Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-05-21
EDITORS HEAR HAY
SECRETARY OF STATE DELIVERS
ADDRESS AT WORLDS FAIR
PRESS PARLIAMENT.

st. Louis, Mo-, May 2O-The Worlds
Press Parliament convened last night
| in Festival hall, 2,600-only accredited
delegates to the press parliament were
admitted.
! The convention was called to order
by Capt. Henry King, editor of the
st. Louis Globe-Democrat, who made
brief address in which he spoke of the
press in its early stages and the great
growth of journalism which he said
has kept up with the march of civiliza-
ton and in the interest of public well
fare. He discussed the influence of
the better class of journals, their per-
sistent fight for good and their effect
on the peace of the world
Welcomed by Francis.
David r. Francis, president of the
exposition, made the speech of well
come
The speaker of the evening was
next introduced in the person of Sec
rotary OF State Hay, who came as the
official representative of President
Roosevelt to attend the convention.
The secretary spoke in part as fol-
/ lows:
| secretary Hays Address.
l thank you. Mr.. Chairman: I thank
! you, gentlemen--all of you-for your
/ TOO generous and amiable welcome. 1
esteem it great privilege to meet SO
many representatives of an estate
which, more than any other, at this
hour controls the world 1t is my daily
duty in Washington to confer with the
able and distinguished Representatives
of civilized sovereigns and states. But
We are all aware that the days of per-
sonal government are gone forever;
that behind us, and behind the rulers
We represent, there stands the vast ir-
resistible power of public opinion,
which in the last resort must beside
all the questions we discuss and whose
| judgment is final. In your persons 1
greet the organs and opponents of that
| tremendous power with all the respect
| which is due to you and your constit-
uency deeply sensible of the honor
1 which has been done me in making me
the mouthpiece of the sentiment of APP
probation and regard with which the
/ nation welcomes you to this festival
Of peace and progress.
Old in Newspaper Work.
1t is possible-if you will pardon a
1 personal word from me-that the cir
cumstances of my life may have COM
mended me to the notice of President
Francis, and may have led him to in
vite me here tonight to take part in
this occasion in the dual capacity of
host and guest. My years of news
paper work might entitle me to a mod
est place in your membership while
the valley of the mighty river which
! rolls by the Wharves of st. Louis can
never be considered by me otherwise
| than as my home. The years of my
boyhood We're passed on the banks of
| the Mississippi, and the great river
was the scene of my early dreams.
The boys of my day led an amphibious
| life in and near it's waters in the sum-
mer time. and in the winter its daz-
zling ice bridge, of Incompatible
| beauty and purity was our faVorite
playground while our imaginations
4 We're busy with the glamour and charm
of the distant cities of the south. with
their alluring French names and their
| legends of stirring adventure and pic
| lures OF perpetual summer. 1t was a
\ land of faery, alien to us in all but a
| sense of common ownership and pa
/ triotic pride. We built snow forts and
called them the Alamo; we sang rude
songs of the canebrake and the corn
field; and the happiest days of the
year to us who dwelt ON the northern
bluffs Of the river We're those that
brought us, in the loud putting and
whistling steamers of the olden time.
to the Mecca of our rural fancies the
bright and busy metropolis of St.
Louis.
The Mississippi and History.
| The historical value of the Missis-
| sippi is not less than it's geographical
and natural Importance. Its course
| through the pages of our country's
story is as significant as the tremend-
| Gus sweep of it's waters from the crys-
l ~, e-1r
northern stars to the placid expanse
| of the Gulf of Mexico. Its navigation
| was a prize fiercely contended for by
every chancellerie of western Europe.
| MANY suitors have looked upon it since
that gallant Prince Charming. Her
nando de Soto. parted the curtains OF
! it's repose, and all have found it fair.
! 1t aroused equally the interest of the
Briton. the Iberian and the Gaul. When
Nv virtue of one of the strangest ca
/ prices of the great game of diplomacy
| ever known it became our cherished
possession, it gave rise to the hercest
| political contests, the most far-reach-
ing combinations. When the accu1nu-
! lated passions and purposes OF nun
/ dred wears at last burst forth in tenn
nest of war, it became the center OF a
| worlds breathless interest and was
| flooded with the fatal and terrible light
| which plays about the battle fields OF
| fame and "shines in the sudden max
7 ing of splendid names.' SO long az
| IFS waters roll to the sea, so long will
the world remember the high resolu-
.ition with which Grant and sherman
I hewed their way southwark and the
i chivalrous courage with which john
/ sion and Pemberton opposed them. SO
| immense is the value of that silver bal
that binds together the framework OF
/ the welded states.
Celebrate Great Event.