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THE HESPERIAN.
Vol. XXVIII.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MARCH 24, 1899.
No. 25.
THE NEW AMERICA.
This oration by II. 11. Tucker was awarded first place on manuscript
in the recout local oratorical contest.
The Spanish American war is a thing of yesterday. Its
causes, just or unjust, are now problems of history. Human
activities are endeavoring to determine its effects on future
generations. What must wo behold as wo turn our eyes to
ward coming events? Shall we welcome or shall wo oppose
these rovelations?
This war has been waged by the nation, not for political
freedom, not for t'u'o redemption of our Union, but in behalf
of an alien raco a circumstance unparalleled in the history of
our country and in the history of the world. In past wars we
battled for our own existence. In this war we gladly laid upon
ourselves heavier burdens, and sent troops to save a nation
I other than our own. Dare wo ask, aro these peoples worth
saving? Since Christ, himself, has sot the example there is no
man not worth dying for, and no man dosorves to live who
will not die for others. Wo entered into this war with little
spirit of conquest and no thought of expansion. Our main
purpose was to secure for others that liberty, that humane
spirit, and that civilization which our flag symbolizes. Now
that the victory is ours, will we, the American people, be in
different to the opporl unities which it presents? The question
of the hour is not what wo intended to do; but rather, what
we must now do, if wo are to meet our obligations to the cause
of humanity, civilization, and our own welfare.
Wo have advanced to a now ideal; an altruistic policy is
now ours. Heretofore the cry has been to consider our own
interests, not those of others. Washington's position at the
end of the eighteenth century has become our principlo now in
the nineteenth. But the present, in the shadow of the
twentieth century with its now opportunities, and its new du
ties, demands a broader policy. Internal questions cannot ex
haust our energies; for the strong American character is not
only a centripetal but also a centrifugal force. Lot our choice
bo made with open eyes, with calm confidence, secure in the
might of the nation and the justness of its power.
. What! Shall we not remain true to the traditions of our
fathers? Ah! No; there is no reason to believe that Wash
ington intended that our nation, then ono of -the smallest of
nations, should, always continue its policy of isolation. Since
the days of Washington the United States has grown from six
million to seventy million people. Steam, electricity, and the
printing press have drawn all nations together. A people that,
in its colonial state, waged war for eight long yearB against
the mightiest power of Europe and secured its independence;
a people that persistently and successfully maintained its right
againBt the claims of all nations to the entire territory west
and northwest to the Mississippi river; a people that purchased
the immense territory of Louisiana; a people that vindicated
its right to tho Oregon Territory; that took Florida from the
grasp of Spain; that purchased ice-bound Alaska from Russia
at the close of an exhausting and costly civil war this people
that has done all this within a century is unjustly accused of
departing from her traditional policy, if she should conclude
once more to extend a helping hand to other peoples.
Every extension of territory has been preceded by prophecies
of evil. It has been followed by increased power and pros
perity. Daniel Webster predicted dire disaster upon the acqui
sition of the Oregon Territory. HiBtory bears different testi
mony. Can we now say that the acquisition of new territory
is contrary to our policy in the past? True, the conditions
which made expansion oxpodiont and necessary in the earlier
years of tho Republic are not now operative; but tho spirit
which then prompted the men who directed tno Nation's des
tiny, to meet now conditions with new and sometimes hazard
ous measures, is still tho spirit by which we must bo governed.
We are- to honor traditions only so long as traditions serve
the real needs of the present; for what may bo wise for one
generation another finds injudicious. The policy of our gov
ernmont must bo changed for our changing needs. Shall the
Nation press forward along the paths which open alluringly
into a field of wider power, or shall it deliberately remain
bound in the swaddling clothes of eternal infancy?
Hero is tho parting of the ways. To stand still is the Chi
nese policy. Rather let us go on, and on. Lot us extend tho
highways of American supremacy. Tho words of the poet
shall bo the motto of our advancing civilization:
" In tho beauty of tho lilies
Christ was born across tho sea,
With a glory in His bosom
That transfigures you and mo;
As Ho died to mako men holy,
Let us die to mako men free."
Yes, the blood shed at Manila, and at Santiago was Amer
ican blood, bloo'd shed for humanity, blood that will inspire
us to carry world-wide tho principles of peace and justice, lib
erty and law. Ev.ery grayo of an American made here will
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