New York at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis 1904 | Page 5

these same qualities. We must insist upon courage and resolution, upon hardihood, tenacity, and fertility of resource; we must insist upon the strong, virile virtues; and we must insist no less upon the virtues of self-restraint, self-mastery, regard for the rights of others; we must show our abhorrence of cruelty, brutality, and corruption, in public and in private life alike."
ADDRESS OF EX-PRESIDENT CLEVELAND
Ex President Cleveland delivered an eloquent panegyric and in closing said:
"... We may well recall in these surroundings the wonderful measure of prophecy's fulfillment, within the span of a short century, the spirit, the patriotism and the civic virtue of Americans who lived a hundred years ago, and God's overruling of the wrath of man, and his devious ways for the blessing of our nation. We are all proud of our American citizenship. Let us leave this place with this feeling stimulated by the sentiments born of the occasion. Let us appreciate more keenly than ever how vitally necessary it is to our country's wealth that every one within its citizenship should be clean minded in political aim and aspiration, sincere and honest in his conception of our country's mission, and aroused to higher and more responsive patriotism by the reflection that it is a solemn thing to belong to a people favored of God."
THE SECOND DAY'S PROGRAM
The second day was designated "Diplomatic Day," and was devoted to a luncheon to the visiting diplomats in the Administration Building, followed by exercises in Festival Hall, at which time addresses were made by Honorable John M. Thurston of the National Commission, who was president of the day; Honorable David R. Francis, president of the Exposition Company; M. Jean J. Jusserand, the French Ambassador, and Senor Don Emilio de Ojeda, the Spanish Minister. In the evening a brilliant reception was given to the Diplomatic Corps at the St. Louis Club.
THE THIRD DAY'S PROGRAM
The third day, Saturday, May second, was officially designated "State Day," and the exercises consisted of a huge civic parade, which consumed two hours in passing a given point, and exercises at two o'clock in the Liberal Arts building, over which ex-Senator William Lindsay of the National Commission presided. Addresses were made by Governor Dockery, who welcomed the governors and delegations from the various states and by Governor Odell of New York, who responded. His brilliant address, which was frequently punctuated by applause, follows:
ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR ODELL
"_Governor Dockery, Ladies and Gentlemen:_
"There is no phase of American history which should inspire us with greater pride than the consummation of the purchase of the Louisiana tract, an event which opened the pathway to the West, and made possible the powerful nation to which we owe our allegiance. Trade, the inspiration for travel, which brought about the discovery and civilization of the Western Hemisphere, would have demanded inevitably the cession to the United States of the vast regions beyond the Mississippi. Except, however, for the peaceful and diplomatic measures adopted through the wisdom of Thomas Jefferson, this territory could only have been acquired by the sacrifice of human life and the expenditure of untold treasure. That Robert Livingston, a citizen of the Empire State, became the ambassador of the great commoner at the court of France and that it was due to his skill and intelligence that Napoleon was brought to an understanding of the conditions as they existed and of the determination of our then young Republic to prevent the building up of foreign colonies at our very threshold, is a cause for congratulation to the people of the State I represent, and renders the duty which has been assigned to me, therefore, doubly pleasant. Memorable as was this event, and of great importance to the future growth of the Republic, it left its imprint not only upon America, but upon Europe as well. Through it the Napoleonic ambition to develop a vast plan of colonization which threatened the peace of the world was thwarted. The dismemberment of the French possessions which soon followed resulted in the grouping together of the various states of Europe into vast empires whose relations with our country are such that encroachment or territorial aggrandizement upon this hemisphere are forever impossible. Spain, whose waning power was then apparent, was no longer a menace, and thus rendered possible the acquisition of the remaining stretch of territory which made our possessions secure from the Gulf to the Canadian line. While, therefore, as Americans we are prone to the belief that if the necessity had arisen we should have been able to wrest this rich and fertile territory from even the strongest hands, it is well for us to understand, however, that even the diplomacy of which we boast would have been futile except for the failure of Napoleon in San Domingo and his pressing need of funds to