Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-05-01


lother state. whether of the original
Thirteen OF not. ~
| This process now seems 20 us part Of
tine natural order of things, out 1t was
wholly unknown until our own people
| de, ised it. 1t seems to US mere mat
fter of course. a matter of elementary
| right and justice, that in the delibera-
lions of the national representative
bodies the Representatives of state
which came into the Union but yester-
day stand on footing of exact and en-
| tire equality with those of the Com
monwealths whose sons once signed
the Declaration Of Independence. But
this way of looking at the matter IS
purely modern, and in its origin purely
American. When Washington during
his Presidency saw new states r.. come
into the Union on a footing of COM
plete equality with the old, every
European nation which had colonies
|still administered them as dependeu-
cies. and every other mother-country
treated the colonist not as a self-gov-
efning equal but as a subject.
The process which we began has
since been followed by all the great
Peoples who We're capable both of eX
pansion and of seIf-government, and
now the world accepts it as the natural
process, as the rule; but century and
quarter ago it was not merely excep-
tional: it was unknown.
This then, is the great historic sig
nificance of the movement of continent
tai expansion in which the louisiana
Purchase was the most striking single
achievement. 1t stands out in marked
relief even among the feats of a nation
of pioneers, a nation whose people
have from the beginning been picked
out by a process of natural selection
from among the most enterprising in
dividuals of the nations Of western
Europe. The acquisition of the terri
tory is a credit to the board and far
sighted craftsmanship of the great
statesmen to whom it was Immediately
due, and above all to the aggressive
and masterful character of the hardy
pioner folk to whose restless energy
these statesmen gave expression and
direction, whom they followed rather
than led. The history of the land COM.
prised 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, and in.
many sided development, the original
thirteen states as they were when their
delegates met in the Continental Con-
gress The people of these states have
shown themselves mighty In war with
their, fellow man. and mighty in
strength totame the rugged wilderness.
They could not thus have conquered
the forest 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-re-
straint, the power of acting in combi-
nation with their fellows, the power of
yielding obedience to the law and of
building up. an orderly civilization.
Courage and hardihood are indispen-
sable virtues in people,; but the peo-
pie which possess no others can never
rise high in the scale either of power
or of culture Great peoples must have
in addition the governmental capacity,
which, comes only when individuals
fully recognize their duties to one an
other and to the whole body polite,
and are able to join together in feats
of constructive craftsmanship and of
honest and effective administration. q
The old pioneer days are gone, with
their. roughness and their hardship
their incredible toll and their wild
half savage romance. But the need
for the pioneer virtues remains the
same as ever. The peculiar frontier
conditions have vanished; but the man
Iiness and stalwart hardihood of the
frontiersmen can be given even freer
scope under the conditions surround
ing the complex industrialism of the
present day. In this great region ac-
quired for our people under the pres
idency of Jefferson, this region stretch
ing from the Gulf to the Canadian Dor
der from the Mississippi to the
Rockies, the material and social prog
resS has been so vast that alike for
veal and for woe it's people now share
the opportunities and bear the burdens
common to the entire civilized world.
The problems before us are fundamen-
tally the same east and west of the
M MISSISSIPPI, III the new STATES anu III
the old, and exactly the same qualities
are required for their successful solu-
ton. rs tts
We meet here today to commemor-
ate 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 a just pride in the great deeds
of our forefathers; but we show our
selves unworthy to be their descen-
| dants il we make what they did an
excuse for our lying supine instead of
an incentive to the effort to show our
selves by our actSworthy of them.
! In the administration of city, state, and
| nation, in the management of our home
| life and the conduct of our business
| and social relations. we are bound to
show certain high and fine qualities of
character under penalty of seeing the
whole heart of our civilization eaten
out while the body still lives.
| We Justly pride ourselves on our
marvellous material prosperity. and
such prosperity must exist in order to