The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1920-01-08

Jul OONIIAy 4SAI COHSlId1n0O 60 ADOPT
in building a republic.
what is the test of statesman
ship? Is it the formation of theories,
the utterance of abstract and incon-
trovertible truths, or is it the capacity
and the power to give to people that
concrete thing called liberty, that
vital and indispensable thing in hu-
man happiness called free institu-
tons, and to establish over all and
above all the blessed and eternal
reign of order and law? If this be
the test, where shall we find another
whose name is entitled to be written
beside the name of Washington? His
judgment and poise in the hour of
turmoil and peril, his courage and vi
sion IN times of adversely, his firm
grasp of fundamental principles, his
almost inspired power to penetrate
the future and read there the result,
the effect of policies, have never been
excelled, if equaled, by any of the
worlds commonwealth builders. Peter
the Great, William the Silent, and
Cromwell the Protector, these and
these alone perhaps, are to be assoc
lated with his name as the builders
of states and the founders of govern
ments. But in exaltation of moral
purpose, in the unselfish character of
his work, in the durability of his pol
icies, in the permanency of the insti-
tutions which he, more than anyone
else, called into effect his service to
mankind stands out separate and
apart in a class by itself The work
of these other great builders, where
are they now? But the work of
Washington is still the most potent
influence for the advancement of civ
llization and the freedom of the race.
Reflect for a moment over his
achievements. He led the Revolu-
tlonary army to victory. He was the
very first to suggest a union instead
Of confederacy. He presided over
and counseled with great wisdom the
convention which framed the consti-
tuition. He guided the government
through its first perilous years. He
gave dignity and stability and honor
to that which was looked upon by the
world as passing experiment, and
finally, my friends, as his own pecul-
lar and particular contribution to the
happiness of his countrymen and to
the cause Of the republic, he gave us
his great foreign policy, under which
we have lived and prospered and
strengthened for nearly q century
and half. This policy is the most
sublime Confirmation of his genius as
a statesman. It was then, and it is
now, an indispensable part of our
whole scheme of government. 1t is
today vital, indispensable element
IN our entire plan, purpose and mis-
sion as a nation. To abandon it is
nothing less than betrayal deliber-
ately, in view of the suffering and
sacrifice which will follow in the wake
of such course.
But under the stress and strain of
these extraordinary days, when
strong men are being swept down by
the onrushing forces of disorder and
change, when the most sacred things
of life, the most cherished hopes of
Christian world, seem to yield to the
mad forces of observation-disclosures such
days as Washington passed through
when the mobs of Paris, wild with
new liberty and drunk with power.
challenged the established institu-
tons of all the world, but his stead
fast soul was unshaken-under these
conditions, come again, we are about
to abandon this policy, so essential to
our happiness and prosperity as a
people and our stability as a govern
ment. No leader with his command
ing influence and his unquailing cour-
age stands forth to stem the current.
But what no leader can or will do.
experience, bitter experience, and the
people of this country in whose keep
ing, after all, thank God, is the re-
public, will ultimately do. If we
abandon his leadership and teachings
we will go back. We will return to
this policy. Americanism shall not.
cannot die. We may go back in sack
cloth and ashes, but we will return
to the faith of our fathers. America
will live her own life. The independ-
enee of this republic will have its de-
tenders. Thousands have suffered
and died for it, and their sons and
daughters are not of the breed who
will be betrayed into the hands of
foreigners. The noble face of the
father of his country, so familiar to
every boy and girl, looking out from
the walls of the capitol in stern re-
proach, will call those who come here
for public service to a reckoning. The
people of our beloved country will
finally speak, and we will return to
the policy which we now abandon.
America, disenthralled and free in
spite of all these things, will continue
her mission in the cause of peace, of
freedom and of civilization