Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-01
FAIRBANKS ADDRESS
At OPENING of the Portland
E 1position Today.
BEHALF OF PRESIDENT
THE FoRERUNNERs OF PACIFIC
COAST SETTLEMENT.
Testimonial to Promoters of Great
Substantially and De-
velopment Of Far West.
BEHALF OF PRESIDENT

Ing is the address 10y Vice President Fair
bar ks at the opening of the Lewis and
Clark exposition in this city today:
Mr. President. Ladies and Gentlemen:
President Roosevelt has taken very great
interest in the Lewis and Clark exposition
from its inception, and 1t is at his request
and on his behalf l have the great honor
of participating with you in these opening
ceremonies.
We commemorate an important event In
Anerican history. We pay tribute to the
intrepid explorers who made their arduous
expedition UP the Missouri, across the
Rocky mountains, down to the Pacific, and
pointed the way to this land of incom-
parable opportunity. Their fame is secure
where the deeds of men of heroic mold are
forever recorded They were the fore
runners of a high order of civilization in
territory which, prior to their venture
some enterprise, was terra incognita. 1t
was a wilderness, inha bited by the abo-
rhymes, into which no white man had en-
tered; it has become the seat of empire
Of vast commercial power. We look upon
their work with genuine admiral ton and
grateful appreciation.
The expedition which we celebrate was In
the command of Capt. Meriwether Lewis,
who had been the private secretary of
President Jefferson, and of Capt. William
Clark, a brother of George Rogers Clark,
who rendered such signal and lasting serv-
Ice on the frontier during the American rev.
olution The small band who composed the
expedition possessed the qualities essential
to a successful issue. They were young and
full of enthusiasm. They had great powers
of endurance they had tact, and they pos
sessed moral and physical courage of
high order. They went about their difficult
and important task in manner to in
sure the best results. They not only went
to explore an unknown region, but to
make such report of their discoveries as
a jc.41 val n
the world. There was no nisadventure and
no failure. They proceeded with good judg-
ment, with patience and with firm resolu-
ton. Their appointed task was fraught
with farreaching consequences and beset
with unknown dangers. The expedition
lay far beyond the frontier and the reach
OF aid should grave periis arise. We must
measure the undertaking from the environ
ment of the time in which it was laid. The
courage which calmly braves unseen perils
is often of a higher order than that which
cor fronts known dangers
This exposition has risen as an express
sion of the gratitude of the people for what
brave men wrought for humanity and civil
lization in the long ago.
Thousands followed in later years the
pathway of Lewis and Clark with less
danger than they encountered and no less
heroism than they displayed. We gladly
acknowledge our Indebtedness to those who
came hither and erected this state. The
pioneers who crossed the Alleghanies the
Mississippi river, the great plains, the Rocky
mountains and built their homes here were
of the best quality. They were well fitted
to found a commonwealth and to raise
here the torch of our western civilization
They were not idlers. They We're not aim
less wanderers. They were the soul of
energy and came with high and fixed pur-
pose. They have made their ample con-
tribution to our national strength.
Rich Fruits of Human Effort.
AS we stand here amid the rich fruits
fort upLrouyn 70 any, o+bar +;r,a w. -
UT ,' unAho"n ~ any o'lier tine' we re-
can win uhiheasureo appreciation the
pioneers who led the way to greatness
upon this coast We erect monuments to
commemorate the services of our states
men. the valor of our soldiers and sailors
The evidence of our gratitude should not
stop there. The American pioneers are as
worthy as they of some enduring tribute
Their services were not so picturesque as
the services of those who won glory upon
the field: but they were quite as perilous
and fruitful of lasting good to the
human race. The pioneers were, indeed
soldiers-soldiers in the army of peace
They were pickets on the outpost of civil
liZation. All honor to those who through
moving accidents of flood and field" laid
the founda lions of organized society upon
the shore of the Pacific. This exposition
is, in very special sense. monument to
their wisdom, their virtue and their forth
tude
This exposition logically follows the
great exposition which commemorated
the Louisiana purchase. 1t appropriately
supplements it, They both irresistibly
suggest our obligation to Thomas Jeffer-
SON. We do well to recall his service In
connection with the acquisition from
France of the province of louisiana and
his organization of the Lewis and Clark
expedition, which opened the way to the
expansion of the zone of American civil
ization. We may well pause to pay trib-
ute to his lofty genius his profound far
seeing wisdom, and his service to the
cause of human liberty and progress
upon this continent. The fruit of his serv-
ices will bless mankind for ages.
William Mckinley, one of the greatest
and most beloved Of Americans, well said
in his last speech that "expositions are
the timeEeepers of progress" They de-
note our growth in trade and commerce.
in industrv and knowledge and in the
arts and sciences They assemble the
fruits of the genius and endeayor of the
Eacb succeeding exposition finds us oc
cupied a position of advance.
We fini gathered mere the latest i'm
proEenhe!its an ont 80 49, Ia
in Contrast with them the obsolete in
struments of not remote period of by
gone civilizatlon. New applcatons or old