Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-08-31
GIVE PARk 10 KANSAS
.oSEVELT DELIVERS ADDRESS
III CEREMONIES OF DEDIcA-
IL CATION AT osAWAToMlE.
RECALLS THE LESSON
TAUGHT BY JOHN BROWN
PromuIsates Theory of Equal oppor-
I; tunity For AIl-Touches On Dangers
Of Combinations-Dema Honesty
in Public Servants As Fundamental
! Necessity for Good Government.

N0CGSSSIIy TOT SOS0 SSNSiuInSnS
OsaWatomie, Kan, Aug. 31.-Colone
Roosevelt, in delivering the principal
address by which the John Brown
battlefield was dedicated for state
park, said in part, as follows:
I There have been two great crises in
eur country's history; first when 1t was
Horned. and then again when 1t was per-
Epetuated The formative period included
mot merely the Revolutionary war. but
hhe creation and adoption Of the Consti-
under it. Then came sixty years during
which we spread across the continent
years OF vital growth but Of growth with
out rather than growth within. Then
illuminated in the Civil war, the period
OF terrible struggle upon the Issue Of
which depended the justification Of all
that we had done earlier, aud which
marked the second great period OF growth
and development within. The name of
John Brown will be forever associated
with this second period of the Nations
history: and Kansas was the theeter
upon which the nrst act Of the second of
our great National life dramas was play
ed. 1t was the result of the struggle in
Kansas which determined that our coun-
try should be in deed as we'll as in
name devoted to both union and freedom,
that the great experiment OF democratic
government on National scale should
succeed and not fail. 1t WAS a heroic
struggle; and, as is Inevitable with all
such struggles, 1t had also dark and
terrible side. Very much was done Of
good, and much also of evil; and. as was
inevitable in such period Of revolution,
often the Same man old both good and
evil. For our great good fortune as a
Nation. we. the people Of the United
States as a whole can now afford to for
get the evil. or at least to remember it
without bitterness. and to fix our eyes
with pride the good that was accom-
ipushed Even in ordinary times there
/, are very few of us who do not see the
problems Of life through glass,
Idarkly; and when the glass Is clouded by
the nurk Of furious popular passion. the
vision of the best and the bravest is
dimmed. Looking back we are all Of US
now able to do Justice to the valor and
the disinterestedness and the love OF the
right as to each It was given to see the
right. shown both ~ the men of the north
and the men Of the south in that contest
which was finally decided by the attitude
iof the west. We can admire the heroic
tvalor. the sincerity, the self-devotion
tshown alike by the men who wore the
blue and the men who wore the gray:
and our sadness that such men should
have had to fight one another is temp
cred by the glad knowledge that ever
thereafter their descendants shall be found
lighting side by side. struggling in peace
as well as in war for the uphft Of their
common country. all alike resolute to
raise to the highest pitch Of honor and
usefulness the Nation to which they all
,belong. AS for the veterans Of the Grand
Army of the Republic. they deserve honor
and recognition such as is paid to no
other citizens Of the Republic; for to
them the Republic owes it's all, for to
them II owes its very existence.
Application Of the Lesson.
+ do not speak Of this struggle OF the
pest merely from the historic standpoint.
Jour interest is primarily in the applica-
ltion today Of the lessons taught by the
contest Of half century ago. It IL OF
little use for us to pay lip loyalty to the
mighty men Of the past unless we sin
lcerely endeavor to apply to the problems
LOT the present precisely the qualities
which in other crises enabled the men Of
that day to meet those crises. It is half
melancholy ana half amusing to see the
Ito do honor to the mon who. IN company
with John Brown. and under the lead OF
Abraham Lincoln. faced and solved the
great problems Of the nineteenth CEN
ltlry. while at the same time these same
igood people nervously shrink from or
ling to meet the problems OF the twentieth
IN the spirit which was accountable for
he successful solution Of the problems Of
ipcoln's time.
Equality Of Opportunity.
In every wise struggle for human bet
terment one of the main objects, and
often the only object, has been to achieve
In larger measure equality Of opportunity.
In the struggle for this great end, ma
Itions rise from barbarian to civilization.
and through 1t peoples press forward from
lone stage Of enlightenment to the next.
kAvnA - ,1,S> 20 to- L.
the destruction Of special privilege. Tho
IesDence of any struggle Tor healthy lib
Ierty has always been and must always
lbe to take from some one man or class
|of men the right to enjoy power. or
wealth, or position, or immunity, which
has not been earned by service to his
or their feNows.
At many stages in tho advance q hu.
maanity this conflict between the men who
possess more than they have earned and
possess is the central condition OF prog
resS. In our day 1t appears as the strug-
gle OF free men to gain and hold the
right OF self-governtnent as against tho
special interests, who twist the methods
tof free government into machinery for
defeating the popular will. At every
stage and under all circumstances the
essence of the struggle is to equalize op-
lportunity. destroy privilege, and give to
the life and citizenship Of every individ-
,tASA IAlt OieSa1c9S pOSSiDfo value UVLu 10
himself ana to the commonwealth.
Practical equality Of opportunity for all
Icldkens, when we achieve It, win have
two great results. First, every man will
have fair chance to make Of himself all
that In him lies, to reach the highest point
TO which his capacities, unassisted by
special privilege Of his own and unha1n-
Ipered by the special privileges Of others
ICAn carry him, and 10 get Tor himself
and his family substantially what he has
earned. Second, equality Of opportunity
Pneans that the commonwealth will get
from every citizen the highest service of
which he IL capable. No man who car
Iriss the burden OF the special privileges
:ef another can give to the commonwealth
that service to which IT il fairly en-
|t1tlsd.
stand for the square deal. But when
= sAy that am for the square deal I
mean not merely that stand for fair
play under the present rules Of the game,
but that stand for having those rules
changed 80 as to work for q more SUBJ
Stantial equality OF opportunity, and Of
reward for equally good service.
This means that our governments, Ma
Honal and State, must be freed from tn
Minister influence control Of special
lnterests. Exactly Is the special interests
bf cotton and slavery threatened our po-
nttcal integrity before the Civil war, 80
new tho great special business interests
teo often control and corrupt the man and
aethods OF government for their own
profit. We must drive the special inter-
hata ont NJ po3ltlcs That in one of our