Show THE dedication Watter sons address a veritable marvel of eloquence thousands and thousands of enthusiastic peo people pie of all nations gathered at the ardito auditorium if urn hall holl after the parade to listen to the dall dedication catlon orations it was a groat great event words fall fail in fix appropriately describing it director general davis opened opened the exercises with till a speech tha thai aroused tho the greatest enthusiasm the director general said it was his pleasurable u duty to present the noted p parsonage s who at tins this hour in fit their several function run chions are to contribute to the exer c aises with which the grounds and buildings are to bo be dedicated the worlds cols columbian 1 exposition said he is ia a natural a I 1 outgrowth of this nations place in fit history the ceaseless resistless march of civilization westward ever westward westi ivard has reached and passed ix assed the tile great lakes of north america and founded found e don on their farthest shore alie greatest city of modern times chicago tho the peerless pc erles had been selected for the tile great celebration which whirl today gives new fire to progress and arid sheds shed 1 s its light ii jilt upon agea ages yet et to come in ili the tile heart of 01 this country her pulse throbs with the quickening current of our national life and that this city was w as selected as the scene of this great columbus festival was the natural outgrowth outi guti I 1 of predestined events hew all nations are to meet in laudable emulation on the fields obart of art science and I 1 industry on the fields ot research anven tion ion and scholarship and to learn the universal value odthe of the discovery wo we comme commemorate in to learn as could be learned in ili no tie other day the nearness 81 a of man mail to manthe of god and the brotherhood of ofine the human race this ladles ladies and gentlemen is the exalted purpose of if tho I 1 c worlds columbian exposition may it be fruitful of its aim alm and of peace forever to all the nations of the earth lion hon henry watterson was introduced and arid delivered the dedicatory address his ills speech was most eloquent but only a it synopsis no 1 9 cn can be given of it he ile said among kaiti 1 g the tile w anders wanders of the creative and constructive genius in fit the course of pre preparation me r for this festival feet ival of nations choso whoso w formal and official inauguration has brought us together will presently be witnessed upon the margin of the inter filter ecea which given gives to this noble and arid beamut beautiful city the character and rank of a maritime metropolis a wherein the columbian epic will be told with realistic effects surpassing the most a splendid and impressive achievements of the I 1 e modern stage to no one who has had the good fortune to at see the models orthis of this extraordinary work of art can call have failed to be moved moved by tho union which it embodies of the antique in tn history and the current in life lire and thought a as beginning with the weird mendicant fainting upon the hillside of santa It abida it traces the strange adventures of the genoese seer from the royal camp of santa te fe to the sunny coasts of the isles of inde tilde through weary watches of endless night whose sentinel stars seemed set to mock but not to guide through the trackless and doreles ho reles waites wastes of a mystic sea sea spread day bv by day to bear upon every nevery rise and fall of its heaving bodom death of fair fond hopes the birth of fantastic fears a peerless e r I 1 cs and an I 1 t thrilling diwi 1 I 1 ing revelation and all itei that at has followed foli fali I 1 0 e 1 to the present resent moment that beholds us lie here re cap citizens zens freemen equal shareholders 1 ho I 1 ders 1 in n the miracle of american civilization and arid development Is there one among us who does not thank his maker that he lie has lived to join in in this uni veran celebration this jubilee of mankind we arc are met this day to honor the memory of christopher colum columbus 1 u s to celebrate the four hundredth annual r return e turn of the year of his tits transcendent achievement and with fitting rite to dedicate to america and the universe the tile concrete exposition of the worlds progress between and iwa no 0 o twenty centuries cen times can bo be coni compared pared with those tho se four centuries either in importance or in interest as no previous ceremonial can be compared coin pared with this in its wide big ance und and reach because since the advent odthe of the son of god no event had so great an all influence upon human human aff affairs hirs as th the a discovery of the western hemisphere the merest catalogue would crowd a thousand pages esThe the story of at least the nations would till fill a volume in ili what I 1 have to say upon this occasion therefore I 1 shall confine myself to our own a and lid in speaking of the united states of america america I 1 propose rather to dwell upon our character aa as a people people and our reciprocal obligations end seid duties as an all aggregation of communities muni ties held together bv by a fixed constitution and arid charged cli arged with the custody jofs of a union upon whose aaion and anil anti and perpetration in fit its original 1 1 spirit and d purpose tho the future ofa of a free popular government ern trient depends than to enter into a deser deportation tation upon abstract principles or to undertake an all historic essay we are plain practical people A better opportunity could not be desired for the study of our peculiarities than that furnished bv by tho the present moment we wo are in the of a quadrennial period established for the selection of a chief magistrate lach each citizen has his ili right to vote and to have his ills vote freely cast and fat fairly r I 1 counted U wherever thia this right is assailed sai n for an any cause a U e wrong is done doneald and evil mus rout t alto follow v 1 first to the whole country which has an interest in all its parts but most to community immediately involved which must actually drink of the cup that lias has contained poison and cannot infection on an abridgement abridge ment of the right of suffrage how everis ever is very ver nearly proportioned to tho ignorance or in indi differ fler crice of the parties concerned by it and I 1 11 I 1 there 11 9 good I reason to hope that with the I 1 expanding intelligence of the masses and the growing enlightenment of the time I 1 this p particular form of corruption in elections eions will vill bo be reduced below danger line to that end as to all other good ends a I 1 mo moderation of public sentiment must ever 1 1 be our chief reliance for when men are I 1 forced bv by a general desire lor for troth truth and the light which our modern vehicles ofin of information throw upon truth to discuss public questions for truths cake sake when it becomes the plain interest of public men ane as it is their plain duty to do this and ana when above all friends and neighbors cea cease serto to love one another less because of individual differences difference i ol 01 opinion about public affairs tho the struggle for unfair advantage will be relegated to those who have either no character to lose or none to seek it is admitted on all till sides that the he current presidential campaign Is 1 freer from excitement and arid tumult than ever known before and it is argued from this circumstance that v we e are traversing an epoch of commonplace inthis if this be BO so thank god font forit behave had full enough odthe dramatic and sensational and need a season of mediocrity and repose bat but ina may we not ascribe the rational way in whick w aich the people leople are going about their business to a larger knowledge and experience and a fairer spirit than have hitherto marked 0 our u r party t r t y c contentions 0 n t e n t i 0 n W e h have a v e I 1 in i i 0 our u 0 own alifa t time m e is seen e e i i t the h e 1 t C p u b h survive a r i v e n an n 1 irresistible r r conflict in tha the blood and marrow of social order we e have seen the federal union not too strongly put together in the firt first place come out of the great war of sections stronger than when it went nt into it its faith renewed its credit ree rehabilitated and ita its flag saluted with lovo love and homage by of god fearing men and women thoroughly reconciled and homogeneous we e have hav e seen the federal constitution outlast the strain not merely of the reconstruct ory ordeal and presidential impeachment but a disputed count of electoral vote congressional congre nonal deadlock and arid extra constitutional tribunal yet standing firm against the assaults of its enemies ner nies while yielding itself with admirable flexibility to the needs of the country and time and arid finally we saw th the gigantic i fabric of federal govern government in exit tran transferred ferral from hands lands that had held it a quarter of ft a century to other bands hands without protest cotest although alt hoach cokloo to cloo clo o was the tile poll I 1 in r tr the e finai final count that a single blanket ml might bt have covered both contestants for tile the chief magisterial office with such a record behind us who is ho shall be afraid of the future the curse of slavery is dead it was a joint heritage of woe to be wiped out ont and expiated in blood and ana flame name the mirage ora of a confederacy has vanished it was essentially senti ally bucolic a vision of arcadia a dream of the mo inot mot t attractive acono economic ilc fallacy T the it e constitution is no longer a rope of oi sand the exact relation of the s states tates to the federal government left open to double construction by authors of our organic being because they could not agree among themselves them elves and union waa was the paramount para inot t object has lims been clearly and definitely fixed by t the h e three last lait amendments to the original chart which constitute the real treaty of peace between the north and south and seal our bonds as a ration nation forever the republic ic public represents at last the letter and spirit ora of a sublime declaration fetters th that t bound her to earth are burtt burst asunder bags that degraded her beauty are cast aside like the enchanted princess in the legend clad in in spotless raiment and wearing ft a crown of living light she ho at steps s ili in tho the perfection of her maturity u upon pon age the scene of tills lat latest estand and proudest of her victories to bid bid welcome to the world need I 1 pursue this theme this vast assemblage speaks with a resonance and meaning which words cannot reach there 1 la no 0 geography in american manhood the south claims lincoln the tile immortal for its own the north has no t to reject t stonewall jackson as one of the t typical pie I 1 puritan soldiers of ther the war for its own nor will it the time is I 1 combie comi ag is is almost here when hanging above the many ganv mantel mantel boards in fair new ica E england glorifying glorify ing many a cottage in sunny south shall sha ie be seen bound together ili in everlasting love and honor the tile two crow crosswords earned carried to battle bv by the grandfather deather who wore blue and the 06 grandfather fa who wore gray I 1 cant cannot lo 10 t trust myself to proceed IV we hare come here not so much to recall recal I 1 the tile by bygone V one sorrows and glories as to bak bas in the sunshine of present prosperity anu and happiness happi new to interchange patriotic greetings and indulge in good au guries and arid above all to meet upon tho the thre threshold sholA the stranger within our gate not as a foreigner but as a guest and anti friend for whom nothing wo we have Is too good at this moment in every pirt part of america a union of children are taki liking up t the ile wonderous tale of discovery and IF from III boston to galveston from the little log schoolhouse in in the wilderness to t ita towering academy in in the city and town may be witnessed the unprecedented e a lip spectacle eci of a powerful nation captured by an army of lilliput lans or embryo men and women of toddling toddling g boys and girls and tiny elves scarce big enough to lisp lisl the numbers of tha national anthem scarce strong enough to lift the tile miniature flags that make of arid arld street and tand autumn wood an emblematic garden to gladden ladden the sig sight h tand and to glorify the red white and blue co our young barbarians all ali at play for better than these we e have nothing to exhibit they indeed are our crown jewels the truest though inevitable olour of our civilization and development representative representatives ora of a manhood vitalized vitali zed and arid invigorated by toll and care of womanhood elevated and inspired by by liberty and education dod god bless the children and their mothers god bless our count rys flag and god be with us now and ever god in ili the thereof roof trees shade and arid god antho on the high highway a 0 god I 1 in fit the winds and the waves i and 1 I n d god 0 in all our hearts |