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

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34 that counts the cost, but for the sake of principle and freedom will disregard the cost 5 that lays Out a Voyage by chart and compass and follows chart and compass to the end 5 that loves the liberty and na- tional happiness Which rest upon tried and sure foun. dationsg that teaches reverence for national traditions and encourages the people's satisfaction with their country's mission. lt is the kind of con. servatism in which our Constitution had its birth and which has thus far been the source of our na. tion's safety and strength-the conservatism of jug. tice, of honor, of honesty, of industry, of frugality and of contented homes. In this assemblage of those who know so well the meaning of these things, the question is suggested whether, in present conditions, this conservatism characterizes the conduct or guides the sentiment of our people. There can be but one answer to this question. Conservatism has in a great degree been jauntily cast aside, or condemned as opposed to our country's welfare and glory. 'A strange voyage has been entered upon, Without count of cost and without chart or compass. The tried and sure foundations of our liberty and national happi- ness have been discredited, Reverence for our national traditions has been relaxed, and satisfaction with our country's mission has been undermined. The restraints .and limitations of our Constitution have become galling and irksome under they temp- tations of national greed and aggrandizement. Our old love of peace, honor, and justice has been weak- ened, and frugality and contentment are not now traits inseparable from American character. War, even with the world's advanced civilization, may still be sometimes necessary and justifiablei 7 ! lv ' 4 We in lllithfii fha' fix etlfllaw 111036 tip' d I . nfl' ivhosef' . vet - in gilllolez 'vale me 1ublic2UdEZ5 altef I1 of ireservtno d betfw ni lorlnuiitewhich, if 5 iriaifllflw' ' dl ,, reH10l 'ng ari0Wald5 . Thus unIflC5' L1eiW0,C0 , g ,gating nations at . md IU Jath of PW liar, Will! lhe bolt ad ampttould be louofd more general MQPU0' olsettling intem8U003l fl gint advance towank i throughout the world l lnation in the Smale d tlanfveyears have pa! English-speakingchampiq aiesnlloperatinginpank pines and the other in Sq ltrpeace and arbitmjm i.slgfee M isamoslnsigtes a Sd 'da attempt inS ous U I I outh Af,-,Q ltrllgtofsimihr ' . I asimilarvmmlein ll? le gxpressio 5 0 n f teaccusrgmelzistzl UIQ . w. xxx .X V Q-,M , ., '41

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I M M I - fl M i7 A A N i iqq s mm MM , A X j 'Q V .,. +I A x ADDRESS GF EX-PRESIDENT CLEVE- LAND. Ladzbs amd Gevzzflemefz : I HE cordial welcome you extend to me is exceedingly grateful and comforting, for it gives me a grain of satisfaction in the ordeal that confronts me. I am convinced that the art of making an after-dinner speech with- out distress is for me a sealed book g and as the years pass I am only saved from complete wretch- edness in my efforts in that direction by the kind- ness and toleration of those who are good enough to listen to me. I cannot resent the charge that I am apt to preach a sermon on occasions of this kind, for I am afraid this accusation is justified. It has been my lot to be much onthe sober side of life, and to feel the pressure of great responsibilities. Besides, I believe it sometimes happens that an ex- cess of light-hearted gayety creates a condition of popular thought and impulse that may profitably be steadied by sedate suggestions and the expression of conservative sentiment-even though it may be called sermonizing. At any rate, I am quite willing to take an humble place among the sermonizers in this time of headlong national heedlessness, and to invoke the cultivation and saving grace of Du-tch conservatism. This is the kind of conservatism 33

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Prifltiiple lays outa Chart and :Y and na. Sure foun- national ltisfagtion nd of Con. l its birth, of our na. ism of jus. frugality, so well the Suggested xservatism sentiment answer to :at degree .s opposed X strange : count ol : tried and nal happi- e for OUT atisfaction dermined- institution the temP' ent. Ouf een Weak' not DOW r. vilizaflon' Stiflablei 35 but whether necessary and justifiable or not, the demoralization that follows in its train can evaded. It teaches bloody instructionsfl Which, in a country whose citizens do the fighting, can not fail to leave their impress for a time at least, upon public and private life in time of peace, Thirty years after the close of the war for the preservation of the Union, a treaty of arbitration was formulated between the United States and Great Britain, which, if completed, would have gone far towards removing every pretext of war between the twofcountries. Thus these two great English- speaking nations at that time assumed leadership in the path of peace and in advocacy of the abolition of war, with the hope and expectation that the ex- ample would be followed by other nations, and that a more general adoption of arbitration as a means of settling international disputes would result in a great advance towards the abandonment of war throughout the worldi This treaty failed of con- firmation in the Senate of the United States. Less than ICIVC years have passed since then, and these English-speaking champions of peace and arbitration never be are still operating inparallel lines,-one in the Philip- pines and the other in South Africa,-but no longer for peace and arbitration. Both are killing natives in an effort to possess their lands. This indicates a sad relapseg and in our case it is a most serious one. If England succeeds in her attempt in South Africa, she will but add another to her list of similar acquisitions 5 a brave people Will be subjugated, and because of our engagement ill a similar venture in another quarter, they Will 111iSS the expressions of American sympathy WhiCl1 WC are accustomed to extend to those who struggle fO1'