Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1903 — ACCEPTS THE TRUST [ARTICLE]

ACCEPTS THE TRUST

Senator Fairbanks’ Eloquent Address to the General Assemblyof Indiana. INSPIRING HISTORY OF INDIANA Stimulates Our Pride And Challenges Our Admiration—lndiana’s Pride in the Nation. In This, the Seat of a Vast Empire, Is the Storehouse of the Nation’s Future Strength—American Institutions Are Stronger Today Than They Have Ever Been Before—The Future Is Full of Opportunity and Full of Hope. The great victory of Indiana Republicanism in November last reached most significant consummation ir. the election of Senator Fairbanks for another term of six years. The address of Senator Fairbanks accepting the trust thus imposed upon him, is one which ought to be read by every Indianlan, regardless <4 party. It is thoughtful, eloquent, andmarked throughout by a deep patriotic feeling transcending all merely partisan consid.<ations. Senator Fairbanks said:

"Mr. President, Mr. Speaker and Members of the General Assembly: “I come to thank you and, through you, to express my profound gratitude to the people of Indiana for the great honor of a second election to the United States senate. The unanimous expression of my party associates and the manifestation of personal good will by all parties, lend a pleasure to the acceptance of the high commission of the state without which it would possess no attraction. There is no place, however exalted, which has aught of honor in it: Honor abides alone in the confidence and hearts.of the people.

Duty Regardless of Party. “I accept the credentials which you have so generously tendered, with an undivided allegiance, and with a full appreciation of the responsibility which their acceptance imposes. They devolve upon me a duty to the people of the state and the country, without regard to mere party affiliations, and it is my purpose to serve them all to the utmost of my humble ability. “The vast majority of the questions which engage the attention of those who serve the people In the national legislature do not sharply divide political parties. “It is a signal honor to be called to represent Indiana in the senate of the United States. Our state is one of the best in the Union. She has been carved literally out of the wilderness by aanrihle nfcn anif ’gomMi~ «»~aypr founded a commonwealth. Indiana’s Inspiring History. “Her history is the plain and inspiring story of brave, energetic, libertyloving and God-fearing people. It is a history which stimulates our pride and challenges our admiration. “The state, as we witness her today, strong, splendid and full of the promise of even greater and better things, is but comparatively young. She is less than one century old, and now holds within her borders nearly three million of intelligent, prosperous and happy people.

“When we look upon the transformation of the forest and the swamp during the brief period of her existence, into well-cultivated fields, prosperous villages and cities, we stand amazed at the gigantic task which has been wrought, and are filled with inexpressible admiration for and gratitude to, those whose genius, sacrifice and energy have accomplished it. By Restless Energy.

“The result has not been achieved by drones nor by Ignorance, but by a high order of Intelligence and by restless energy; by men and women who loved the state, who worshiped at the sacred altar of the family fireside, and who believed in the virtue of Republican institutions and in the saving grace of-the Christian religion. "The state has been bullded to her present proportions by those who had an unswerving faith in her destiny, and who wished that their children should arise to still higher and better conditions than they had attained. “Nature and man have confederated to make Indiana what she is. She has been dowered with an equable climate, with vast forests, with a prolific soil, and with great mineral wealth. The primeval forest did not Invite repose. It had to be cleared and swamps had to be drained before the farmer could sow and reap. Highways had to be constructed through virgin territory, to village, to market and to mill.

“All of this required reflection, toll, patience, perseverance and frugality—the fundamental prerequisites, of enduring success. Fortunate, indeed, the state which has been erected upon such a rugged foundation. “Our peop’e are pervaded In the fulltot and highest sense with the very spirit and soul of democracy. They are not the worshipers of weglth, nor of place, nor of power. "Men are esteemed only because they possess those qualities which are essentially the fruit of the best civilisation, and not because of their estates, or station or ancestry. We

hare a cosmopolitan population. Drawn From the Best Blood. “We have drawn from the Puritan of New England and from the Cavalier 6f Virginia. We have drawn from the best blood of every land, those seeking home and liberty. - The best of every nationality is found among our nil wing ftach nthdM* to make the state great and strong. “Our people love the ways of peace. They enamored of war, SF though they are ready to respond with all they have, and with the best they have when fate has decreed unhappily that war must come. They are a brave, self-reliant people, and it may be said fairly that love of liberty is their ruling passion. "We have grown with astonishing rapidity in manufactures during the past few years, and the diversity of our material resources, and our geographical location with reference to the markets and the consumers are such that we must continue to gain In manufacturing strength, but we are first and foremost and must continue to be largely an agricultural community. And fortunate it is that this is so. Farmers a Bulwark. state can have no better constituency than an enlightened agricultural constituency. There is to bo found in the field where the plowman is in partnership with nature less political hysteria than elsewhere, less sympathy with the demagogue, and a firmer belief in the everlasting virtue and stability of our institutions. “We are fortunate in having no great cities which are festering with corruption and polluting the public health. We have no centers reeking with moral miasma’ and breeding anarchy. We should always find here the most perfect sanity of judgment upon political questions. We should have here a fair average of the sentiment of the country upon governmental policies. “We should draw inspiration from the East and from the West, and from the North and from the South, and from the contending and conflicting views and interests of ail, present a fair composite of the national purpose, of the national conscience, of the national aspiration. Honored Sons of the State. “We have given to the nation many of her ablest and most honored statesmen—men whose names are woven into her enduring history. There was Caleb B. Smith, who sat in the first cabinet of Abraham Lincoln. And may we not claim some particular measure of the honor and glory of Abraham Lincoln? During the plastic days of his youth he dwelt within the limits of our state, and reached his manhood here; and the ashes of his mother rest in our soil.

“Oliver P. Morton, a man of great genius, the idol of his party, became potent in the state and an acknowledged power in national councils. Schuyler Colfax was for years influential in the national house of representatives. For several years he was speaker, and later he became an honored vice president of the United States. “Thomas A. Hendrieks served conspicuously in the senate, and filled worthily the vice presidential chaii And there was McDonald, a great lawyer, a senator of recognized ability. “Hugh McCulloch, twice secretary of the treasury, rendered notable service to his entire country. Michael C. Kerr and Judge Holman achieved high rank In the house of representatives, the former becoming its speaker. Figures in the Nation. “For many years Senator Voorhees, my distinguished predecessor, was a distinct figure in national affairs, an orator of commanding power, a man of incorruptible integrity. “Richard W. Thompson, to whom a kind Providence gave an exceptional number of years, honored his state and countrymen in the congress and in the cabinet. “Walter Q. Gresham, heroic soldier, able and just judge, postmaster general and secretary of the treasury In one cabinet and secretary of state in another, added luster to our commonwealth. “We are all proud of the name of the brave soldier, the illustrious lawyer, the great senator and able president, Benjamin Harrison. “Time is inadequate to enable me further to mention others of our honored statesmen whose names come unbidden to our memories, and who served their country so faithfully and well. We rejoice in the honor they brought our state. The Heart of the Nation. “We dwell in the great Mississippi valley, rich in all the potential elements which go toward building up great and strong character, and which make for the stability, the honor and permanent welfare of the republic. The Mississippi valley is. Indeed, the heart of a powerful nation. It is well that it Is sound, and it is necessary that it should ever continue to be so. The sun, in its course, shines upon no land more fertile, nor upon a people more happily wedded to their institutions. Here is to be found the seat of a vast empire, and here will be fonnd its future strength. "Our people are pervaded In the fullest and highest eense with the very spirit and soul of democracy. They are not the worshipers of wealth, nor of place, nor of power. Bix Significant Years. » "The past six years have been filled with events of great and far-reaching significance. We have been taxed with serious questions of both peace and war. We have traveled new and often difficult paths, with no other guide than a desire to raise our coun

try to the highest plane of duty and honor. j i' “Our country has had a new birth In the esteem of the world.'. Its power is now. recognized as niever before, and its magnanimity and sense of justice are everywhere acknowledged. It is in the fordfr<m|t of the leading powers of the earth, and wherever the na- ' council table the voice of the United States is all-persuasive. No International Meddler. “We are not to be led by this consciousness of increased national power and prestige to become an international intermeddler. We are not to put upon the high seas fleets to disturb the peace of the world. We desire simply to pursue the ways of tranquility and to preserve American liberty and defend the rights of American citizenship against the aggressions of We shall seek by the sword no land and no people. j “We shall endeavor to cultivate and i maintain with all powers a feeling of I good neighborhood. We have raised I aloft the flame of liberty upon the I Westeqi continent, and we trust that, seeing our example, others may leant to extend the bounds of human freedom and to enlarge the zone of republican institutions. “We must never lose sight of the rights of the individual. They must be safeguarded and sacredly preserved. For the individual is, in the final analysis, the unit of our strength. It is a wholesome truism thqt in the symmetrical development of a state the weakest Individual must stand upon a plane of entire equality with the strongest in the eye of the law. Labor and Capital. “We recognize the influence of labor and capital on our commercial, social and national development, and deprecate all mischievous efforts to incite antagonism between them. We indulge the hope—yes, the confident belief —that in the progress of time we shall gain larger wisdom and that tfiese vital forces in our civilization, instead of being driven apart, will be brought nearer and nearer together, and that each will come to recognize in full measure the fact that each has rights, and that the best and highest development of both must come through the generous and just co-oper-ation of each. We should study how to bring them into harmonious fellowship, rather than to drive them asunder into contending and warring camps. “We should ever bear in mind the fact that a political party, to be successful, must meet well the needs of the hour, and that no party which does not justify the public confidence can expect to retain power. “We must not only advocate but practice economy in public administration.

“We must adhere with inflexible determination to those monetary and economic policies whose virtue has the sanction of the best experience. No suggestion of temporary party advantage should swerve us from the maintenance of those principles which are the essential foundation of successful administration and good government. Good government is not the child of chance. It is not the fruit of unreasoning ignorance. It is the sure result of the operation of fixed rational policies. We Are Not Being Undermined. “Our institutions are not being undermined by subtle and destructive forces, nor are they weaker than when they left the hands of their immortal authors. They are stronger today than they were yesterday.' We are not in the mdist of an evolution fromwhich we will emerge with our conscience impaired and our national character altered.

“We have passed through many periods which were dark and apparently full of evil portent, but there flamed out of the darkness one star —the star of hope. God Almighty set it there. There it remains, and all the prophets of evil cannot pluck it away. “We should uphold the hands of those charged with official authority whenever they well and faithfully perform their pwblic functions. We should have a conscience for our civic duties and should not neglect them and thereby lose the abundant and precious fruit which has been gathered upon the batttleflelds of the republic. "We want good public servants and good laws. We want good administration and good government. We can secure them in but one way, and that la by an intelligent and faithful discharge of our civic obligations. Tremendous Strides of Indiana. “Fellow-citizens, compared with the elder states, we have made tremendous progress in industry, commerce, education, literature, art and science. "We stand yet at the morning of our career. The hour of high noon has not struck. No finite mind can set the boundaries of our development during the years which stretch before us with such splendid promise. The future la mighty; full of opportunity and full of hope. “Weiglrty and important domestic and foreign problems will press for solution. They. will tax to the utmost our vigilance, our patriotism and our highest and beet endeavor, but we shalt-bring to their consideration an optimistic philosophy. We shall meet them with stout hearts and solve them honorably and well, and leave to our children and to -their children forever a country strengthened In all the eletaents which constitute the real power and grandeur of a mighty republic. “My friends I covet nothing beyond your approbation. There is no honor which lies beyond that Again I than*