Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-04-30
GRAND PAGEANT
CONTINUED from First Page.)

to the original thirteen. Excellent peo-
pie in the east viewed this initial ex-
pansion of the country with great
alarm. These good people shook their
heads over the formation of states in
forms part of the heart of our nation;
and they declared that the destruction
of the republic had been accomplished
wheri thru the Louisiana purchase we
acquired nearly half of what is now
that same republics territory. Nor was
their feeling unnatural. Only the adj
venturous and far-seeing can be eX-
pected heartily to welcome the process
of expansion, for the nation that x
pands is a nation which is entering
! upon a great career, n with greatness
there must of necessity come perils,
which daunt all save the most stout
hearted.
We expanded by carving the Wilder
ness into territories, building new states
when once they had received as per-
manent settlers a sufficient number of
our w people. Being a practical ma
ton we nave never tried to force on
any section OF our/new territory an I'M
suitable form of government merely
because it was suitable for another
section under different conditions. OF
the territory covered by the Louisiana
purchase a portion was given state
hood with a few years. Another portion
has not been. admitted to statehood, al
though a century has elapsed-although
doubtless it soon will be. In each case
we showed the practical governmental
c~a~g,,c af an. raao tu aaVic1nY methods
suitable to meet the actual existing
plication of some abstract s%hibboleth
to all our new possessions alike, no
matter how homogeneous this applica-
ton might sometimes be.
The process which we began has
since been followed by all the great
peoples who were capable both of eX-
pansion and self government, and now
the world accepts 1t as the natural pro-
cess, as the rule; but a century and a
quarter 1t was not merely excep-
tional; it was unknown.
This, then, is the great historic sig
Iniicance of the movement of continent
tai expansion in which the Louisiana
purchase was the most striking single
achievement. 1t stands out in marked
relief ever among the feats of a ma
ton of pioneerAa nation whose people
have from the beginning been picked
out by a process of natural selection
from among the most e~nterprising in
| dividuals of the nations of western
Europe. The acquisition of the terri
tory is a credit to the broad and far
sighted craftsmanship of the great
statesmen to whom 1t was Immediately
due, and above all the aggressive n
masterful character of the hardy pio-
neer folk to who's restless energy these
statesmen gave expression n direc-
ton. whom they followed rather than
lied. The history of the land comprised
within the limits of the purchase is an
epitome Of the entire history of our
people. Within these limits we have
gradually built up state after state until
now they many times over surpass in
wealth. in population, n In many
sided development, the original thirteen
states as they were when their dele
gates met in the continental congress.
The people of these states have shoWn
themselves mighty in war with their
fellow-man, and mighty in strength to
tame the rugged wilderness. They
could not have thus conquered the for
est and the prairie, the mountain and
the desert, had they not possessed the
great fighting virtues, the Qualities
which enable a people to overcome the
forces of hostile men and hostile ma
ture. 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
restraint, the power of acting in com
bination with their fellows, the power
of Welding obedience to the law, and of
building up an orderly civilization,
Courage and hardwood are indispensa
BILE virtues in a people; but the people
which possesses no others can never