Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1904-07-01
Blacks Tribute to Roosevelt 5
Former GoDernor of Ne1o York Moninates Hin at Chicago


! when the American mind was so infamed
and the American patriotism so aroused.
when among al the eager citizens surging
to the front as soldiers. the man whom
this convention has already in its heart
was among the first 70 hear the call and
answer to his name. Preferring peace but
not afraid of war: faithful TO every pri~
vate obligation yet first TO volunteer at
/ the sign of national peril; a leader in
civil life yet SO quick to comprehend
the arts OF war that he grew almost I'm a
day 70 meet the high exactions of COM
mand.
The Test Of Danger.
There is nothing which so tests a@inan
as great and unexpected danger. He may
pass his lite amid ordinary scenes and
what he is or does but few Will ever know.
But when the crash comes or the flames
break out, a moments time will single out
the hero in the crowd. A flash of light
ming in the nigM Will reveal what years
of daylight have not discovered TO the
eye. And so the flash of the Spanish war
revealed that lofty courage 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 every household in the land. He is not
| conservatives, if conservatism means walt
ing till it is too late. He is not wise, Il
wisdom Is TO count a thing a hundred
times when once will do. There is no re-
greet so keen, in man or country. as that
| which follows an opportunity unembraced.
| Fortune scars witt high and rapid wing,
| and whoever brings ii down must shoot
with accuracy and speed. Only the man
with steady eye and nerve and the cour-
age 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 rightfall beholds some
record which If not complete has been
at least pursued with conscience and in
trepid resolution. He Is no slender flower
swaying in the wind, but that heroic fibre
which is best nurtured by the mountains
and the snow.
A Statement Of the Hour.
He spends little time in review, for that
he knows can be done by the schools. A
statesman graphing with the living prob
lens of the hour he gropes but little in
the past. He believes IN going ahead. He
believes hat in shaping the destinies Of
this great republic, hope is a higher i'm
pulse than regret. lie believes that prepa-
ration for future triumphs is a more m
portant duty than an inventory of past
mistakes. A profound student of history,
he is today the greatest history maker
in the world. With the instincts OF the
scholar, he is vet forced from the scholars
pursuits by those superb qualities which
fit him to the last degree for those great
world currents now rushing past with
larger volume and more portentous as
pect 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 prophesy
and women pray, but peace Will come here
to abide forever on this earth only when
the dreams of childhood are the accepted
charts TO guide the destinies of men.
Events are numberless II mighty, and
no man can tell which wire I'll around
the world. The nation basking today in
the quiet of contentment and repose may
still be on the deadly circuit and tomor-
row writing in the tolls Of war
Time for Great Figures.
This is the time when great figures must
be kept in front II the pressure Is great
and iron. Whether we wish it or not,
America is abroad in this world. Her in
~terests are in every street, her name IS
in every tongue. Those interests so sacred
and stupendous should be trusted only TO
the care of those whose power, skill and
courage have been tested n approved.
And in the mar whoTa you will choose,
the highest sense Of every nation in the
world beholds q maj who typifies as no
other living American does, the spirit and
the purposes of the twentieth century. He
does not claim TO be the solomon of his
time. There are many things he may not
know, but this is sure, that above all
things else he stands for progress, courage
and fair play, which are the synonyms
Of the American name.
There are times when great fitness is
hardly less than destiny, when the ele-
ments so come together that they selct
the agent they Will use. Events sometimes
select the strongest man. as lightning
goes down the highest rod. And SO it Is
with those events which for many months
with unerring sight have led you to a
single name which l am chosen only to
~ronounce: Gentlemen. | nominate for
president of the United States the highest
living type Of the youth, the vigor and
the promise of a great country and a
great age ahco15T5 Roosevelt OF New
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