The Commoner

The Trick of a Showman.

In a speech delivered in the United States senate April 7, 1871, the late Senator Morrill of Vermont had something to say of the real strength and glory of a state. In his speech Senator Morrill said: "When Alexander retreated from India he caused to be made and scattered arms much larger than his men could use," and higher mangers and heavier bits than were suitable for his horses, to impress foreign nations with an exaggerated idea of his greatness. But this trick of the showman is now only remembered as a folly. We shall fail to impress the world by playing the giant abroad and the pigmy at home, or by spreading great American flags abroad while those at home, torn and tattered, fail to command respect and obedience, or by sending our symbols of power where they will be surrounded, not only by a Babylonian confusion of languages, but where we can have no directing and constructive power over the character of the people. To be strong we must have the love of a thoroughly amalgamated people, and something more than mere local patriotism. Real strength does not consist so much in power to conquer the world as in power to resist the world, even wealth is much less often found by going abroad after new subjects than by search at home for and diligent use of such as we already possess. We may also virtually extend our territory by extending our knowledge of that we now have, and cultivating its present resources, its natural affinities, and its future possibilities. The glory of a state does not consist merely in the magnitude of its extent, but largely in a fit correspondence of all its parts and the mutual respect and habitual affection of its people."