Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-05-21

SstEc spirit of this occasion. but II is
IS 1ieccssary when wo get together In
like this to take counsel
Sfogethcr with regard to Just what II is
tnat we wish to celebrate. You will
Sny wc wish to celebrate the memories
d pf that time to which we look back
With such pride, when our fathers, with
singular wisdom and counsel and stout
ness OF heart, undertook to set mp an
independent nation on this side of the
water: but II ia very much moro i'm
nortant that we should remind our
SELVES of tho elements with which our
dealt. There were only
& 5, 100000 citizens In that original re-
public of tho United states of Amer
lea. Now there are loo,Q00.000. 1t is
long cry back to those modest be-
{ ginnings; n great period of time. not
only. but a great period of profound
change. separates us from tina time, and
yet ] would remind YOU that the same
& elements were present then that are
present now.
VI What interests my thought more
than anything else about the United
States is that 1t has always been in
process OF being made ever since that
little beginning, and that there have
always been the same clements in the
< the heart OF the men who led the move
ment for independence very high and
ceN'sandsomc passion for human liberty
a. N free institutions. And yet there
q before them great continent
Z Which il was necessary to subduc to
s tho uses of civilization If they were
going 10 build UP in great state
among the family Of nations. I heard
4 preacher once point out the Very
s, Interesting circumstance that our
Lords Prayer begins with the petition
for our daily bread from which he
drew the Inference that II is very diff
ttcult TO worship God on an empty
stomach, and that the material founda-
tions of our life are the first founda-
lions. What l want to call your at
tention to is that this country, ever
since that time, has devoted practi-
cally all Of its attention, perhaps too
much of Its attention. to the material
foundations OF its life to subduing
this continent TO the uses of tho ma
4 ton, and to the building UP of great
y body of wealth and material power.
r i find some men who when they think
OF America do not think of anything
Z else but that. But my friends, there
have been other nations just as rich
and Just as powerful in comparison
with the other nations OF the world
as the United States is, and ii is q
great deal more important that we
should determine what are going
TO do with our power than that we
should possess II.
MADE UP OUT OF ALL
NATIONS OF THE WORLD
You must remember, therefore. the
elements with which we are dealing.
Sometimes those of us who were born
/ in this part OF the country persuade
ourselves that this IS the characteristic
. part Of America. Here more than any
where else has been preserved a great
part of the original stock which settled
This country, particularly that portion
of the stock which came from the Brit
! ish Isles Il am not meaning to cX-
clude Ireland). and then ] find great
many OF my friends who live in New
England imagining that the history Of
this country is merely the history OF
the expansion Of New England and
[ that Plymouth Rock lies at the founria-
ton of our institutions AS IA matter
Of fact, my fellow citizens, however
morrifying it may be to them or TO
as. America did not come out OF the
South. and ii did not come out Of New
+ N P'' w
/ America originated in the Middle States
+ of New York and Pennsylvania and
New jersey. because there from the
first was that mixture of populations.
that mixture OF racial stocks that mix
ture OF antcccdcnts which is the most
singular and distinguishing mark Of
the United states. The most important
single fact about this great nation
which We represent Is that il is made
up out OF all the nations OF the world.
1 dare say that the men who came to
America then ana the men who have
come 10 America since came with n
single purpose, sharing some part OF the
[ passion for human liberty which charac-
terized the men who founded the re-
public: but they came with all sorts OF
blood in their veins, all sorts Of ante
cedents behind them, all sorts of ira
ditions in thcir family and national
life, and America has. had so serve "a
n melting not for Mi those divcrsi0.I