The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-29
a Red Letter Day.

A Red Letter Day.
The President arrived in st. Louis to-
day to. take part In the dedication Of tn.
st. Louis universal exposition tomorrow
which will be characterized by imposing
ceremonials and pageantries, civic and
1 military.
The occasion invites all the eloquence
which the president commands. The
Louisiana purchase, which the exposition
! commentaries, was an event of such far
reaching Importance as determining the
expansive quality Of American ambition
| that the centenary Of the transaction,
which was the final blow at French DOM
ination on this continent, becomes pc
friod Of national congratulation. IS. It. is
only to be regretted that the exposition
itself with all It's evidences&of American
progress in the century past, together
with the worlds contributions, cannot
Immediately follow the dedication The
occasion is SO intimately connected with
the patriotism of Thomas jefferson that
any commemoration OF the great deal by
him with the first Napoleon necessarily
involves the accord of a tribute Of ma
tional kind to his wisdom and foresight.
Here was statesman who had, a few
years before the negotiations with France,
founded a party the basis Of whose creed
was the restriction of the dominion of
congress to the grants Of authority sspeci-
f1caIly set forth in the federal constitu-
ton, or manifestly involved in them, and
who, after emphatically declaring that
the constitution had made no provision
for the holding of foreign territory by the
United States or for Incorporating foreign
nations into the union, deliberately and
on the ground of expediency, negotiated
for the absorption Of Louisiana territory
into the union at a cost of $4,000, 900.
The executive" said Jefferson, sin seiz,
Ing the fugitive occurrence which so much
advanced the good of the country, has
done an act beyond the constitution. The
legislature, in casting behind them meta
physical subtleties, and risking them
selves like faithful servants, must ratify
and pay for 1t, and throw themselves on
their country for doing for them unau-
thorized, what we know they would have
done for themselves had they been in 2,
situation to do it,
The leading opposition was on the
ground that the incorporation of terri
tory from the mouth of the Mississippi
and west of that river to the Rocky noun
tains would destroy the weight and i'm
portance Of the eastern states and force
them to establish a separate rindependent
empire, thus ultimately bringing about the
subversion of the union. The great fed
eralist leader, Hamilton, however, held
that the best interests of our nation re-
quired the annexation of Louisiana terri
tory and the FIoridas. He was in favor
Of first seizing New Orleans and the
Floridas, and then negotiating. This
Russian method did not suit Jefferson.
Notable Is it, that the national celebra-
ton Tomorrow at st. Louis has it's pro-
curing cause in the act Of a. president
who, in 1871, called into being what was
then called the Republican party, on
the basis of his opposition, to the bill
creating the first United States bank as
transcendlng the powers delegated to the
United States by the constitution. This
was when Jefferson was a member of
Washington's cabinet. On the assump-
ton OF power by his party, he being the
president, he became the violator of the
according to his own :adnis-
sion, because national interests required
the annexation Of territory out of which
fifteen states and territories have been
carved: The democratic party. in its |
noisy antagonism toward expansion after
the Spanish war, swas distinctly anti
Jeffersonian, condemning the most |
patriotic act of the founder Of their, party.
The great and fourishing aud wealthy
region We call the west is not afraid Of
expansion. Its people have approved each
step in national expansion. They recog-
nize that it has amplified the grandeur
and stability Of the great American union. /