walls, placed there by American valor and by American arms in a struggle
for human rights, and liberty. Trackless forests and undulating prairies
have become the highways for the speeding engines bearing the burdens of
traffic to the Orient. No longer are they the pasturage for the buffalo,
but the source of food supply for the whole world. Treasures of untold
value have been laid bare by the ingenuity of man, but far beyond this
wealth are the products in grain and lowing kine which add their
hundreds of millions to the resources of our country, extending even
beyond the dreams or the imagination of those who sought only the
precious metals with which to return with a competence to their native
land.

"This is but the span of a century and to commemorate its glories we
come from the eastern section, from the earlier colonies to congratulate
the people of the West upon the results which we as a nation have
achieved. So few the years, yet how notable the history. Upon this soil
began those battles which ended in the emancipation of the slave. From
this border, and almost from within this territory, came the great
Emancipator, a man who struggled with the vicissitudes of fortune in
early life, who aided in developing the great West, and whose name will
be forever enshrined as the one who in his act as chief magistrate of
this country removed the stain which the earlier Dutch had fastened upon
our body politic like a 'festering sore.' The past, with all of its
achievements, with all of its successes, is to us but an incentive and
guide for the future progress of our country. America still beckons to
the oppressed of all lands and holds out the gifts of freedom, and we at
this time, and upon this occasion, should renew our adherence to those
policies which have made us great as a nation. The future is before us,
and the patriotism and self-sacrifice of those who made the country's
history so glorious should be an inspiration to us all for higher ideals