"'We love peace, not war, but when we go to war we send it the best and bravest of the country.' These words, spoken a few days ago by the chief magistrate of America, embody a great principle of American life.
Six months ago the congress of the United States declared that in the name of humanity war should be waged in order to give to the island of Cuba a stable and independent government. Magnificent patriotism of America. The people of the United States at once rose in their might. They argued not, they hesitated not. America had spoken; theirs was not to judge but to obey. In a moment the money of America, the lives of America, were at the disposal of the chief magistrate of the nation, whose embarrassment was the too generous response to his appeal for means to bring victory to the nation's flag. America had spoken. Partisan politics, sectional disputes instantly were stilled beneath the majesty of her voice. Oft it had been whispered that we had a North and a South. When America spoke we knew that we were but one people; that all were Americans. It had been whispered that social and economic lines were hopelessly dividing the American people, and that patriotism was retreating before the growth of class interests and class prejudices.
"But when America spoke there was no one in the land who was not an American; the laborer dropped his hammer; the farmer turned from his plow; the merchant forgot his counting-room; the millionaire closed the door of his mansion; and side by side, equal in love of country; their resolve to serve her, they marched to danger and to death. America can never doubt the united loyalty of her whole population, nor the power which such united loyalty puts into her hand.
"And what may I not say in eulogy of the sentiment of humanity, that in union with their patriotism swayed the hearts of the American people, and in their vision invested the war with the halo of highest and most sacred duty to fellow-men? I speak of the great multitude, whom we name the American people. They had been told of dire suffering by neighboring people—struggling for peace and liberty; they believed that only through war could they acquit themselves of the sacred duty of rescuing that people from their sufferings. I state a broad, undeniable fact. The dominating, impelling motive of the war in the depths of the national heart of America was the sentiment of humanity. The people of America offered their lives through no sordid ambition of pecuniary gain, of conquest of territory, of national aggrandizement. Theirs was the high-born ambition to succor fellowmen.
"What strength and power America was found to possess. When war was declared, so small was her army, so small her navy that the thought of war coming upon the country affrighted for the moment her own citizens and excited the derisive smiles of foreigners. Of her latent resources no doubt was possible; but how much time was needed to utilize them, and, meanwhile, how much humiliation was possible. The President waved his wand; instantly armies and navies were created as by magic. Within a few weeks a quarter of a million of men were formed into regiments and army corps; vessels of war and transport ships were covering the seas; upon water and land battles were fought and great victories won, from one side of the globe to the other. I know not of similar feats in history. What if in this bewildering rush of a nation to arms one department or another of the national administration was unable to put in a moment its hand upon all the details which a thoroughly rounded equipment required? The wonder is that the things that were done could at all have been done, and that what was done so quickly could have been done so well. The wonder is that this sudden creation of such vast military forces was possible, even in America.
"What prowess in action, what intellect in planning, what skill in execution, were displayed by soldiers and seamen, by men and officers. Magnificent the sweep of Dewey's squadron in Manila harbor. Magnificent the broadsides from Sampson's fleet upon Cervera's fleeing ships. Magnificent the charge of regiments of regular infantry, and of Roosevelt's riders up the hills of El Caney. Never daunted, never calculating defeat, every man determined to die or conquer, every man knowing his duty, how to do it—the soldiers and seamen of America were invincible. Spanish fleets and Spanish armies vanished before them as mists before the morning sun; the nations of the earth stood amazed in the presence of such quick and decisive triumphs, at what America had done and at what, they now understood, America could do.
The war is ended. It would ill become me to say what details shall enter into the treaty of peace which America is concluding with her vanquished foe. I stand in the presence of the chief magistrate of the republic. To him it belongs by right of official position and of personal wisdom to prescribe those details. The country has learned from the acts of his administration that to his patriotism, his courage, his prudence, she may well confide her safety, her honor, her destiny, her peace. Whatever the treaty of Sapin, America will be pleased when appended to this treaty is the name of William McKinley.
"What I may speak of on this occasion is the results of the war, manifest even in this hour to America and to the world, transcending and independent of all treaties of peace, possessing for America and the world a meaning far mightier than mere accumulation of material wealth or commercial concessions or territorial extension.
"To do great things, to meet fitly great responsibilities, a nation, like a person, must be conscious of its dignity and its power. The consciousness of what she is and what she may be has come to America. She knows that she is a great nation. The elements of greatness were not imparted by the war; but they were revealed to her by the war, and their vitality and their significance were increased through the war.
"To take its proper place among the older nations of the earth a nation must be known as she is to those nations. The world to-day as ne'er before knows and confesses the greatness and the power of America. The world to-day admires and respects America. The young giant of the West, heretofore neglected and almost despised in his remoteness and isolation, has begun to move as becomes his stature; the world sees what he is and pictures what he may be.