The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1904-11-04
"A Glorious Opportunity

From time immemorial poets have
sung and orators have acclaimed on the
gloriousness of war Perhaps never has
the old theme been more remarkably
brought to the attention of the world
than today when the opportunity to die
for the perpetuation of the national ex-
istence of his fatherland fires the mind
of the Japanese with a daring which
I would seem fanatical were it not so
wonderfully controlled and directed.
To the Japanese, even more than to the
knight Of medieval times, the oppor-
tunity to die fighting in a noble cause
is a glorious opportunity. Z.
Today we in-America are at peace
with the world. Moreover our beloved
president has but "a few days since been
the means of bringing the vast subject
of the peace Of all. nations once more
prominently before the world and in a
manner which it is devoutly to be hop
ed may be another long step towards
the beginning of the end of the "glor-
ious' institution of war. True, wars
there yet may be, and if it must be a
choice between base submission to lower
standards of thought and living lower
ideals Of political and commercial free
dom, then God grant that there may
still be men, manly men, who will fight
the wars which will free humanity from
the curse of the dsbased and cowardly.
But if the world will only think arightl
Then how much more glorious will be
the opportunities of peace And an OPP
portunity which may be made noble,
glorious one faces every citizen of the
United States today
Today, on the eve of a great national
campaign, campaign in many respects
the most wonderful in the history of
the country, the great interest centers
about one great man, one of Gods true
n)blemen, President Theodore Roose-
welt. He is the kind of man who
thought it was not beneath him to serve
his country with all his might whatever
the position in which he found himself.
Brave with manly bravery, heroic in
his courage to be always right no mat
ter what the crowd about him did, it
made no difference to him whether it
was as the youngest member of the
New York legislature that he found him
self fighting corruption singlehanded,
or whether it was as the leader of
posse in the west in the earlier days
when law had to ride rough shod or be
ridden over itself by roughshod lawless-
ness. 1t made no difference to him
whether it was as civil service COM
missioner under newly made and
much derided law, or as member Of
the board of police commissioners in
New York City, trying to purify cor
rupt force; whether it was as an assist
anti secretary doing his best to get the
American navy armed and ready for
Dewey, Sampson, and Schley to send
the Spanish fleets to the bottoms of the
seas; or whether, once that navy prepar-
ed and the call to arms sounding loud
est in his heart he went with his rough
riders to the front; whether, again, once
the campaign practically over, he ex-
posed. through his famous round robin,
the uselessness of keeping American
soldiers in fever infested island to die;
no difference to him whether as COVER
nor of New York fighting for the rights
of its citizens. or vice president of the
United States deeply interested in all
public questions and trusted and advis-
ed with as never was vice president
consulted before him, or as president of
the United States himself, after the
martyrdom of his lamented chief, Presi-
dent McKinley-in whatever place you