The Holland Society of New York - Yearbook (New York, NY)

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l Jfl gv 'ii , ,, ,ll r ll H4 I JLI if . 11. . 7 I . I . 5 A , Ir., I I . J, I I. lm .. I 5 lil ri ,wa fl' 'l il i : iff 'lla rfli, , .wi xi.. I ,fn ,. -li m rr' il 4.5 ci PI' W . wi if H. 'A liiilf If . 1 . X, IN, igwf 'pl yr .HW if -5-1 I- 12 .!' . ' Ill. ' ll Ti lil' llgg ,.:. ,fill rpsi. 'jx li Ag' uf 1 ,, ilu: Hifi bi, icy'-, In ,I ifrl .:'l1 ,itz it ,.i' J V, 4 yi '2 ll ,C i 'I ' 1 l al I I v Fl 1 Will' I 25 f ill f ill ffl ijggl I all mlli' ,gl 1-ffl? iff 1 'i ijggii Qfl If 1' IFF IT' I I VI 38 I my friends, I gm an ex-Confederate and know how it is myself l So much for frivolityg an serious thought. We are all Proud O . of the Dutch. I have a streak of Dutch in me myself, and I am very proud of it. My Dutch H11- Cestof, Cornelis Melyn, received the first patent for Staten Island, and went there and stayed two days, when the Indians drove him off, and he never returned. The better part of valor is discretion, a feature always prominent in the Dutch character. At your annual dinner you hear described from year touyear the important part which the Dutch have played in the civilization of this nation. For three hundred years their inHuence has been so marked everywhere, and especially in-our great nation, that one who studies Dutch character and history never ceases to wonder at the powerful and great and widespread influence of this little nation. I shall delay you but a moment to remind you that we are indebted to the Dutch more than to any other nation for religious liberty, for freedom of conscience, the liberty of the press-which unfor- tunately is too often the license of the press-and many others of our most cherished institutions. Yet I know nothing which illustrates better the diversity of the Dutch genius than her history as the possessor and governor of colonies and her sagacious management of her dependencies. With- in a briefyear, in a moment, almost the twinkling of an eye, the whole policy of our nation has been revolutionized concerning colonial possessions in a manner totally unforeseen. For a hundred years we boasted of our isolation, and our utter lack of complication with, or interest in, European policies. d now a moment for f the record

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37 at their blue coats and gray trousers, I am a Union man. Whereupon they said, You are, are you? We want everything you have 5 we are Confeder- ates. Soon afterwards he met a party who wore gray coats and blue trousers, and they asked him what side he was on. I-Ie thought he would strike it right this time, and replied that he was a Confed- erate, whereupon they, being Union scouts, looted him. The third time he encountered a party, What side areyou on P said they. Looking at them for a long time, he at last exclaimed : Come now, boys, stop your foolishness, what side are you on ? Looking over the lists of guests I made some suggestions to the Judge and told him I thought I saw the name of a gentleman who would talk for the Boers, -pointing out the name of Hogeboom. 'Then he asked, Who will talk for the English ? I said, Unless we hear some more encouraging news from Buller to-night, lVIr.- Onderdonk will do very well. Pardon this strained allusion to the under dog! Well, I was instructed to speak 'about the in- Huence of Dutch Civilization. In doing so I must steer clear of the present situation as much as possible. I have seen the little fellow' tackle the big one before,'and know only too well the result. 'I feel that in this gallant fight, now going -on, the ultimate result must be like that which befell the Indian who lassoed' the locomotive out West. When the engineer saw him wheeled through 'space at the rate of forty miles an hour fast to his own lasso, he rested his head upon his hand, and watching from the window said, Indian, I admire your pluck, but d-- your judgment! You know,

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39 We believed our true destiny was to avoid en- tanglements with the affairs of other nations. Al- though for hundreds of years England and Spain and 'Portugal and Holland and France, and lately Germany, had been gaining in colonial possessions, we had none, and boasted that we wanted nothing. Yet we have leaped right into the midst of the possession of, and responsibility for, colonial de- pendencies in a way that must, in the nature of the case, revolutionize our whole conduct and change our national course in the future. I am not one of those who are alarmed at this. Our nation has done so many surprising things, and done them so surprisinglywell, that I have faith in the power of Americans to do yet another thing well. But this is what has happened to us: At the opening of theyear 1898 England led, and'Spain closely followed her, as the largest owner and governor -of colonial possessions. This year Eng- land still leads, but Spain has dropped out of the list of governments with important colonial pos- sessions, and the- United States has moved up to second place among the nations. lNow, shall we perform our self-assumed task well or badly? Wel1? Of course we will. If we do not lose our head' and think we know it all at once, we will gain union and glory and wealth by the change, I feel well assured. You have all known instances of people getting into new enter- prises and thinking that they know all about 'them until they find out the contrary, and coming out of them very much crestfallen. Some years ago, When, at the end of the civil strife, the South was reduced to the condition of unreconstructed territories, the