Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-08-10

only those VINO OelleVe IN equal JUS
tice to labor and to capital; in hon
est money and the right to earn 1t,
have any title to name themselves by
the side of Lincoln, or to claim a
moral kinship with that august and
~venerated spirit. | admit 1t would be
little less than sacrilege to try TO
trade upon that benignant renown,
whose light folds in this orb O. the
earth" But we who have always tried
to walk In the road he pointed out
can not be deprived OF the tender
pride of calling ourselves his discip-
les, and OF doing in his name the work
allotted to us by Providence. And
| hope | am violating neither the con.
fidence of a friend nor the proprie-
ties OF an occasion like this when !
refer to the ardent and able young
statesman who Is now and is to be
our president, to let you know that In
times OF doubt and difficulty the
thought ~oftenest In his heart is,
What, in such a case, would Lincoln
have done?"
Glorious Name in History.
AS we are removed further and fur
Their from the founders of our party
and their mighty work, their names
and their fame rise every year high
er In the great perspective OF history,
The clamor of hatred and calumny
dies away. The efforts made TO weak
en- the hands of Lincoln and his asso'
ciates are forgotten. The survivors
OF those who SO bitterly attacked him
and his cause, which was the cause
of the country, are now themselves
astonished when confronted with the
words they then uttered. But IL was
against a political opposition not less
formidable and efficient than the arm
ed force beyond the Potomac that the
Union men of that day, and theil
president, had to struggle. 1t was moi
merely the losses in battle, the waste
of our wealth, the precious blood O.
our young men, that filled Lincoln:
heart with anguish and made him ole
before his time, but il was the storm
OF partisan hostility that ragged agains
him, filling the air with SANDERS anC
thwartlng his most earnest and un
selfish efforts for the country's good
But in spite of it all he persevered
never Tor a moment tempted by thu
vast power he welded 10 any actor
not justified by the moral and the or
ganic law. | have always liked tn
inscription on the medal which tn,
workmen of France, by one cent sub
5criptions, caused to be struck afte
d. HE 1noths sAkrahan I tnnn1n fhl
honest man. Waged war. Abolishe,
slavery. Twice elected presiden
without yelling the face of liberty.
This vas an achievement new to tn
world; that a nan and a party, arm
ed with an authority So unquestione'
and so ~stupendous, in the very cui
rent OF a vast war, should have sui
mitted themselves so rigidly to tn
law-and never have dreamed Their
vas anything meritorious about II
Then, if never before, we proved W
were as fit to be free as the men VIII
achieved our freedom.
The Time of Reconstruction.
The world learned other lessons i
swift succession. We disbanded GU
army-sent them home to earn thei
livings as simple citizens of the Ian
they had saved, without terms or cor
d%itions; they asked none; they wan
ed peace; they were sIad to get {
work. And there were no reprisal'
not a man punished for rebellion @
treason; not an act of violence su
lied the glory of victory. The igh
had been fierce, but loyal; We at leas
wished the reconciliation to be pc
feet. Then zane the paying of on
debts. To whom Is the credit due G
that enormous task, that sublime e
fort of common honesty, If not to tn
party which against every assault
open and covert reputation stood b
the country's honor and kept II fire
from stain?
Fruits of Party's Career.
Let me hurriedly enumerate a fe'
OF the events in the long and fruitfl
career of the Republican party whic
seem to us to entitle it to the conf
dence OF the country and the final al
proval of history. After the war wa
ended and peace re-established wit
no damage to the structure of tn
government, but, on the contrar,
with added strength and with increai
ed guarantees of its perpetuity, it r.
NAMED to be shown whether the pow
er and success OF the Republica
party we're to be permanent, or whetl
err, born of a crisis, 1t was fitted I
cope with the problems of nations
daily life. It had destroyed SLAYER,
or, perhaps we might better say,
had created the %condilions by whic
slavery had committed suicide.
the absence of this great adversar.
could the party hold together again:
the thousand lesser evils that best
the public life of modern ~peoples-th
evils of ignorance, corruption, ava
ice and lawlessness, the prejudices {
race and of class, the voices OF den
agogues, the cunning Of dishone'
craft, the brutal tyranny Of the hos
the venality of the mean? l think
is not too much to say that the la!
forty years have given an answe
full of glory and honor, to that que
ton. The Republican party, in tt
mass and in detail, has shown its G
pacity to govern. BY the homestea
law. with equal generosity and wi
: dom, it distributed the immense a
tional domain among the citizens WI
were willing to cultivate 1t and WI
have converted wide stretches of wi
derness into smiling homes. 1t bui
the Pacific railroad, which has boun
the Union together from east to we
by bands of steel and made the state
beyond the mountains among oil
most loyal and prosperous commo'
wealths. II redeemed our paper Gu
, rency and made all u forms
!, money of exactly equal value, and OF
credit the best in the world. BY pc
, sistent honesty in our finances
the face of obstacles which mig
have daunted the hardest statesme