The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-10

houn and Benton, made this astound- l ing speech: ''What do we want with 1 thls vast, worthless area, this region of | savages and wild beasts, or deserts, of l shifting sands and whirlwinds of dust,
 of cactus and rrarie dogs? To what use l could we ever hope to put these great | deserts, or these great mountain ranges. l impenetrable and covered to their base
 with eternal snows? What can we ever l, hope to do with the western coast of 5000 | miles, rock bound, cheer1ess and uninter-
 esting, and not a harbor on 1t? What | use have we for such a country? MT. | President. l will never vote cent from l the public treasury to place the Pacific 1 coast one inch nearer Boston than 1t Is l now An mel Am I going beyond my l right in declaring that Marcus Whitman
 kneelng upon the top of the Rocky noun tains upon the Fourth of July, 1886, and taking possession of that western coast for God and the United States. was an in- l spired statesman?
 Whitman's Brave Enterprise.
 But Marcus Whitman had more than
 inspired vision and opened ears He had a consecrated. noble Christian heart as well as a clear brain. He was a gospel l missionary who was ready if necessary. to die, if by his death he could only ac-
 complish the work which God had given him to do. In order to save Oregon for ] the union, in midwinter, alone, he rode
 straight across this continent. He defied l the warning elements as well as savage
 tribes. the terrors of the snows and prec- l ipices and colds as well as the Indian tomahawks.
 After the Hudson Bay company found it
 was unable to stem back western immi-
 grafton 1t took another course. It de-
 cided to Import it's own loyal English sub
 jects from Canada and gradually crowd the Americans to the wall. It tried to do l with the Americans as the Americans O.
 the east did with the Indians. About a century ago Joseph Elliott was the agent
 of the Holland Land company, which
 owned nearly all the lumber about the
 region of the western part of New York
 near to Niagara Falls. One day a famous Indian chief of that time, Red Jacket | by name, met MT. Elliott and sat down
 on a log with him to talk. In little while Red Jacket said in a quiet tone.
 to Joseph Elliott, Move aiong, Joe," and l MT. Elliott, surprised at the request,
 moved a little along the log. In a little
 while came the second request of Move | along, Joe" and a third request Move l along. Joe" and further request, Move
 along. Joe" until MT. Elliott was at the 1 end of the log. Then when the Indian
 said Move along, Joe.' MT. Elliott be- came angry and answered: why man,
 I cannot move along any further with
 out landing in the mud.' "Ugh said Red Jacket Just so white man in refer 1 ence to Indian land White man says to Indian Move along, move along, move along until white man pushes Indian | off the face of the earth''
 | The tactics adopted by the Americans towards the Indians were initiated by the
 Hudson Bay cmpany. It began settling Oregon with it's own friends, in the hope that if a treaty between the Un-
 ited States and England should be ne- gotiated,. leaving the possession of the country to be decided by popular vote ] the English settlers would outnumber the Americans. Whitman no sooner learn l ed the nature of the scheme than he set out winter though 1t was, for Washing | ton to put the government on it's guard and warn 1t against negotiating any treaty by which the position of Oregon would be affected. That lonely ride from Oregon to Washington In the winter t~ 1 lS42 is story of personal intrepdity and | patriotism which ought to be immortal. Would you and l be willing to sacrifice for our country and our God as Marcus Whitman sacrificed? Would you and be willing If necessary. to give up our all and lay down our lives in suffering great | CT than any soldier ever suffered upon the ! American battlefields?
 Greatest are The Gentest.
 But, as l take step further in my study of this remarkable nation builder,
 find, as with Marcus Whitman, the
 greatest of men are always the gentlest of
 men, Furthermore, find that the seem
 ingly unimportant incidents in thair lvss