The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1909-02-16
Colonel schuyler's Address.

In his address Colonel Schuyler took
occasion to declare that the Fifth Cav
airy, U. S. A., was here as a messen-
ger of peace and that he hoped the
day would never come when it would
be necessary to draw the sword in de-
Tense of these Islands. After intro
duction by Chairman Atkinson, Colonel
Schuyler spoke as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen: When I was
asked to speak to you this evening I
fully appreciated the courtesy and the
compliment to me, but at first it SEEM
ed presumptuous that / should venture
to address you from this platform-I,
fwho have just come as stranger to
your gates.
However, I quickly realized that you
do not expect me to deliver eulogy
of the great American whose cen
tenary we are here to celebrate, for
there is gifted speaker specially Sc
lected to give you an Grafton appro-
pirate to the occasion.
l believe that what you wish of me
is something more personal to our
selves.
Among a more primitive people when
the stranger arrives he is asked, "Who
are you7 Whence come youf What
message do you bring?" The soldier
with FIVE hundred sabers at his back
is not expected to be a man of many
words, but | am glad of this oppor-
tunity to introduce to you this newly
arrived element in your community,
cavalry regiment of distinguished his.
tory and proud traditions, which has
been in action in all our wars since
1855, and whose roster bears the names
of many generals famous in American
history.
We came to you with the sword, but
it is in the scabbard, and if we bring
you any message, it is one of peace and
good will, and the wish for your con.
tinued prosperity.
While officially we represent the
power of the United States, and our
organization and training are to the
end of maintaining its dignity and
authority, we, individually, are all good
citizens, and our desire is to live in
harmony with our neighbors Our
backs are clad in the panoply of war,
but the spirit of battle is not now
flaming in our hearts. Let us hope
that in these beautiful Islands nothing
You have all seen something of mill
tary people, and you know that our
calling requires that we be both versa
tile and daptable-equal to any duty
that may be assigned us and able to
fit any environment into which we
may be thrown. Whether the Army is
to be envied or commiserated depends
upon whether your taste is for travel
and adventure, or for the tranquil do
nestle life. A few weeks ago we were
quietly domiciled amid sterile deserts
of Arizona, and surrounded by the
richest copper mining districts of the
world Now, by a speedy transition
across an ocean, we are in the midst
of the loveliest garden-and, it may be
observed, the only mining is for
water.
We have come to you with kindly
curiosity and genuine interest in you
and your pursuits. We are prepared
to comprehend and to sympathize with
you in all your preoccupations.
We find you prosperous and low
able community, intensely American,
with, at the same time, burning pa
triotism for your Hawaiian Islands.
You have given us hearty welcome
and it is great happiness to be with
you. While we shall keep ourselves
ever prepared and proud, in any
emergency, to draw the sword in your
defense, we wish to sit down and cul-
tivate with you the civic virtues,
especially that one which is to us Just
now of paramount importance; that is,
the "level head" the calm good sense
which avoids preeipitate action, which
demands deliberation and exact infor-
nation, which can not be stampeded
under the excited verging of intemper-
ate agitators, and which refuses to live
in nervous dread of dangers which may
never come.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me. re-
peat that for the Fifth Cavalry it is