Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1906-04-27
AN ELOQUENT PLEA
FOR JAMESTOWN,

No Virginian, proud of the tradi-
tions of his historic Commonwealth
could have spoken more impressively
and more appreciatively of the glories
of the Old Dominion, past and present
than did Representative Charles A.
Towne. of New York, in his speech in
the House last week in support Of the
jamestown Exposition. Mr.. Towne
is a native of Michigan: his father
and mother were born in the western
part of the State of New York. Y ct
if Senators Daniel or Martin. both OF
long line of Virginian ancestry, or
any of the 10 Representatives of Vir'
ginia in the House, had been speaking
in behalf of national aid for the James
town Exposition, none would have
shown more just understanding OF
the Importance of the. Jamestown
settlement in 1907 than did this elO-
quent son of Michigan. 1t is not nee
essary to 60 over that ground, in view
of Mr.. Towne's illuminating address
IN the House of Representatives. 1t
may be interesting, however, to direct
attention to the following statement
by the Michigan statesman:
Three hundred years seem long
time as we speak the words, yet in the
life of nations it is but little while.
There are five member of the House
of Representatives that could clasp
hands and unite the settlement of
jamestown with this proposed cele-
bratiOn. The present Senators from
two of the States in the Union could
compass the interval, with 10 years to
spare.
The Senators to whom Mr.. Towne
refers are probably Edmund Winston
Pettus and John Tyler Morgan, of
Alabama, and Thomas Collier Platt
and Chauncey Mitchell Depew of New
York. Mr.. Pettus will be So years old
on July next. MIR. Morgan will round
out his eighty second year on June 20.
Mr. Platt will be 70 years old on July
Is; Mr.. Depew will attain his seventy
second year on April %. The Congress
sional Directory shows that the COM
bined age of Representatives Bankhead
of Alabama; E. Stevens Henry, Ne
hemiah D. Sperry and EbenezerJ Hill,
Nf nd R0dnnV
Burton, of Delaware, is 337 years. The
youngest man in this group of Repre-
sentatives is 81 years old. Another
group of statesmen in the House whose
ages in the aggregate exceed 300 years
is composed of Speaker Cannon, 70
years; Representative Livingston, of
Georgia, "A years; Representative Hit
of Illinois, "a; Representative Halliday
of Indiana, "a, and Representative
Hedge, of Iowa, 62 years. There is
considerable number of young men in
the House, but not as many OF that
class of Representatives as there are
of statesmen who have passed the pc
riod of middle age. or the "Elder
Statesmen" of the House little is heard
nowadays, but in the Senate they are
frequently in evidence. MI. Morgan,
of Alabama, is always ready to speak
on any question before the Senate. and
at 50 his brain is as clear and strong
as it ever was
IL the 800 years which have passed
since the jamestown settlement there
have been nine generations of Amerl-
cans, estimating the life Of genera
tion at 33 years. But as mathematlc-
ians do not approve any arbitrary
method of estimating the life of gen
Grafton, it may be possible t0illustrate
MIR. Towne's suggestion in another
way. In the 800 years which have
elapsed since the Jamestown settlement
there are four 75-year periods, each
representing type of longevity which
Is not uncommod even in this day. Ii
Mr., Morgan had been born in 1907,
Mr.. Platt in 1882, Mr.. Depew in l757
and Mr.. Pettus in 1892, the cycle would
be complete, ana the lives of these four
men would compass the birth and de-
yelopment of this nation. In these
200 wears the world has seen the little
settlement at jamestown and the later
settlements in other parts of this con
tinent expand as if by magic into a
mower secopd in material wealth and
greatness to none of which there Is re-
cord in history.