The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-04-26

Oh peukll p
the people q coherent add powerful
government d genuine and representa-:
iEe natIonailty.
Two3generations passed before the
second great crisis of our history had
3 be faced: Then came the civil
VA, terrible and bitter i.self and
. It's aftermath, but a struggle from
which the Nation finally emerged unit.
Ell In fact as well as in name, united
forever. OBJ, my hearers. my fellow
countrymen, great indeed has been
our good fortune; for as time clears
away the mlsts that once shrouded
brother from brother and made each
look as through a glass darkly" at the
other, we can all feel the same pride
In the yalor, the devotion and the feal.
~ toward the right, shown alike by
the men who wore the blue and by the
men who wore the gray. Rich and
prosperous though We are as a peo.
pie, the proudest heritage that each
Of US has, no matter where he may
dwell, North or South. East or West.
Is the immaterial heritage OF feeling,
the right TO claim as his own all the
yaior and nil the steadfast devotion
10 duty shown by the men Of both
the great armies, Of the soldiers whose
leader was Grant and the soldiers
whose leader was Lee. The men and
the women Of the Civil War did their
duty braYely and well in the days that
were dark and terrible and splendid.
We, their descendants. who pay proud
homage TO their memories, and glory
In the feats Of might OF one side no
less than Of the other, need to keep
steadily In mind that the homage
which counts Is the homage OF heart
and Of hand, and not Of the lips, the
homage OF deeds and not OF words on.
ly. We. too. in our turn, must prove
oar truth by our endeavor. 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 Jul fathers did well In the
years that tried mems souls; and We
must In our turn so bear ourselves
that the children who come after It's
may feel that We too have done our
duty.
We can not afford to forget the max.
I'm upon which Washington Insisted,
that the surest way TO avert war Is TO
be prepared 10 meet It. Nevertheless
the duties that most cancern lis OF
this generation are not military, but
social and industrial. Each communi.
ty must always dread the evils which
spring up as attendant upontthe very
qualities which give 1t success. We
Of this mighty western Republic have
10 Grapple with the dangers that
spring from popular selfgovernment
tried on a scale incomparably vaster
than ever before in the history OF
mankind, ind from an Astounding ma.
terial prosperity greater also than any.
thing which the world has hitherto
seen. II ,y;kt%
As regards the first set of dangers,
Il behooveS US to REMEMBER that men
can never escape being governed.
Either they must govern themselves
or they must submit TO being govern.
ed by others. II from lawlessness or
fi%cklcness, from folly Or s~elf.indll.
gence, they refuse to govern them.
selves, then most assuredly in the end
they will have to be governed from
the outside. They can prevent the
need Of government from without only
by showing that they possess the pow.
er of government from within. A soy.
ereisn can not make excuses for his
failures; n sovereign must accept the
responsibility for the exercise Of the
power that inllereS In him; and where,
as is trne IN our Republic, the people
are sovereign, then the people must
show Il sober understanding and a
sane and steadfast purpose II they are
to preserve that orderly liberty upon
which rs a foundation every republic
must rest.
In industrial matters II enormous
prosperity hns brought with II Ger.
tain grave evils. 1t Is our duty to try
TO cut out these evils without al the
same time destroying our %well'being
itself. This is an era Of combination
alike In the world Of capital and In
the world Of labor. Each kind OF com.
bination car do good, and yet each,
however powerful, must be opposed
when It does H.. At the moment the
greatest problem before us Is how to
exercise slch control over the bust.
ness use Of vast wealth, individual,
but especially corporate, as will In.
sure its being used against the interest
of the public, while yet permitting
such ample legitimate profits as will