| Show AMERICAN IDEALS WAS APPROPRIATE that Mr chief speech in IT I Utah should be suggested by the greatest g of ancient empires Civis Romanus Sum I am a Roman citizen That was a boast based on the fact that one race alone ruled the world and andall andaU andall all aU other men were subjects Primarily a homogeneous nation living simply cherishing republican government enforcing equality before the law they were a great people as the men of our own revolution were great They Th y brooked no knightly rule for themselves Every citizen was a soldier not for love of gain but for love of country As they conquered conquer d other peoples they exploited them made plunder of them and their wealth No Roman could think of such a thing as for any but Romans Citizen Citizenship Citizenship Citizenship ship in the empire for an alien was ivas v s of until corrupt powers saw a source of personal revenue revenue sio of the once sacred franchise The Th expansion of the th empire was as desirable only because it meant opportunity for loot for exactions for the enrichment of imperial favorites Y Contrast with this t is idea the thought of Washington V and Jefferson of Adams and Franklin of Lincoln and Garfield Their one ope great dream was the foundation of a nation nati that should prove the possibility of independent among men that should by force of example alone force the destruction of autocratic government They pictured a great nation of free freemen freemen freemen men extending help and sympathy thy to even every people who should aspire to freedom a nation pledged to the protection of weak republics on this continent when threatened with absorption by European monarchies rhe not only had this ideal but they made it a reality Following in their footsteps the United States of America almost unconsciously grew grev gre to be the greatest of nations Its flag was a symbol of hope for the tIie oppressed a warn warning warning warning ing to the oppressor When Governor Roosevelt declared his pride in American citizenship a pride common to all ati Americans and prefaced it with the Roman vaunt which ideal ide l had he h in mind What was W 13 his vision of the nations future the dream of Washington lashington or the theS S sordid hope of a Hanna bent on cash c sh profits on the exploitation of or the helpless at home and abroad o |
