A NATION rises from infancy to manhood and sinks from dotage to death.
I think that the great Republic is in the morning of her life--the sun
just above the horizon--the grass still wet with dew.
Our country has the courage and enthusiasm of youth--her blood flows
full--her heart beats strong and her brow is fair. We stand on
the threshold of a great, a sublime career. All the conditions are
favorable--the environment kind. The best part of this hemisphere is
ours. We have a thousand million acres of fertile land, vast forests,
whole States underlaid with coal; ranges of mountains filled with
iron, silver and gold, and we have seventy-five millions of the most
energetic, active, inventive, progressive and practical people in the
world. The great Republic is a happy combination of mind and muscle, of
head and heart, of courage and good nature. We are growing. We have the
instinct of expansion. We are full of life and health. We are about to
take our rightful place at the head of the nations. The great powers
have been struggling to obtain markets. They are fighting for the trade
of the East. They are contending for China. We watched, but we did
not act. They paid no attention to us or we to them. Conditions have
changed. We own the Hawaiian Islands. We will own the Philippines.
Japan and China will be our neighbors--our customers. Our interests must
be protected. In China we want the "open door," and we will see to it
that the door is kept open. The nation that tries to shut it, will get
its fingers pinched. We have taught the Old World that the Republic must
be consulted. We have entered on the great highway, and we are destined
to become the most powerful, the most successful and the most generous
of nations. I am for expansion. The more people beneath the flag the
better. Let the Republic grow..
I BELIEVE in growth. Of course there are many moss-back conservatives
who fear expansion. Thousands opposed the purchase of Louisiana from
Napoleon, thousands were against the acquisition of Florida and of the
vast territory we obtained from Mexico. So, thousands were against the
purchase of Alaska, and some dear old mummies opposed the annexation
of the Sandwich Islands, and yet, I do not believe that there is an
intelligent American who would like to part with one acre that has
been acquired by the Government. Now, there are some timid, withered
statesmen who do not want Porto Rico--who beg us in a trembling,
patriotic voice not to keep the Philippines. But the sensible people
feel exactly the other way. They love to see our borders extended.
They love to see the flag floating over the islands of the
tropics,--showering its blessings upon the poor people who have been
robbed and tortured by the Spanish. Let the Republic grow! Let us spread
the gospel of Freedom! In a few years I hope that Canada will be ours--I
want Mexico--in other words, I want all of North America. I want to see
our flag waving from the North Pole.
I think it was a mistake to appoint a peace commission. The President
should have demanded the unconditional surrender of Cuba, Porto Rico
and the Philippines. Spain was helpless. The war would have ended on our
terms, and all this commission nonsense would have been saved. Still, I
make no complaint. It will probably come out right, though it would have
been far better to have ended the business when we could--when Spain
was prostrate. It was foolish to let her get up and catch her breath and
hunt for friends.
ONLY a few days ago our President, by proclamation, thanked God for
giving us the victory at Santiago. He did not thank him for sending the
yellow fever. To be consistent the President should have thanked him
equally for both. Man should think; he should use all his senses; he
should examine; he should reason. The man who cannot think is less than
man; the man who will not think is a traitor to himself; the man who
fears to think is superstition's slave. I do not thank God for the
splendid victory in Manila Bay. I don't know whether he had anything
to do with it; if I find out that he did I will thank him readily.
Meanwhile, I will thank Admiral George Dewey and the brave fellows who
were with him.
I do not thank God for the destruction of Cervera's fleet at Santiago.
No, I thank Schley and the men with the trained eyes and the nerves of
steel, who stood behind the guns. I do not thank God because we won
the battle of Santiago. I thank the Regular Army, black and white--the
Volunteers--the Rough Riders, and all the men who made the grand charge
at San Juan Hill. I have asked, "Why should God help us to whip Spain?"
and have been answered: "For the sake of the Cubans, who have been
crushed and ill-treated by their Spanish masters." Then why did not God
help the Cubans long before? Certainly, they were fighting long enough
and needed his help badly enough. But, I am told, God's ways are
inscrutable. Suppose Spain had whipped us; would the Christians then say
that God did it? Very likely they would, and would have as an excuse,
that we broke the Sabbath with our base-ball, our bicycles and bloomers.