Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-06-24

chosen representatives of the most en-
lightened party in the world. you
meet not as strangers, for no men are
strangers who hold the same Deile1s
and espOuSe the same cause. you may
separate two bodies of water for a
thousand years, but when once the
barrier is removed they mingle IN
stantly and are one. The same ira
ditions inspire and the same purposes
actuate us all. Never in our lives did
these purposes stand with deeper root
than now. At least two generations
have passed away since the origin OF
that great movement from which
sprang the spirit which has been the
leading impulse in American politics
for half a century In that movement,
which was both a creation and an ex-
ample, were those great characters
which endowed the Republican party at
its birth with the attributes of justice.
equality and progress, which have held
it to this hour in line with the highest
sentiments of mankind. From these
men we have inherited the desire, and
to their memory We owe the resolution,
that those great schemes of govern
ment and humanity. inspired by their
patriotism. and established by their
blood. shall remain as the fixed and
permanent emblem of their labors, and
the abiding signal Of the liberty and
progress of the race.
There are many new names in these
days. but the Republican party needs
no new title. 1t stands now where it
stood at the beginning. Memory alone
is needed to tell the source from which
the inspirations Of the country flow.
drOwSy memory would be as guilty
now rs sleeping Waterman when the
enemy is astir. The name of the Re-
publican party stands over every door
where n righteous cause was born. It's
members have gathered around every
movement. no matter how weak, If in
spired by high resolve. It's flag for
more than fifty years has been the
sign of hope on every spot where
liberty was the word. That party
needs no new name or platform to
designate its purposes. 1t is now as it
has been. equipped. militant and in mo-
! ton. The problems Of every age that
age must solve. Great causes impose
great demands, but never in any enter
and never in any crisis has the Re-
publican party failed to express the
conscience and intelligence of that peo-
pie.
The public mind is awake to both it's
opportunities and its dangers. No
where in the world. in any era. did
citizenship mean more than it means
today I'm America. Men of courage and
sturdy character are ranging them
| selves together with a unanimity sell
dom seen. There is no excuse for CROP
| ing in the dark for the light is plain
to him who will but raise his eyes.
| The American people believe in n man
| or party that has convictions and
knows why. They believe that what
| experience has proved it Is idle to re-
| sist. wise man is any fool about to
die. But there is a wisdom which with
good fortune may guide the living and
the strong. That wisdom springs from
| reason. observation and experience.
| Guided by these this thing is plain, and
| young men may rely upon 1t. that the
| history and purposes have described,
| rising even to the essence and aspir-
| ations of patriotism, find their best
concrete example in the career and
| doctrines of the Republican party.
But not alone upon the principles of
| that party are its members In accord
With the same devotion which has
| marked their adherence to those prn-
| ciples. magnificent and enduring as they
are. they have already singled out the
| mar to bear their standard and to lead
the way. No higher badge was ever yet
conferred. But great as the honor is.
the circumstances which surround 1t make
| that honor even more profound. You
have come from every state and territory
in this vast domain. The country and the
town have We'd with each other in sending
here their contributions to this splendid
thrOng. Every highway in the land is
leading here and crowded with the men,
bers of that great party which sees in this
splendid city the symbol of it's rise and
power. Within this upexampled multi
tude is every rank and condition of free
| man, every creed and occupation. But
today common purpose and desire have
| engaged us all, and from every nook and
corner of the country rises but single
| choice to fill the most exalted Office in
| the world. He is no stranger waiting in
the shade to be called suddenly into pub
l
him for many years and always where the
fight was thickest and the greatest need
was felt. He has been alike conspicuous
in the pursuits of peace and in the ardu-
Gus stress of war No man now living
will forget the spring of '9S when the
American mind was so intiamcd and
American patriotism so aroused; when
among all the eager citizens surging to the
front as soldiers. the man whom this
convention has already in its heart was
among the first to hear the call and
answer to his name. Preferring peace
but not afraid of war: faithful to every
private obligation yet first to volunteer
at the sign of national peril: a leader in
civil life and yet so quick to compre-
bend the arts of war that he grew al
most in a day to meet the high exac-
tons of command. There Is nothing
which so tests man great and I'M
expected danger. He may pass his life
amid ordinary scenes and what he is
or does but few will ever know. But
when the crash comes or the flames
break out n moments time will single
out the hero in the crowd. A flash of
lightning in the night will reveal what