The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-11-22

ATTRACTED by the valor OF the soldier
must yet, for the sake of the greatness
lof the man, ponder and admire the les
sons taught by his undaunted resolu-
tion, his infiexible tenacity OF D
his farsighted grasp of lofty possibili-
ties, and his un~finching, .unyielding
determination in following the path
he a marked out. Il is emlnently 1T
ting that the statue of this iron sol2Ier.
this born leader of men. should find a
place in his War College; for when
soldierly genius and soldieriy heroism
reach the highest point Of achievement
the man in whom they are displayed
grows to belong not merely 20 the ma
ton from which he sprang, but to all
rations capable of showing, n there
fore capable of approaching, the virile
and masterful virtues which alone
make victors in those dread struggles
where resort Is at asst had to the ar
bitrament of arms.
But, Mr.. Ambassador, in accepting
the statue given US today through you
from the German Emperor. / accept il
rot merely because it is the statue of a
mighty and terrible soldier, but I ac-
lcept il as a symbol OF the ties OF friend
ship and good will which I trus. as the
years go on will bind ever closer to-
gether the American and the German
peoples. There is kindship of blood
between the two nations. We of the
United States are of mixed stock. In
our veins uns the blood OF almost all
the peoples of middle, northern. and
western Europe. We already have a
history Of which we feel that we have
the right to be legitimately proud. n
yet our nationality is still in the for
NATIVE period. Nearly three centuries
have elapsed since the landing of the
English at jamestown marked the be-
ginning of what has since grown into
the United States.
During these three centuries streams
lcf newcomers from many different
countries abroad have in each genera
tinn contributed to swell the increase
of our people. Soon after the English
settled In Virginia and New England,
tie Hollander settled at the mouth of
the HUDSON and the Swede az the
mouth of the Delaware. Even in colo
NAL days the German element had be-
leone very strong among our people in
various parts Of his country; the Irish
IS4SAliNIIN 4" pI SoSlillIldLlN III Lie III
bills of the Alleghenies; French HUI
%suenots were numerous. BY the time
of the Declaration OF Independence that
process of fusion which nas gone on
lever since was we'll under way. From
the beginning OF our national history
men Of German origin or German pa
1entage played a distinguished part in
the affairs both Of peace and OF war.
In the Revolutionary war one OF the
Heading generals was Muhlenberg, an
American of German descent, Just as
among the soldiers from abroad who
lcame to aid us one of the most promi-
nent was the German, Steuben. Muh-
lenberg was the first Speaker or the
House of Representatives; and the bat
tie which in the Revolution saved the
valley of the Mohawk to the American
lcause was fought under the lead of the
German, Herkimer. AS all the differ
Ient races here tend rapidly to fuse to-
gether, it is rarely possible after one
Tor two generations to draw a sharp line
between the various clements: but
there is no student of our national con-
Editions who has failed to appreciate
what an invaluable elemen in our COM
posite stock the German is. Here on
this platform, Mr.. Ambassador, among
those present today are many men
partly or wholly of German blood, and
among the officers of the Army and
Navy who have listened to you and
who now join with me in greeting you
there are many whose fathers or
grandfather were born in Germany,
and not a few who themselves first saw
the light there.
Each nation has it's allotted tasks
&c do; each nation has it's peculiar DIFF
ficulties to encounter; and as the PEG
pies of the world tend to become more
closely knit together alike for good and
for evil. It becomes ever more impor>
tant to all that each should prosper:
for the prosperity of one is normally
not a sign of menace but a sign of hope
for the rest. Here on this continent
where it is absolutely essential hat the
different peoples coming to our shores
should not remain separate but should
fuse into one, u unceasing effort is
to strive to keep n profit by the good
that each race brings to our shores, and
at the same time to do away with all
~lracial and religious animosities among
the various stocks. In both efforts We
ihaVe met With an astonishing measure
of success. AS the years go by it be-
lcomes not harder but easier to live in
Ipeace and good will among ourselves;
land 1 firmly believe that it will also
become not harder but easier to dwell
in peace and friendship with the other
nations of the earth. A young people,
d people Of composite stock, We have
Ikinship with many different nations,
but we are Identical with none of them,
ana are developing a separate national
stock as We have already developed a
Iseparate national life. We have in our
veins the blood of the Englishman and
the Irishman, the German and the
ltrenchman, the ~Scotchman, the Dutch
man, the Scandinavian, the Italian, the
lMasyar, the Finn. the Slav, so that to
leach of the great powers of the Old