The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-06-23
SPEECH Of GOV T. 5. BLACK,
! Illuminating THEODORE ROOSEVELT FOR PRESIDENT

A. - A.. 81 So ~ so A$564 49, st3aR4
peace sat pot afraid of5lwar; faithful
10 ever prisa{e obligation yet first
TO volunteer At Ike sign Of national
peril; a leader in civil lie and .Ses 50
clic., 10 %cc-1prehez2d the arts OF va r
that he grew almcst in :. day 20 meet
the h;gh actions OF CON nsants- There
is nothing which so tests . man as
great and Unexpected danger he
may pass his life amid ordinary
scenes ana what he is OF does but
few Will ever know But when the
crasn comes CT the flames break out,
a moments tine Will single out the
hero OF the crowd. 4 flash OF light
ming in the night will reveal what
years of daylight have not discovered
tc the eye. And 50 the fash OF the
Spanish war revealed that lofty cour-
age and devotion which the American
heart so loves and which you have
met again TO decorate and recognize.
His qualities do not need to be retold,
for no man in that exalted place since
Lincoln has been better known in eS-
cry, household in the land. fIe is not
conservative. if conservatism means
waiting till it is too late. He is not
wise if wisdom is to count a thing
a hundred times when once Will do.
There is no regret so keen, III man
or country. as that which follows an
opportunity unem braced. fortune
scars Will, high and rapid wing. and
whoever brings it down must shoot
with accuracy and speed. Only the
man with steady eye and nerve and
the courage to pull the trigger brings
the largest opportunities to the
ground He does not always listen
while all the sages speak, but every
day at llightfall beholds some record
which if not complete has been at least
pursued with conscience and intrepid
resolution. He is no slender flower
swaying in the wind. but that heroic
fibre which is best nurtured by the
mountains and the snow. He spends
little time in review, for that he knows
can be done by the schools. a
statesman graphing with the living
problems of the hour he gropesE but
little in the past He believes in go
ing ahead. He believes that in shap-
ing the destinies of this great republic,
hope is higher impulse than regret
He believes that preparation for fu-
ture triumphs is more important
duty than an inventory OF past ms
takes. a profound student OF his
tory, he is to-day the greatest his
tory maker in the world. With the
instincts Of the scholar, he is yet fore
ed from the scholars pursuits by those
superb qualities which fit him to the
world
rents now rushing past with larger
volume and more portentious aspect
than for many years before. The
fate of nations is still decided by
their wars. You may talk OF orderly
tribunals and learned referees: you
may sing in Your schools the gentle
praises of the quiet life; you may
strike from your books the last note
OF every martial anthem, and yet out
in the smoke and thunder will always
be the tramp OF horses and the silent,
rigid, upturned face. Men may proph-
esy and women pray, but peace will
come here TO abide forever on this
earth only when the dreams of child
hood are the accepted charts to guide
the destinies of men. Events are
can tell which wire runs around the
world. The nation basklnS today ID
the quiet of content Inent and repose
may still be on the deadly circuit
and tomorrow wrthing in the tolls OF
war This is the time when great.
figures must be kept in front II the
pressure is great the material to resist
il must be granite and iron. Wheth-
er we wish it or not, America is
abroad in this world. Her interests
are in every street, her name is on
every tongue. Those interests so sa-
cred and stupendous should be trusted
only to the care of those whose pow
err, skill and courage have been test
ed and approved, And in the man
whom you will choose, the highest
sense OF every nation IN the world be-
holds man who typifes as no other
living American does, the spirit and
the purposes of the twentieth CEN
fury. He does not claim to be the
Solomon of his time. ,4There are many
things he may not know, but this Is
sure, that above all things else he
stands for progress, courage and fair
~,Ja which arc tha of the