East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1916-06-14
Gentlemen of the Convention:

Proud Of the part 1t has played IN
The nations past, the party Of Jeifer.
son and Of Jackson is gathered here
to dedicate itself anew to the preser-
walton of Tree, a united, sovereign
republic.
We are proud Of the battles we have
fought in the past under the emblem
Of a great political party, but there is
d truth that we desire 10 blazon above
oll that We may say or do in this con-
Nention.
We have entered tris hall as dem
ocrats; we shall deliberate and act
here as Americans.
We who gather in this hall, stand
for the Americanism of the Fathers
who laid the foundations Of this ma
tion so strong and deep that no storm
has ever rocked them, no upheaval
ever moved them. We stand for the
Americanism which under the magic
spell Of citizenship and the mystic in
fluence of the Stars and Stripes con-
verts men of every country into men
of one country, and that country our
country; men of every flag into men
of one flag and that flag our flag.
Our ideals and our Aspirations.
When a hundred years look back
upon this gathering OF today, when we
who now guard the ark Of American
covenant have become nothing but a
memory and a name, the principles
Tor which We declare in this conven.
ton, the issues for which we fight
in this campaign viii live in the lives
of generations Of Americans yet un.
born.
If in the great crisis that now con-
fronts the nation, the American people
falter, if they forget that they are
guardians of the most sacred trust
that a people ever held, their apostasy
will be visited upon the descendants
of their children's children.
Out of the flaming fire of revolu>
ton, out of struggle in which they
risked their lives, their fortunes and
their sacred honor, the Fathers of the
Republic brought nation which they
dedicated to liberty and to human
progress.
For the nations consecrated, true
men in every generation have labored
and struggled, suffered and died, that
il might flourish and endure.
We who stand today on the fertile
soil of America, who live under the
smiling skies of a free and fruitful
land, must prove worthy Of the trust
that every American sacrifice has i'm
posed on every American.
For the America of today and for
the America of tomorrow, for the
civilization of the present and for the
civilization of the future. we must
hold to the course that has made our
nation great, we must steer by the
stars that guided our ship of state
through the vicissitudes Of . century.
For myself have confidence enough
in my country, faith enough in my
countrymen to believe that the people
of America will rise to their RESPONSE
bilities with a single mind and a sin
gle voice.
Disregarding the divisions that
make one man a Tory and another a
Whig one man a republican and an
other a Democrat, Americans will cast
aside the tinsel of party labels and the
mummery of party emblems.
From the great pulsing heart of the
nation will come a patriot command
to crush partisanship, and rebuke
whatever is mean or blind.
That command will be heard by the
ploughman in his field. and by the la
borer at his bench. 1t will reach the
merchant at his office and the law
Yer at his desk.
Responding to this command a ma
tion true to its traditions, proud Of
is greatness and believing in its fu-
ture will prove that the spirit of Am.
ericansm burns as brightly in the
heart of America today as it did in
the splendid days of old.
And when, a century from now.
Americas children come to read our
history, when at last they learn
] NANNAAOA AiAG AlNll vi ltIO WNAO as II VIC
to America as the men of 1875, we
pray God that the history we are
about to make may prove an inspira-
ton to their loyalty, that the pages
we are about to write may be a spur
! to their patriotism and that our la
J oors here and in the months to come
| may have preserved for them a ma
/ tion free and proud, an ideal sublime
and true, a flag whose stars reflect
the changeless majesty of the celes-
tial galaxy itself.
In the attainment OF this hope, the
utterance of this PRAYER We who
1 gather here today have a responsible
/ ity that sobers our emotions as il
strengthens our resolutions. We would
be false to ourselves, and recreant to
those who send us here If we permit
ted any thought of partisan profit,
any consideration of political advan-
tage to obscure our vision of the tre-
mendous issues now before the peo-
PIE of the United States, We must
cast aside all that is selfish. we must
hold ourselves worthy Of nations
confidence by offering only the best
Of our intelligence. the flower OF OUT
patriotism toward the solution Of
what all men perceive TO be crisis
in the nations affairs.
shall we Reject the Doctrines of OuI
Fathers?
One hundred and forty years agJ