El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-05
.EAGAN PRAISES
DANISH FARMERS
United States Minister to
Denmark Tells Of Their
Achievements.

New York. n. y. Aug. 5.-DT. Morris
F. Eagan, United States minister K
Denmark, at the presentation Of tn,
Danish-American national park in JUt
land paid high tribute to the Danisl
farmer IN a speech which he made BY
invitation. DR.. Eagan said:
DR.. EEan's Address.
Dr. Maurice Egan, United States
Minister to Denmark, said:
I'VE Americans owe to the Dimes
who have elected to become Amer cans
the constant examples Of religien with
out bigotry, of culture withcI1f v-ea K
ness, OF a simplicity witbSut coarse
ness. and Of frugality without mean
ness.
They have conque ed obstacles and
won their way thr,5Ggb hard conditions
just as most entrants have done. They
Ado tne .dUSdntage-unique in history
or arIl.lng in a country, equipped
WIZ 70 70 weapons Of civilization with
whlSf to reap the abundant promises
OF 4 virgin soil and in which no COM
s-eicated difficulties. the inheritance OF
feudalisn1, were to be met. For making
the most Of this great opportunity
they deserve no more credit and no
more praise than the millions of other
voluntary American citizens who have
made the United States what it is and
will make it what it will be in the fu-
ture: for the star OF its greatness is
very far from the zenith.
Inc lanes came 10 the OUAlGu
States. not because Of tyranny in theiF
own lands-one of the most liberty
loving Of all nations-but because they
saw a wider opportunity for the eXer-
else of those abilities which they had
cultivated in their own land: at least
this is the impression Of all sympa-
thetic Americans who know them. 1t
was natural enough that, born in a 1T
tie country where the love Of all that
is true and beautiful is intense, they
eel =.
fully, always carrying the picture Of
their home etched deeply in their
hearts.
Helps 10 Make Better Americans
1T is the example OF this home from
which they came that has helped
Americans to be truer and broader IN
their estimate of humanity. 1 may
safely say that no Dane worthy OF
the country Of his birth has ever been
refused the warm hand OF fellowship
when he came, no matter how poor Or
how apparently frisndless, to that
country which is now proud to claim
him as q citizen But the qualities
which have made him so desirable
citizen were not the QUALITIES which he
acquired in the country Of his adop-
ton. They are qualities which could
have been developed only by the ne
cessity Of life founded on noble tradl-
tons and where the ethics of Chris
tianity were rigidly applied TO the &C
tual conditions of everyday life.
1T is not then, with the strug-
giles Of the Dane, or with the victories
OF the Dane over the soil, the unyield-
ing rock. the unbending iron, or the
things Of the earth; but Of those higher
and more vital things which aid
man in prosperity as we'll as in poverty,
and Of that Dane who follows simple
and frugal path, who is not much
worse nor much better off than ne
would be in his own country, that L
would speak. It is the Dane who
seemingly has not received all that he
deserves that I would thank in the
name OF my country
Ignorance is Most Despised.
s'In a democratic land, in which, like
all democratic lands depending on uni
versal suffrage, corruption is ever
ready to bribe the weak or the poor,
he has maintained his honor. No
body has ever dared to accuse the
Danes in America Of serving the pur-
poses of the political thief. No man
can accuse them of blowing trumpets
in the van Of the destructive dena-
goge. They have never been classed
with those who destroy, but with those
who construct. They have never put
the sordid desire for money nor the
equally sordid desire to attain money
merely for OstentatiOn above the thing
of the mind.
In every Danish community in the
United States the evil most hated is
ignorance, and il is a proverb in all
parts Of our country that a Dane will
sacrifice everything for the educa-
ton Of his children What he has
gained from America one of the most
beloved of all the Danes in America,
Count Moltke, viii tell you For my
self I can say seriously that the Dan
ish American, the industrial worker,
the careful farmer, the skillful engi-
neer the admirable teacher who is
likewise often a preacher-has given
TO US more than we could possibly
give to him. He has brought nearer
to US the example of his own country.
He has shown to US how a man may
be really loyal to the best traditions OF
MS kings and yet merge this loyalty
into a true love and adherence to re-
publican institutions. In a word he
has he'ped to teach US the value of
religion without bigotry, cultivation
without weakness, simplicity without
coarseness, and frugality without
meanness. I have purpOsely understat-
ed the greatness Of the debt that
America owes to Danes; but I trust
that the truth loses nothing by being
expressed in words that cannot be ac-
cused Of eXaggeration.
Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Edmondson. of
Strawn, Tex, are guests of the formers
brother, i. A. Edmondson, Sol Gold