The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1911-03-02
GREAT OVATION TO HON. s. W.
GOULD.
Continued from Page u

4 ,
all that is wrong, and until the cur
tain finally falls beyond the dark
river, 1t will be to me an inspiration
for a better and truer life.
Were | to paraphrase the words of
the poet tonight they should read:
Lives there man with soul so dead
Who never to his friends has said
This is our own. our native land
A man without a country is like an
atom flying in space with no power of
cohesion to unite with others or to
unite others with him in the great
scheme of human progress and en-
deayor that God so wisely mapped out
in the beginning. No country can ever
be strong and powerful and per
petuate its institutions for any great
length of time unless 1t is made up of
moral as well as an intelligent citi-
2enship. Pompeii crumbled when its
priests turned to fakirs and Rome
fell when morality ceased to be a sir-
tue and Righteousness became the rul-
ing passion of her wealth and educa-
ton. History will as certainly repeat
itself in the future as it has in the
past.
To my mind. nowhere else on the
ace of the Globe. do we find SO many
If those elements that go to make up
a great and powerful nation, as here
in New England, especially in the
Third Maine District, and particularly
In the wonderful valley of the Ken
Nebec. No country can ever be strong
without the individual home and fire
side, and all the world over there is
no home like that of New England.
Napoleon not only taught patriotism
but nationalism, and he was careful
hat this teaching should extend 20
the uttermost parts of the Empire. be.
lieving as he did that the rural home
foundation of a great nation. So we
have built here in this country and
so we must continue to build if we
would maintain the institutions be
queathed to us by our fathers.
The first unit of a nation is the
man, the next the home Show me a
nation made up of individual homes
where the homemaker owns part of
the land of his birth, and in which is
taught the history and traditions of
the country with a love of its flag, and
| will show you a nation that can ney-
er be conquered; one that will grow
stronger and better through all the
years to come. But take away the
right of ownership in the land. with
that God given privilege of bearing a
part OF the burden and cost Of gov
eminent, and you destroy the strong
est incentive to love the flag and feel
the obligation to defend it,
Our duty then as citizens is to raise
our standard of manhood higher, fos-
ter the spirit of homemakng. guard
its integrity and make the country
better and nobler than this generation
has lived
Mr. Blaine once said that he repre-
scented the most intelligent district in
the United States, and it was prob
ably true. If it was true then. it is
true today, for the people of this Dis
trict have lost nothing in this respect
during the last twenty-five years. and
that makes it a more distinguished
honor to represent such a consti-
tuency in the Congress of the Nation.
Let me hope then, in some degree, to
serve you in that place as faithfully
as my predecessors have done.
NJ life here among you may not al
ways have been an open book, though
some of you have been obliged to keep
your books always open to me. But
you have always known my views po-
litieally, and knowing them you have
elected me. You realize, of course,
that a man must to a certain extent,
Ally himself with his party But
promise you one thing, that if the time
ever comes in Washington when |
must choose between my people and
my party, then you will find me with
my people, without regard to the par
~ to which | belong.
II may be that fame will not hover
with golden wings about me there, but
hard work faithfulness, and diligence
IN your behalf | can give and that
you shall have in the highest degree.
One favor ! simply hope for, and that
is that my friends will not ask me to
stultify myself by breaking any of the
promises made before my election.
But ever and always my services shall
be at your command and there is no
one SO poor and humble that he will
not receive the same treatment as the
rich and powerful
Coming here among you in my early