Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-09-04

was one of the party fell asleep.
Thinking to have some fun at his ex-
pense they surrounded him with mum
mics and then blew a bugle in i'm
itation of Gabriels trumpet The
boy awoke somewhat dazed. He didn't
remember where he was, but rubbing
his eyes he swung his cap above his
head and yelled: 'Hurrahl It's the
resurrection morning and an AIleri-
can is the first man up.' That boy
and Professor Pickett and Admiral
Farragut were genuine Americans,
worthy to be countrymen of George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alex
ander Hamilton, old Ben Franklin and
the other heroes, statesmen and sages
who laid broad and deep the founda-
ton of tie republic
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
1.-The United States of America in
the Twentieth Century is a theme so
vast that to do it justice would ex.
haust the powers, enthusiasm and i'm
agination of the greatest of the ma
ior prophets. Were l clothed with
the mantle of Isaiah and endowed
with his wondrous gift Of vaticination
and should set forth in perfect verify
what this puissant republic will be
100 years from now, it would appear
as wild as any tale out of the Arabian
Nights and you-enthusiastic patrio-
tic and credulous as you are-weuld
one and all be doubling Thomases.
IAN adequate treatment of this sub
ject would require the fire and genius
of the sublimest epic poet that ever
lived. If such an one were in my stead
and should he correctly read the book
OF fate for our enlightenment, his pro-
duction would rank with the Iliad the
Odyssey and the Aeneid. with Paradise
Lost, Childe Harold and The Pleas
ures of Hope.
"A view of our country, prospective
or retrospective, causes the blood to
leap, the heart to swell with pride and
the soul to go out in gratitude to Al
mighty God for the bounteous bless
ings He has showered upon US without
stint. Such rich and numberless bene-
factions have been vouchsafed to no
other nation since God said: Let
there be light!' If not his chosen
people, we are certainly his most ia
vored people in all the conditions and
means of moral; intellectual, material.
and religious growth. Truly does En-
erson say: We live in a new and
exceptional age. America is another
word for opportunity. Our whole his
tory appears like a last effort of Di-
vine Providence in behalf of the hui
man race"
COMPARISONS DRAWN.
Proceeding Speaker Clark drew com
parsons between the America of ear
ly days and the America of the Tween
tieth century in land, in population. in
wealth, in power on land and sea, in
literature and education. Three es-
pecially quCtable paragraphs of this
portion of the address follow:
One Of the browning glories of
the statecraft, the philosophy, the hu
manitarianism and the religion of the
goth century will, l am fain to hope, !
be the discovery OF some plan where
by every man (and every woman, too)
shall enjoy the usufruct of his own la
Dor and will prevent one man from
becoming the beneficiary of the toll,
energy talents and sweat of many
men, women and children. It's a con-
summation devoutly TO be wished. m
deed, we can already see signs of the
solution of this vast and intricate prob
lem in the experiments being made in
the cooperative plan of distribution
of profits among employers and their
employees. as well as in the various
pension systems being inaugurated by
some of the great railroad companies
fTN,- = IA Ii
accident or old age. Blessed forever
be the name of the man who estab-
fishes abiding peace and exact justice
betwiXt labor and capital, which
should not be enemies. If in this CEN
tUry our aggregate wealth increases
at the rate of the 18th. it will in the
year 1000 amount to $3,5OO,OO0, 0OO, 600
"a sum so stupendous as 10 be in
comprehensive by the mathematical
powers of the human mind.
IF / had one prayer for the AmerH
can people which could be answered
and only one. it would be that every
citizen should possess sufficient educa-
ton to read mis- ballot intelligently
and enough courage to cast it as be-
comes an American freeman. If the
republic is to endure it, it must rest
upon the intelligence, and patriotism
of the voters.
'Parenthetically, l wish to remark
that those hilarious patriots who go
about asserting that the Spanish war
made US a world power, are precisely
80 years behind the times, for we be-
came a world power on April 3, 1903, |
when Thomas Jefferson bought from
Napoleon for a song the Louisiana
territoTy-which was the greatest
real estate transaction proposed on
earth since the devil took the savior |
to the top of a high mountain and Of |
fered him the dominion of the world |
to fall down and worship him.
THE SPEAKER OPTIMISTIC
The close of the fine address of |
the eloquent speaker follows:
We have progressed more rapidly 1
in most ways than any other nation |
aVar has advanced hrt No hava NOT i