Omaha daily bee., 1905-06-15
WEBSTER ON RACE PROGRESS
Growth Of the United States as Factor in
Affairs of Humanity.
INCREASE IN SCHOLARSHIP THE CAUSE
Annual Address to Phi Beta Kappa
Deals with the Share of the
Educated Man in the
Worlds Work,

LINCOLN, June 14,-(Special.)-A the an
nual banquet of the Phi Beta Kappa at
the Lincoln hotel last night Hon. John L.
Webster of Omaha was the guest of honor.
About fifty members of the society sat
down to dinner together, DR.. Wilson presid-
ing. After the dinner the members re-
paired 10 Memorial hall, where the public
was admitted to hear the address of the
occasion, which was made by Mr.. Web
ster. The hall was well filled, and the
auditors listened attentively while the
speaker eloquently, extolled the excellence
of the combination of the scholar and the
man of action, and portrayed the growing
Importance of the American people in all
the affairs of humanity. ascribing the
growth to the extension of scholarship.
Ancients Are Magnihed.
John L. Webster spoke in part as follows
II tDemosthenestl lives almost entirely in ira
dition. There has BEEN erected by professors
from which they eXpostulate on his oratory
as the greatest and most nearly perfect
the speeches of Edmund Burke, of Henry
Clay, of Daniel Webster, of Wendell Phil
lips, of Henry Ward Beecher? Thousands
have read and will continue to read these
modern orators in preference to Demos
themes. This lovo and admiration of the
anctents is not so much on account of their
real merit or value, but may be compared
to the admiration of the connoisseur for
the antique, Let me illustrate my thought
by the opinions expressed of the canonized
Plato by two of the most eminent men of
modern history; two men who were recog
nized as among the best scholars of their
age; two men who had most to do with the
founding of liberty on the western hemis-
phere; two men who served on the COM
mittee that prepared the Declaration of In
dependence, one its draughtsman, and the
other a colossus in its support on the floor
of congress; two men each of whom served
rpnraSpntatiVpS their 81 he
courts of the most highly civilized and
learned nations of Europe; two men who
of the people, vice president and president
of the United States; two men whose
memories are dear to the hearts of the
Adams.
Progress of Centuries.
II we were to undertake to reduce our
commercial and political insignificance OF
those ancient times we would take from
| ourselves all those things which make our
We would have to take from our farmers all
| the modern implements of husbandry. We
would have to take away the wooden and
the old hand family looms We would
take away all our mills and factories
| wherein machinery is run by steam power
We would take from our streets the
7 asphaltum pavements, the electric street
cars, the automobiles and the elevated
roads. We would take from the buildings
| the elevators ard from our business offices
the stenographers the typewriters and the
bookkeepers From our dwellings We would
| take the sewing machine and Dresden ano
| Haviland china tableware We would take
the cooking ranges from our kitchens and
patent devices from the laundries, and we
| would dispense with anthracite coal, the
| Illuminating oils and our gas and electric
| lights. From our army we would take the
| guns and cannons and gunpowder, and II
| their places put bows and arrows and pike:
| and short swords. From our towns and
| cities we would take our banking houses
and chambers ot commerce. We would take
away our common schools and colleges anC
universities, and from our state govern
| ments our orphan and insane asylum
| aud hospitals. We would take ava!
| our steam engines and telegraphs anC
| telephones. We would take away oul
| railroads and ocean steamers. W.
! would take away our newspapers anC
| our printing presses We would have tC
forget all the discoveries in science sine,
| the days of Bacon and Newton, and canoe
from the catalogues of our libraries th
histories of hundreds of years. We woult
have to forget what knowledge and libert!
has done to elevate the human race, anC
| what good governments have done for thu
benefit of mankind. We would so back L
an age when II would have taken Caesa
longer to go the length of the Mediter
ranean in the discomforts of a rowboa
than 1t now takes the American either
to travel around the circle of the globe II