Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-11-24

IresIutnt ftODseNeItb EtesDOnSts
"Mr. Ambassador: Through you l wish
States to thank his majesty, the Ger
man emperor. and the people of Germany
for the gift &c the nation which you have
just formally delivered to me. accept
it with deep appreciation of the friendly
regard which It typifies for the people of
the republic, both on the part of the
emperor n on the part of the German
people. | accept It not merely as the
est soldiers of all time, and therefore pc
c%uliarly, appropriate for placing in this
war college, but l accept It as the statue
of a great man, whose life was devoted
whose deeds FASTENED the approach of a
day when a united Germany should
spring into being.
''As a soldier Frederick the Great mi
cludes Alexander, Caesar, and Hannibal
in antiquity, and Napoleon, and possi-
bly, Gustavus A%dolphus, in modern
times. He belonged to the ancient and
illustrious house of Hohenzollern, which,
after playing a strong and virile part in
the middle ages, and after producing
some men. like the great, ~elector, who
were among the most famous princes Of
their time, founded the royal house OF
Prussia two centuries ago, and at last
in our own day established the mighty
German empire as among the foremost
Of world lowers, We receive this GIT
" u 1 III lAlito "a AN ~
peror, himself a man who has markedly
added to the luster of his great house
and his great nation, a man who has de-
voted his life to the welfare of his peo-
to defend the rights of that people, has
also made it evident in emphatic fashion
that he and they desire peace and friend
ship with the other nations of the earth.
But, Mr.. Ambassador, in accepting the
statue given us to-day through you from
the German emperor, l accept 1t not
merely because it is the statue of a
mighty and terrible soldier, but | accept
it as a symbol of the ties of friendship
and good will which l trust as the years
go or will bind ever closer together the
American and the German peoples. There
is kinship of blood between the two ma
lions. We of the United States are Of
mixed stock. In our veins runs the blood
of almost all the peoples of middle,
northern and western Europe, We al
ready have a history of which we feel
that we have the right to be legitimatelly
proud, and yet our nationality is still in
the formative period. Nearly three CEN
turtles 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 OF
newcomers from many different countries
| abroad have in each generation contrib
uted to swell the increase of our people.
Soon after the English settled in Vir-
ginia and New England. the Hollander
settled at the mouth of the Hudson and
the Swede at the mouth of the Delaware.
Even in colonial days the German ele-
ment had become very strong among our
people in various parts of this country;
the Irish element was predominant IN the
foothills of the ~Alleghenies; French
Huguenots We're numerous. BY the time
of the Declaration of Independence that
process of fusion which has gone on ever
since was well under way. From the be-
ginning of our national history men of
German origin or German parentage
played a distinguished part in the affairs
lutionary war one of the leading generals