life could be built. The men of the
revolution would have failed If they had
not possessed alike devotion to liberty and
ability, once liberty had been achieved, to
show common sense and self-restraint in
its use The men of the great civil war
would have failed had they not possessed
the business capacity which developed and
organized their resources in addition to
the stern resolution TO expend these re-
sources as freely as they expended their
blood in furtherance of the great cause for
which their hearts leaped. II is this COM
bination of qualities that has made our
people succeed. Other peoples have been as
devoted TO liberty. and yet, because OF
lack OF hard-headed common sense, and
of ability TO show restraint and subordi-
nate individual passions for the general
good have failed signally in the struggle
of life as to become a byword among the
nations. Yet other peoples, again. have
possessed all possible thrift and business
capacity, but have been trampled under
foot or have played q sordfd and ignoble
part In the world because their business