Las Vegas daily optic., 1907-04-26

! 70 Abraham LncOaa: n was men sneh
- we're thersaa described from whose
ioiEs Andre~ jackson spgaag
Hitherto each geaeEation xanong as
has had tn allotted task. now heavier.
now lighter. In the Revolutionary ar
the business VAS % achieve indepen.i
ence Immediately afterwards there
was IN even more monentoas task:
that to achieve the uationaa unity and
the capacity for orderly development.
without which our liberty. our inde-
penisnce would have been a curse
and not q blessing In each OF these
two contests. while there were many
great leaders from many different
| states. IL L. but fair TO say that the
foremost place vas taken hy the soa-
diers aaI the Statesmen of Virginia:
and to Virginia was reserved the hon
or of producing the hero of both
movements, the hero OF the war. and
of the peace that made good the re-
suits 0f the war George Washing.
ton: while the two great political ten
dencies of the time can BE- symboilxed
by the names Of two other great vir-
ginians jefferson ana Marshall
from one of whom We inherit the
abiding trass in the people which Is
the foundation stone Of democracy.
ani from the other the power % de.
velop on behalf Of the people a eoher-
ent and powerful government. Il gen
uine and representative nationality.
Two generations passed before the
second great crisis Of our history had
10 be faced, Then came the Civil
war. terrible and bitter In itself and
! In tts aftermath. but n struggle from
which the nation finally emerged uni-
ted In fact as we'll a. In name. united
. forever. Oh. my hearers. my fellow.
countrymen. great indeed has been
our good fortune: for 40 time clears
away the mists that once shrouded
brother from brother and made each
look "as through glass darkly" al
I the other. We can all feel the same
, pride In the vaior, the devotion and
the feaity toward the right as II was
given to each 10 see the right, shown
alike by the men who wore the hlua
and by the men who wore the gray
Rich and prosperous though We are
l as a people. the proudest heritage tha,
each OF us has, no matter where he
may dwell. north or south, east OF
" west. is the immaterial heritage Of
= feeling. the right 10 claim as his own
5 all the valor ami all the steadfast de-
I votion to duty shown by the men Of
' both the great armies. OF the soldiers
D whose leader was Grant and the sol
| dlers whose leader was Lee Tho
men AMI the women OF the Civil wal
did their duty braveiy ANA well In tho
days that were dark AMI terrible and
splendid. We, their descendants. who
pay proud homage to their memories
. ana glory In the feats OF might oi
one side no less than OF the other
need to keep steadily In mind that
the homage which counts Is the HON
age OF heart and of hand. and not oi
the lips, the homage OF deeds, and
not of words only. We, too. In our
turn, must prove our truth by our
endeayor. We must show ourselves
worthy sons of the men OF the mighty
days by the way In which we meet
the problems of our own time. We
carry our heads high because our
fathers did well In the years that
tried mems souls; and we must In our
turn SO bear ourselves that the chill
dren who come after us may feel
that we too have done our duty.
We can not afford to forget the
maxim upon which Washington In
sisted, that the surest way to avert
war Is to be prepared TO meet it
Nevertheless the duties that most
concern us OF this generation are not
military, but social and industrial
Each community must always dread
the evils which spring up as attend
ant upon the very qualities which
give 1t success. We of this mighty
western republic have to grapple with
the dangers that spring from popular
self government tried on a scale In
comparahly vaster than ever before
In the history of mankind. AMI from
an abounding material prosperity
greater also than anything which the
world has hitherto seen.
AS regards the first set of dangers.
1t behooves us to remember that men
can never escape being governed.
Either they must govern themselves
or they must submit to being gov
erned by others. II from lawlessness
Or fickleness, from folly or self-indul-
gence the refuse to govern them
selves, then most assureily I'm the end
1