The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-01-18

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away. The smoke of civil conflict has
vanished forever from the sky, and
the whole country, under the new
conditions evolved in its four years
struggle, finds itself united in deveI
oping its vast in successful
rivalry with the greatest nations of
the earth. Whose vision is now so
dull that he does not recognize the
blessing it is to himself and to his
children to live in an undivided coun-
try? Who would today relegate his
State to the position it would
sovereign, as are tine States of Central
and South Americas? To ask these
questions is to answer them. And the |
answer is the acknowledgment that
it was best for the South that the
cause was lost The right to secede1
the stake for which we fought so de-
sperately, were it now offered us as]
a gift, we would reject as we would
a proposition of suicide. Lei me brief
ly review the story of this change of
sentiment.
1--WE believed, and still believe, that
its sovereignty was Intended to be re-
served by each and every State when
it ratified the Constitution. 1t was
universally taught among us hat in
this feature there was divi1ely inspir
ed wisdom. 1t may have been wisdom
for that century. Each State was then
al Independent agricultural communi-
ty. The railroad, the steamship, the
telegraph, were undreamed of on earth
But, as in nature, whenever the eli
mate has changed, the fauna and flora
have been forced to change and adapt
themselves to new Environments, SO
among mankind must modes of govern
ment be modified to conform to new
conditions. The steamboat, railroad,
and telegraph by 1860 had made a new
planet out of the one George Washing
ton knew. National had
been born, and it was realized that
State sovereignty was utterly incompa-
tible with it's full development. The
inspired wisdom of the previous CEN
fury had o become but foolisnness.
Natures great law of evolution,
against which no constitution can pre-
vail, at once brought into play to W
erturn it forces as irresistible as
those of a volcano But such Darwin
ian conceptions as those of political
evolution had then entered few mems
minds. Patrick Henry had said, Give
Liberty, of give me Death Sure
ly it would not be liberty if we could
not secede whenever we wished to.
Holding these views, we should have
been towards had we not resisted to
the last extremity. And p~osterity
should be grateful for our having fore
ed the issue and fought it out to the
bitter end.
"Now, l have learned to appreciate |
the limited range of Patrick Henry's |
views, and ave discarded them in
favor of Darwinian theories. l want
neither liberty nor death; l want con-
the changes in DUR planet still go on,
and as international mas
grown up, a Siamese twin to national
commerce, l applaud our nations com
ing out of the swaddling bands of it's
infancy and entering upo1 it's grand
Inheritance. Let it stand for univer- |
civilization. This is but a small !
and crowded planet, now that science
has brot it's ends together By her
great inventions. Neither states nor
a longer dwell to them
selves. An irresponsible conflict is
on between barbarism and civilization |
human imperfeetion much that
must be done nay seem harsh aid
cruel. Much that has happened doubt
less was so to our aborigines, but for
all that we must look forward and
not backward and walk boldly in this
paths of progress.
'Now for their bearing upon my
story, let me speak briefly of two mat
tiers of history. Mr.. Charles Francis
Adams, il a recent address, has point
ed out that it is due to General e
Appomattox, in April, 1866, a sur
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