Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1903-05-09

foe. save spasmodically. As soon as pow
erful, permanent empires arose on Its
outskirts, the Greek states In the neigh
borhood of such empires fell under their
sway. National power and greatness
were completely sacrificed to local lib
erty.
with Rome the exact opposite occurred.
The imperial city rose to absolute do
rinion over all the peoples OF Italy
and then expanded her rule over the
entire civilized world by q process which
kept the nation strong and united, but
gave no room whatever for local liberty
and self-government. All other cities and
countries were subject to Rome. In con-
sequence this great and masterful race
of warriors, rulers. road-builders and adj
illustrators stamped their indellible i'm
press upon all the after life Of our race,
and yet let an decentralization eat out
the vitals OF their empire until 1t became
an empty shell; so that when the bar
barians came they destroyed only what
had already become worthless to the
| world.
| The underlying viciousness Of each type
Of expansion was plain enough and the
remedy now seems simple, enough. But
when the fathers Of the republic first
| formulated the constitution under which
we live this remedy was untried and no
| one could foretell how It would work.
, They themselves began the experiment
almost Immediately by adding new states
to the original 13. Excellent people In the
| east viewed this initial expansion OF the
country with great alarm. Exactly as
during the colonial period many good
| people in the mother-country thought II
| highly important that settlers should be
kept out Of the Ohio valley In the in
terest of the fur companies, so after we
| had become q nation many good people
on the Atlantic coast felt grave appre-
hension lest they might somehow be hurt
| by the westward growth OF the nation.
These good people shook their heads over
the formation of states In the fertile Ohio
valley which now forms part Of the heart
| OF our nation: and they declared that
| the destruction of the republic had been
accomplished when through the Louisiana
purchase we acquired nearly half of what
| is now that same republics present t. rri-
tory. Nor was their feeling unnatural.
Only the adventurous and the far-seeing
| can be expected heartily to welcome the
process of expansion, for the nation that
| expands Is a nation which Is entering
upon a great career, and with greatness
there must of necessity come perils which
! daunt all save the most stout-hearted.
We expanded by carving the wilderness
into territories and out of these terrific
ries building new states when once they
had received as permanent settlers
| sufficient number of our own people. In
| each case we showed the practical gov
ernmental genius of our race by devising
methods suitable to meet the actual ex-
istink needs: not by insisting upon the
| application Of some abstract shibboietn 10
| all our new possessions alike, no matter
how incongruous this application might
| sometimes be.
| e. far ri nf tho terri.
| tory however, our people spread In sucn
numbers during the course OF the nine
teenth century that we were able to build
IN state after state, each with exactly
the same complete local independence In
all matters affecting purely Its own 90
nestle interests as in any OF the original
13 states-each owing the same absolute
fealty to the union OF all the states
which each of the original IL states also
owes-and finally each having the same
| unconditional right to its share In Shaping
and directing the common policy of the
union which Is possessed by any other
state whether of the original 13 or not.
This. then, is the great historic signir-
canoe of the movement OF continental eA-
pansion in which the, Louisiana purchase
was the most striking single achieve
ment. It stands out In marked relief even
among the feats of nation or pioneers
a nation whose people have from the pc
ginning been picked out by process OF
natural selection from among the
most enterprising individuals OF the ma
tions of western Europe. The acquisition
of the territory Is credit to the broad
and far-sighted craftsmanship TO wnoIii
II was Immediately due. and above all
to the aggressive and masterful charac-
ter of the hardy pioneer folk to whose
restless energy these statesmen gave e%
preston and direction, whom they foi-
lowed rather than led. The history OF
The land comprised within the limits OF
the purchase is an epitome Of the entire
history of our people. Within these Inn
its we have gradually built up state after
state until now they many times over
surpass in wealth. In population. and IN
many-sided development, the original Id
states as they were when their deie-
gates met In the continental congress-
The people Of these states have SHOWN
themselves mighty In war with tneir TEL
low-man, and mighty In strength to tame
the rugged wilderness. They coulo no'
thus have conquered the forest and the
prairie. the mountain and the desert, had
they not possessed the great fighting vir-
tues the qualities which enable people
70 overcome the forces Of hostile men and
hostile nature. On the other hand, they
could not have used Alright their conquest
had they not in addition possessed the
qualities of self-mastery and self-re-
straint, the power of acting In combina-
ton with their fellows, the power OF
yielding obedience to the law ana Oh
building up an orderly civilization. Cour-
age and hardlhood are indispensable vir-
tues In a people; but the people which
possesses no others can never rise high In
the scale either Of power or of culture
We meet here to-day to commemorate
great event, an event which marks
an era in craftsmanship no less than IN
pioneering. 1t is fitting that we should
pay our homage in words; but we must
, in honor make our words good by deeds
We have every right to take Just
pride in the great deeds OF our fore
fathers: but we show ourselves unworthy
TO be their descendants II we make what
. they did an excuse for our lying supint
| Inataaa Of IN INCENTIVE to the effort &C