New-York tribune., 1908-02-23
HANILTON.

Tho formation of the Alexander Hamilton
National Memorial Association and its move
men+ for the erection at the national caplaI OF
. sri+abIe monument to one of the greatest
constructive statesmen America has ever known
arc heartily +o he commended. They are. it is
truo strangely beated. It IS auom3 l0us and IL
ie iiscredftahIc that. although more than
century has passed since his death. no Pubic
memorial of Hamilton has been erected in
Washington excepting the statue of him which
Npv York has placed in the rotunda Of the
Canj1ol Puhlic squares bear the names OF
mon Of far less worth. and monuments nave
rnpn raised 10 them; hut none has been dedl-
Gated 10 that rare and resplendent genius 10
whom the nation owes moro than to any otheT
statesman. save. perhaps, one or TWO anu
whom the world through the voice OF some OF It's
most competent judges has long since r"coS-
nized as one Of the very greatest statesmen not
only Of America but of all lands. and not only
of his own age but of all time,
The testimony Of Talleyrand has become pro-
verbal that while he had known nearly all the
marked men of his time he had never known
ono on tho whole the equal of Hamilton; and
that was the time Of Pitt Burke. Fox, Grattan.
Humboldt Wellington and Napoleon. TO Me
h11hr concentrating the iustriOus men of that
3Ce and Of antiquity. he seemed great as the
greatest" Guizot paid him like tribute Mr.
Rrvcp. than whom could wish no more DIS
eliminating Judge, has placed him IN the front
..rsnl, of A generation never surpassed in his
..torv-a thinker for the world. one Of history
.-axcentional men Citations of like purport
could be indefinitely multiplied to show that 1t
is not partisan predilection nor national prlde'
r,,,+ rather the imnartal measured and enlight-
ened Judgment of humanity which accordS TO
Hamilton his rank among the worlds immor-
tails.
The Importance Of his specific and concrete
services 10 the American Republic could scarcely
no ayaggerated The impulse which with q sim
gle 1lnpremeditated speech he, as LAD in his
teens. gave TO the rising cause Of resistance TO
oppression was memorable and most valuable.
His personal vaor as a soldier was OF the high
est and his military genius as commander IN
the Revolution perhaps surpassed by only
that of Washington and Greene. 1t WAS he who
first authoritativey forecast our acquisition OF
the Mississippi and of a domain extending to
the Pacific and embracing the bulk of the con-
tinent. and the development, with our sympa
thetc regard and protection, Of group Of in
dependent republics in Central and South Amer
,ca "Our situation" he said, Invites and
"nrou1pts US to aim at an ascendant in Amer
..ican affairs" He in his letters to Duane and
Sears was the first great prophet Of true na-
tional unity under strong federal government
He i'm his letters 10 Morris and others. before
b,. had fully reached years Of maturity first
outlined Il true national system Of finance. With
Madison he shared the honors of building the
Constitution. and more than any other he con
tributed 10 the acceptance and adoption of that
instrument by the states. Under IL he was
the redeener Of our national credit and the
creator of national prosperity. The treas
ury, the currency, industries, manufactures,
commerce, public works, are all memorials Of