The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-08-25

United States Senator DolIiver
preached the doctrine of optimism to
the first audience of the Richmond
Chautauqua yesterday afternoon, and
when he had finished his eloquent and
altogether practical address, there
were many of his hearers who left with
the thought uppermost that after al.
the kicking, the complaining and the
general fanlt-finding about the 'taw-
tut conditions that exist in this coun-
Try, are to great degree imaginative
Senator Dolliyer finds the inspiration
of his CHEEKY disposition in the good
things of life. He refuses to borrow
trouble and he proceeds along the
theory that there are laws of nature.
laws of God, which are more deeply
implanted in this world than any of
those made by man, and which more
than counter-balance the evils which
may exist. In other words Senator
Dolliver is firm in the belief that this
world is growing better inf cad of
worse ,as many persons are inclined
to imagine; that conditions of the
present in political and social life are
in fact better than they were a few
decades ago and vastly better than a
half century ago.
Many Speakers Are Gloomy
This country said Senator Dolli-
ver,. has a great many men and wo-
men who are speaking from the plat
form at gatherings of this sort, who
are persistent In expressing views of
the people and and of the. country that
are gloomy in the extreme | re-
fuse to take this view. / have inner
tied the philosophy of life which
makes it essential to believe that
things as a whole are going on well.
met a man a few days ago who stat
ed to me that if the great trusts nd
monopolies of this country did not
put US into actual slavery. that they
certainly would put our children
there. He thought we needed new
party to save these 10000. 900 people
of ours. / have been as mad as al
body about some of the great indus
trial methods that confront us today. |
but it is incredible to think that a
great and good God should have plan
ned this universe without providing
some laws of nature which can and
will remedy the evils that exist In |
L
know that it is growing better | +
have made it my business to go back /
and find out just what the conditions +
were twenty years ago and seventy t
five years ago, and there is ample /
proof for the assertion. The doc |
trine of the late Senator Hoar is wor-
thy of emulation by every Ameri- I
can. Read his memoirs and you will /
find that he was sensitive TO every |
wrong and hopeful of every good II
have been a member of the American
Congress for twenty years and dur
ing that period | have seen the NOR
al level of American life constantly
voing up. | heard a colleagae of I
mine say recently that public life was
going to ruin, that Washington was
corrupt, that Congress was corrupt
and that no such conditions existed /
in the National Capital forty or fifty
years ago. The trouble with this
man was that he did not know the
conditions of the past nor of the pres
ent. For example. in 1860 there ex-
listed in Washington, midway be-
tween the White House and the Cap
itol. gambling house in which rep
Tesentatives of tx lower house. Unit
ed States Senators and men who were
candidates for the presidency were
gathered every night. The keeper
Of that gambling house died. His
funeral was attended by scores of
men in Washington Official life. Even
the man who was then President of
these United States was there and
that man was your uncle James Bu-
chanan- Can any person conceive
that such condition could now pre-
vail in Washington public life? Twen-
ty years ago when | entered congress
saw men reeling from intoxication