Fergus County Democrat., 1916-10-12

hand less fortunate than themselves.
looked with pity upon the conditions
Of men struggling for some kind and
part Of the light of liberty in the
neighboring island OF Cuba, interested
themselves in affairs which heretofore
they had taken no heed of. And then
the Spanish war startled us by it's
consequences. We had, as it were,
touched house of cards and it col
lapsed, and when the war was over
we found the guardianship OF Cuba,
the problem of Porto Rica, the pos.
session OF the Philippines in our
hands. And that frontier which no
man could draw upon this continent
in 1890 had been flung across the
sea, 1000 miles, to the untrodden for
ests of some part of the Philippine
islands. Ever since then we have
been caught inevitably in the net Of
the politics of the world.
SO. what | want to present to you
tonight, my friends, is the picture, 50
far as / can. of our present and fu-
tnre duty as Americans. 1t is not
an easy thing to do. No man can
speak with confidence upon so great
theme as that. You can only see
here and there an obvious aspect Of
it, but it is very important that we
should realize that the things that
used to go on in Nebraska have to 20
on in a new way for new purpose,
Nebraska was once, as | have
phrased 1t, the melting pot in which
the various elements of America were
FUSED together for the purpose of
American life. Now, it is our great
duty to fuse the elements of America
together for the purpose of the life
Of the world
1t would be reasonable to expect
that some OF the intensity of that
process would center in communities
like this. Inevitably, because of geo.
graphical reasons, if no other, these
great central plains and valleys of
the continent are unlike the states
OF either coast. On the Pacific, in
fiuences are at work which constantly
remind the people of that coast re-
gion of the confused and perplexed
policies of the Orient On the east
ern coast there are still felt more
vividly. | dare say, than you feel
them, the influences Of the old world
of Europe.
eve had program for America
in respect to its domestic life and
we shall not forget that program but
we have never yet sufficiently formu-
lated our program for America with
regard to the part she is going to
play in the world and it is imperative
that she should formulate it at once
I'm making that program what are
we to say to ourselves? And what
are we going to say to the world?
1t is very important that the states
men of other parts Of the world should
understand America. America has
held off from the present conflict with
which the rest of the world is ablaze,
not because she was not interested,
not because she was Indifferent, but
because the part she wanted to play
was a different part from that.
"The singularity of the present war
is that its origin and objects never
have been disclosed. 1t will take the
long inquiry of history to explain this
war. But Europe ought not to mis-
understand us. We are holding off.
not because we do not feel concerned,
but because when we exert the force
of this nation we want to know what
we are exerting it for. Nothing that
concerns humanity, nothing that con-
Germs the essential rights of mankind,
can be foreign or Indifferent to us.
But In fighting for these things, my
fellow citizens. we ought to have
touchstone. We want to have a test