Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1902-11-28

memphis from MS reCent Dedr hunl III
Mississippi, he found there General Luke
f. Wright, who is lieutenant-gcvernor
of the Philippines, at home on vacation.
The citizens of Memphis were about
giving Gen. Wright public reception
and they included President Roosevelt
in the demonstration.
The President was called on for a
speech, and among other things more or
less complimentary to the guest of the
evening made some very patriotic al
lusions, and told some very plain truths.
He said at is a real and great plea
sure to come to this typical city of the
southern Mississippi valley in order to
greet a typical American, citizen of
Tennessee, who deserves honor not only
from his state, but from the entire coun-
try-Gen. Luke f. Wright. We have
right to expect high. standard of man
hood from Tennessee. 1t was one of
the first two states created west of the
Allegheny mountains, and it was in this
state that the first governing COM
&
lished upon waters flowing into the
gulf. The pioneers of Tennessee were
among the earliest in the great west
ward march which thrust the nations
border across the continent to the Pacific,
and it is eminently fitted that a son of
Tennessee should now play so prominent
a part in the further movement of eX-
pansion beyond the Pacific. There have
been presidents of the United States for
but one hundred and thirteen years,
and during sixteen of those years Ten
nesseeans sat in the White House. IIar-
| dihood, and daring, and iron resolution
are of right to be expected among the
/ sons of a state which nurtured Andrew
jackson and Sam Houston; which sent
| into the American navy one of the most
famous fighting admirals of all time,
Farragut
There is another reason why our cOun-
/ try should be glad that it was General
Wright who rendered this service. Cen
eral Wright fought with distinguished
gallantry among the gallant men who
served IN the armies of the Confederacy
during the Civil War. We need no
proof of the completeness of our re-
union as people. When the war with
Spain came the sons of the men who
wore the blue and the sons of the men
who wore the gray We'd with one another
in the effort to get into the ranks and
face foreign foe under the old flag that
had been carried in triumph under Win
field Scott and Zachary Taylor and And
rev jackson. 1t was my own good
fortune to serve under that fearless
fighter, old Joe Wheeler, memory of
which shall always be proud. But if
we needed any proof of the unity of our
interests it would have been afforded
this very year by General Wright, the
eX Conferedatc. in his administration as
acting governor of the Philippine Islands.
Upon him during the months of summer
rested a heavier burden of responsibility
than upon any other public servant at
that particular time and not the least of
!
which he was able to work on terms of
cordial good will with the head of the
army, himself man VINO bad honored
the blue uniform as Wright had honor
ed the gray.
General Wright's work has been as
difficult as it was important. The events
of the last four years have definitely
decided that whether we wish to or not
the world. We can not escape facing
the duties. We may shirk them if we
are built of poor stuff, or we may take
hold and do them if we are fit sons of
our sires, but face them we must. whet-
her we will or not. Our duty In the
Philippine Islands has simply been one
of the duties that thus have come upon
us. We are there and we can no more
haul down our flag and abandon the is
lands than we could now abandon Al
aska. Whether we are glad or sorry
that events forced us to go there is aside
from the question; the point is that, as
the inevitable result of the war with
Spain, we found ourselves in the Philip.
pines and that we could not leave the
islands without discredit The islanders
were wholly unfit TO govern themselves.
and if we had left there would have
been brief period of bloody chaos and
then some other nation would have step.
ped in to do the work which we had
shirked. 1t can not be to often repeated
that there was no question that the work
had to be done. All the question was
whether we would do it well or i'll; and
= thanks to the choice of men like Cover
nor Wright, it has been done WELL The
first and absolutely Indispensable requi.
site was order-peace. The reign of
lawess violence, of resistance to leglti-
mate authority, the reign of anarchy
could no more be tolerated abroad than
it could be tolerated here in our owl
land.
The American flag stands for orderly
liberty, and it stands for it abroad as il
stands for it at home. The task of our
| Sol1iprC WAS IN rpStOrp and m4iufai .