The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-07-13

The history OF the scandinavian
people reached back before the history
of the time OF David who was feeding
his hocks on the hills" He said 1t
was the consensus of opinion that the
foundation of the race to which we all
belong was on the shores of the n5rth
seas and the Baltic. 1t was a splendid
soil on which to grow such a ace of
people as are found on the Scandina-
Wan soil. The speaker then related
the story of the fall of Rome which he
SAID was brought about by the leu
tonic races and he said by Teutonic
races he meant the A~nglo-SaXon races
of which we are all a part. He said
that American civilization is based on
English civilization and that the lat
ter is based on the Teutonic civill2a-
ton. He talked of the birth of the
christian religion in Judea and said
that the birth of Jesus Christ, which
was the greatest and best fact that
had ever happened in history, had
brought about bloodshed and wars,
such as the world before had never
known, but he drew the lesson that no
good thing al be had without trouble
and suffering, and he said this was be-
cause the story of Christ had CONF
from Rome and was not understood,
and 1t became the red thread in h
life of the Teuton.
. NNhlUSiSNb VI hhhSS9s
He said that it then became the
mission Of the Teutonic tribes to lib
crate the people from oppression and
that they had succeeded in doing so,
and he denounced the action Of Charles
the Great, whom he said had deceived
and sold out his own people. He said
the northern shores were first the
Fairgrounds of the vikings and then
they became their battle fields, and
! nFfnw 4EAA 49, go A.. All 49, a~fN
and then to build cities, they were a
progressive race and as they grew in
strength they progressed. He said
that the two poles had been discover
ed by the Teutonic races, the one by
an American and the other by a
Scandinavian. He said the greatest
states that the world had ever known
had been founded by this Teutonic
race, France, Germany and England.
Freedom is the basis of Teutonic pow
er n character; to be true to ones
self necessitated the being true to all
mankind. and he hoped that every n
present at the unwilling would re-
member that n great fact.
Produced Great Men.
It was this Teutonic race that pro-
duced great warriors like Rollo, great
painters such as Rembrandt, great
musicians like Wagner and great
statesmen such as William, the Con-
queror and George Washington and
Lincoln. 1t is this race whose at
tainments have reached the highest.
The spirit Of independence was found
at its highest ebb in the Scandinavian
countries and the old Viking spirit OF
Rollo still survives i'm this land Of
ours. There came a time in the his
tory of Europe when this spirit Of
independence was almost crushed out,
/ anz ~ ,.nrl15 4to -r}rf4 30 I'll ,y4IEryz
to revive 1T. Religious liberation is
natural to the Teutonic race. He said
that the kingdom Of God was rather
within the man than outward and the
words of Christ have a lodging place
in the heart of the average Teutonic.
The tenets of the religion Of Jesus
Christ need no sword, all it's needs is
teaching and patience. Martin Luther,
he said did not free the people from
the rule of kings, but that battle had
first to be fought on the soil of the
new America and In France. In clos
ing he ave a magnificent description
of the old viking kings and the way
they had toiled and wrought and
conquered, and he said that the old
viking did not fight with ships because
there was no n who a ships to
fight him back. His description of
Rollo in closing was a mastery piece
of oratory and he said that he had un-
derstood that history said that Rollo
was a handsome nan and he asked
the young ladies to draw the strings Of
ribbon that bound the flags so one
could see the statue and this vas
done.
The Statue Unveiled.
The actual unwilling was done by
Miss Hortense Charest, daughter Of
DR.. and Mrs. Charest of this city, as
sisted by the following young ladies:
Alice Lewis, Ruth Morris, Miss Had
land, Agnes Halland, Miss Hagen,
Vera Rasmussen and Miss Sullivan,
and when the statue was brought to
full view there was a mighty shout
went up. 1t is a grand statue and a
magnificent gift from one country to
another. While the statue was being
undraped the band rendered the Mar
s~eillaise, the national hymn of France,
all standing in honor of the French
representative.
Mons. G. Maugras Speaks.
President Hagen then introduced
Mons. Maugras, who appeared for the
French ambassador, and he said 1t
was a pleasure for him to appear be-
fore this large and intelligent audi
ence; that the ambassador was unable
to be in attendance and that he came
to express his regrets. There are
many matters we have in common"
said the speaker, and he rehearsed
the long standing friendship between
his country and America and said
he hoped that 1t would ever remain
so. Then he complimented the people
on the arrangements for the unwilling
and ia behalf Of his government he
presented the statue.
Mayor Sweet Accepts.
Following the above speech Mayor
William d. Sweet in the following adj
dress on behalf of the city Of Fargo
accepted the statue:
ION behalf OF the city of Fargo, /
accept the custody Of this splendid
testimonial Of the people of Rouen to
the Normans of America. In doing so,
I wish to testify our appreciation Of
the significance Of the event, and of
our pride that the city OF Fargo should
splendid monument. 1t does not need
any great animation of the magma
ton to conceive the spirit of the great
Rollo, assuming this magnificent inn
age Of himself as the medium through
which to view the ceremonies of this
occasion. Our imagination may In
dulge d retrospective view and con-
template the concourse of events
starting more than 1000 years ago and
traversing the centuries and encom-
passing continents; eliminating in
these ceremonies of today.
Vikings Courageous.
1--WE recall the restless spirit Of
those vikings Of antiquity whose cour-
age and endurance carried them for
ward from the coast Of Europe upon a
career OF adventure, discovery and
conquest, traversing unknown seas