The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1908-07-09

Mr.. President, Honorable Judges,
and Fellow Members: K
"Strange record of a people passed away!
Once numerous as the leaves the forest shed!
With reverence may we 0pe their graves, and
tread
with thoughtful minds the cities of the dead"
1t is q peculiar, and at once surpris-1
ing, matter that scientists have been
unable to inform us what variety of
intellectual microbes germinate in the
brain cells of an individual who enter
tains such absurd ideas that railroads
have been more beneficial to these
United States than have steamboats,,
sailing vessels and water crafts of every
description. want to impress upon
your minds, right here, that had my
adversary managed to inject some tech
nical modification into the question at
issue sheuld have hesitated to become
the object of his superexce!lent, fanci-
full, literary shafts. But when he boldly |
proclaims that the affirmative is the
winning side, whirls around and au-
daciously asserts that he can contradict
himself and prove that the negative is
the winning side-then his vanity is
pitiable; and it becomes an indisputable
conjecture that he expects to obtain
the laurel by stultifying your reason
ing powers with conglomeration of
statistics, with concoctions of fQuestion-
able theoretical contentious, an exhibi-
tion. of language juggling, and bonn
bastic displays of rhetoric.
Rhetoric is that weapon, the MAIN
stay, of aspiring speakers who have
recourse to, and depend upon, high
down phrases, fiowery, grandiIoquent
Language to uphold the fiimsy, shallow,
inane side of an argument. Its ulterior
purpose is to befuddle the auditors
minds to such degree that you readily
concede points in order to escape from
the impertinent, impetuous, inconsis-
tent volleys which emanate from the
lips of human cannon. direct your
attention to these facts in order to pro.
tect you, as friends, from palsy of the
intellect ere my opponent sheds his
pent-up knowledge to illuminate the
transcendency of the nations indebted
ness to the railroads. Indeeol Such a
contention is radically, diametrically,
opposed to truth. In fact ridiculousiy
absurd.
Permit me to show you drawing
20 40 ho of tho
world by people centuries ago. Here
we note Europe, Asia, and Africa sur
rounded by water. At that time Amer
lea was separated from the Eastern
Hemisphere by great, broad expanse
of water. Picture mankind gathering
along these European shores gazing
wonderingly across the imitless ex-
panse of ocean blue toward conceived
ideas of nothingness. What could en-
able those ancient peoples to span
oceans? Nothing but sailing yessels1
1 care nsught for dry statistics that
can be smoothed down to suit
occasions; I scorn rhetorical articles
to mould the opinions of men; detest
these stage effects, appeals for con-
sideration of questionable adductions;
and do not propose thatyou cater to
polemical arguments and insipid con.
clusions-I simply ask you, what sgen.
cy brought America into existence
civilized existence? In other words
enabled human beings to pierce that
ecumenic Of our great nation? Why
the most romantic Of individuals; tht
most irredeemable of mental atheists
the eshort-frocked schoolgirl; the freck
le-faced street urchin, together will
j rational and profound thinkers; yes
even the most radical Of sentimentalistl
$ -ail are capable of answering the fore
going questions. Reply to those que
ries and you decide this debate. Th'
answer can only be: We're 1t not TO
sailing ships America would have re
mained nonentity, wilderness TO
savagesi Therefore. argue from nsv
until doomsday and the palpabIe fec