The Cairo bulletin., 1908-05-17
COUNTRY'S HOPE
IS IN CHARACTER
PRESIDENT PAYS TRIBUTE TO
TRUE AMERICAN WOMAN
HOOD AND MANHOOD.
METHOOISM IS PRAISED
Before Delegates to General Confer
ence For important Part Played
in the Sturdy Upbuldng
; of the Nation.

Washington, May 16-"Good CIT
Zenship' was the subject of an ad
dress by President Roosevelt today
in which he paid notable tribute t
motherhood, before a large gathering
of Methodists at the American Uni
versity in the course of construction
just outside the city limits. The as
semblage was composed principall
of delegates to the general confer
ence of the, Methodist Episcopa
church, now in session in Baltimore
The exercises began at O'Clock
this afternoon on the universit.
campus In tribute to Presiden
Roosevelt, Bishop Cranston, who IRE
sided, declared that he was in sym
pathy with the missionary movements
of all churches; that he had lifted
politics to plane of craftsmanship;
that he had forced diplomacy i'm the
open; that he had taken the people
into his confidence because he hal
nothing to conceal; that he was f ar
less in rebuking inquiry aud that he
had made Judgment day for evi
doesr.
His address which was listened to
with keen attention follows:
History of Methodism.
1t is a pleasure to be with you to-
day and bid you welcome on behalf OF
the nation, here in the capital of the
nation. Important though the Meth
odist church is in many lands. there
Is none in which it has played so
great aud peculiar a part as here in
the United States. It's history is In.
dissolubly interviewer with the his.
tory o: our country for the six score
years since the constitutional conyen-
ton made rs really a nation. Meth
odism in America entered on its
period of rapid growth just about
the time of Washington's first presi-
dency. Its essential democracy, its
flery and restless energy of spirit, and
the wide play that it gave to individ-
ual initiative. all tended to make II
peculiarly congenial to u hardy and
virile folk, democratic to the core,
prizing individual Independence
above all earthly possessions, aud en-.
gaged in the rough stern work OF
conquering continent. Methodism
spread even among the old communi-
ties and the long settled districts of
the Atlantic tide water; but it's phe-
nomenal growth was from these re.
gious westward. The whole country
is under debt of gratitude to the
Methodist circuit riders, the Meth
odist pioneer preachers, whose move
ment westward kept pace with the
movement of the frontier, who shared
all the hardships in the life of the
frontiersman, while at the same time
ministerinE to that frontiersman'
pressing material cares and the ahrd
and grinding poverty of his life did
not wholly extinguish the divine fire
within his soul, Such was your work
in the past; and your work in the
present is as great for the need and
opportunity for service widen as the
field of national interest widens. 1t
is not true in this country that the
poor have grown poorer; but II is
true that in many sections, aud par
ticularly in our large cities. the rich
have grown SO very much richer as
to widen the gulf between the man
of very large means and the man
who makes each days livelihood by
that DAYS work. and those who with
sincerity, and efficiency, and deep
conviction, band together for mutual
help. are those who can do most to
keep the gulf from becoming too
wide. True religion, through church
organizations. through phi,authropic
organizations, in all the field CT
kindred endeavor. can manifest itself
as effectively in the crowded and
complex life of today as in the Pic
neer yesterdays: and the souls of
men need the light now. and strive
blindly toward 1t. as they needed it,
past II is vour task to do the work
of the Lord on the farm and in the
mine, in the countingroom and the
factory. in the car shops and beside
the blasting furnaces. Just as it was
the task of your spiritual forbears
to wrestle for the souls of the men
and women who dwelt on the stump
dotted celarings in the wilderness.
Much Evil ana Much Good.
No nation in the world has more
right than ours to look with proud
confidence toward the future No
where else has the experiment Of
democratic government. of govern
nent by the people and for the PEG
pie. OF government based on the
principle of treating each man on his
innate worth as a man. been tried en-
so vast a scale as with US: and on
the whole the experiment has been
more successful than anywhere else.
Moreover. on the whole. think II
can be said that We nave grown bet