8 Conservative.
given place to peaceful herds and
flocks. The wandering wigwam has
been replaced by the settled homo. The
ground of the war dance is occupied by
the school-house , and the pole hung
with scalp locks by the steeple of the
church. The vast desert spaces are now
laughing with harvests , and the various
tribes of the white men are dwelling
there in unity. Who can doubt that
such expansion is in accord with the
purposes of the Almighty in the regen
eration of the world ?
In this spirit and with such purpose the
expansion of the republic has more
widely advanced in later years. The
beneficent changes to be wrought in the
alien races may require a full generation
or more for their accomplishment. The
work of the church is dilatory. But we
have the glorious assurance of the past
that we are doing the will of the Great
Ruler of nations while wo follow our
providential law. Since the middle of
the last century wo have been led on
step by stop beyond the ocean boundary
of our continent , following the snu in
his western course until scores of is
lands of the southern and central Pacific
have come peacefully under the domin
ion of the United States. The Alaskan
islands carried the jurisdiction of the
republic within the longitudes of north
ern Asia. By an unforeseen emergency
of the Spanish war , declared for another
and a humane purpose , we came into
the unexpected possession of the Phil
ippine islands on the south of the Asi
atic continent. Like Louisiana , their
purchase and annexation were unfore
seen by the statesmen and people of our
country ; and like Louisiana , they will
in the process of civilization reveal un
expected resources for the blessing of
mankind , and for the advancement and
security of the republic.
We look back with amazement , and
with gratitude , upon this century of
our history. The first year of the nine
teenth century found our youthful na
tion barred on the west by our great
mediterranean river , aud shut off from
the sea on the south , with the barriers
guarded by two formidable military
powers of Europe. Our incipient com
merce was wantonly destroyed on the
high seas , the common prey of warring
European navies , without fear of
reprisals or punishment. Even the
paltry powers of the Barbary coast
levied tribute on our commercial ves
sels and held captured citizens in
slavery. Our political parties at home
were more hostile to each other than to
the foreigners who insulted our flag.
The republic was neither respected nor
envied , neither courted nor feared , by
any power of Europe or Asia or Africa.
But now , in the first year of the
twentieth century , all this is changed.
Our matured nation is in possession of
the whole northern shore of the gulf ,
including all the peninsula of Florida ,
with -jurisclictioii extended across the
continent to the shore of the Pacific ,
and leaping thence to the farthest coast
of Alaska. Our flag floats over a
thousand islands of the western ocean.
It was the first to bo welcomed in the
harbors of Japan , Korea and of China
as the emblem of international peace
and justice. The fame of our navy is
wafted around the world by every wind
that blows , and the flag that covers its
guns assures protection to our commerce
on every sea and in the harbors of every
continent. The republic is respected
and honored as one of the great powers
of the world. At home a common pat
riotism unites our political parties as
never before. It has been exhibited
during this mouth when all parties in
various sections of this great country
have been assembling to greet and ac
claim a president who is himself the
soul of patriotism and national honor.
It is a marvelous expansion , a mar
velous transformation , a miracle of the
nations !
Thanks be to the Almighty Power
which has so directed our destiny that
in this first summer of the new century ,
and in the third generation of the ex
plorers of the west , the sun never sets
upon the territory of the republic.
That brilliant orb which today gilds the
summit of Iowa's historic monument
will shed his bright beams in every hour
of his daily circuit around the globe
upon some state or territory , some plainer
or mountain or island shore , over which
floats the beneficent flag of our ex
panded republic , carrying in its folds
the assurance of peace and liberty , order
and security , education and civilization
to all the inhabitants. May this memo
rial stand for ages to come to remind
our children of the manly virtues of
their race , which in the nineteenth cen
tury made the republic so glorious in
the annals of Imtory.
At Colorado
LETTERS TO Springs , Colorado ,
ANOTHER Mr. Louis R. Eh-
GENERATION. rich has developed
a plan by which
the twentieth century will communi
cate intelligently with the twenty-first.
He has a very intelligent and active co
adjutor in this scheme for talking with
the people who shall inherit the earth
one hundred years from now , in the
person of Prof. L. A. E. Ahlers. The
Colorado Springs Gazette of July 14 ,
has this to say about the scheme , and
THE CONSERVATIVE suggests that the
good people of Nebraska City and Otoo
county might , with great propriety , en
ter into the purchase of a "century
chest , " to be transmitted in a similar
way to those who shall inhabit here
abouts in the year 2001.
A Century Chest.
"It was felt that the present prosper-
ous condition of the country brings with
it considerable danger that in the desire
to catch fortune at floodtide we may
lose ourselves in materialism. A
thought of the future , loving considera
tion of those who come after us , may
bring about at least a short reaction
from this tendency. Then came the
question : How can we fitly give ex
pression to our fellow men , who sluill
walk our streets a hundred years from
today of our thought of them ? Here
Mr. Ehrich's plan gave a delightful
answer. He suggested that a series of \
letters be written , addressed to the oiti- I ,
zens of Colorado Springs in the year
2001. These letters should come from
prominent men and women , who pos
sess an intelligent knowledge of the
present conditions of our city , as well
as of its past. In addition to these let
ters , portraits of the writers should bo
inclosed in a strong box made for this
purpose , also photograps of all classes of
residences , streets , industrial plants ,
ladies and children in modern costumes ;
in short , good representations of our
selves and our surroundings of today.
The box is to be made of wrought iron ,
lined with zinc. A copper plate with
suitable inscription will tell the gene
rations to come what it contains and
when it is to be opened. "
The Norwegian ,
FREDERICK whose name heads
GIERTSEN. this paragraph , is
a school teacher
in Christiana , Norway , and he is intend
ing to erect during the coming year , a
monument to the memory of his grand
father , because that ancestor planted
one hundred years ago a splendid forest
of spruce and Norway pine. His de
scendants are just beginning to realize
the value aud altruism of this benef
icent act of their ancestor.
Those in Nebraska , who desire to be
remembered one hundred years , should
emulate the altruistic tree-planting of
this benevolent Norwegian.
If the domo-
PRESIDENT cratic party seeks
FAIRCHILD. a presidential candidate -
didate in New
York , and will not nominate John G.
Carlisle , it may find ex-Secretary of the
Treasury Fairchild eligible. He might
make a stronger candidate than Dave
Hill , and a far better president. The
private and public character of Mr.
Fairchild is faultless.
"Those persons who are striving to
admire the McKinley administration ore
necessarily compelled to ignore the fact'
that Tom Platt is permitted to fill the
judicial vacancies as fast as they occur
in Now York , " sententiously notes the
Philadelphia Times ( Ind. ) .
