The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-22
THE NATIoN,s HOUsECLEANING.
From Mr.. Justice Brsvsr's address at kilpdN-
kee, july 10.

kee, July 10,
There has been O good deal Of disturbance
In the body polite for the last year, and this
condition In likely to continue. The nation
Is In the business Of cleaning house. i have
beaten many q carpet and ! was always
astonished that az long az I beat some
dust would come out. This housekeeping
Of Uncle Sans Ia disturbing a good many
We have devoted ourselves TO beautiful
front yards and have neglected the back
yards. Just at this time We are going Into
them with the purpose Of making them "a
~presentable a. the front yards. We are try
ing to lift slum life to q better and happier
condition. We are going to places usually
unseen by the general public and saying
that we want them as clean al the public
places. We do not mean TO have 80 to 40
per cent. poor alcohol in our patent medi-
cines n we do not mean to buy opium
In u soothing syrup II we know 1t. nor
poor whiskey II we can detect the cheat.
We al honesty and truth in the conduct
and output Of every factory and grocery.
A great many men will be unjustly con-
demned. II becomes every intelligent man
not to accept a charge OF crime as proof
Of guilt. Let every person have every con-
stitutional and legal protection, and when
he has been found guilty, God pity him, let
him take the punishment.
A multitude Of loud mouthed demagogues
will attempt to ride into power on popular
sentiment. When you find a denBagogue,
do not answer him; pass him by.
An objection that Is made to our house,
cleaning 10 that 1t interferes with pros
perity and hurts business. II may cause
q temporary embarrassment Of prosperity,
and some people may be disturbed; but
nothing will ever build this country up like
the assurance that whatever the foreigner
wishes to buy or whatever bears the Ameri-
can stamp Is just what It purports to be.
The men who now complain would profit
by the fullest investigation.
Troubled conditions have led many to
say that we shall never more have peace
here, and that the country Is thoroughly
rotten. At every exposure they say, oh,
dear, Oh, dear; what a country They
believe that all honest men are gone and
that the country has gone to what Dickens
called the "demnition bowwows.'
The great American people is not un-
sound. BEFORE the war the South said
that the North was composed OF selfish
shopkeepers and unpatriotic farmers who
would never go to war. but when the grand
old lberator heard the guns OF Sumter
and called for volunteers, you remember
how the shops and farms resounded with
.We are coming, Father Abraham" Nothing
could stay that wave. There may be those
to-day who are looking at the golden calf
and who respect the dollar more than the
man, but among the plain people Of the shops
and farms a conservation to duty exists
now and then. There are s%culptors who
are chiselling the commands Thou shalt
not steal" and Thou shalt not bear false
witness When the time calls, again the
people will rise and renew their allegiance
to the great Jehovah. You can never make
me believe that the heart Of the American
people Ia unsound. To-day | appeal to you
as men and women OF this great republic,
who are part OF the ~republic-do not you
repudiate impurity and corruption?
want every individual man to feel that
the future Of the republic, for glory or for
shame, for veal or for woe, depends on
him alone; to say in imitation Of the French
King, The republic-1 am the republic
Then will peace, justice and righteousness
prevail in every part Of this land.
As 1 grow old. more profound become
my convictions regarding the future Of the
republic. While / am not blind to it's wicked
ness and its failings, I believe that the
Almighty has gathered between these two
oceans g $1,000, 1000 of people on whom rests
a duty, the supreme obligation Of the future,
and that those people will be loyal to 1t and
will continue to strive until Old Glory re-
fleets as a banner OF the stars, and toiling
humanity the world over looks on with
thankfulness and gratitude.