OHIO DAY
Music . . . Toledo Marine Band
Address of Welcome . . Gov. Silas A. Holcomb
Response . . . . Gov. Asa S. Bushnell
Music . . . Toledo Marine Band
Address . . . . Hon. John L. Webster
Address . . . . Co. James Kilbourne
Address . . . . Mayor Jones of Toledo
Governor Bushnell spoke as follows:
Your Excellency,- Ladies and
Gentlemen:
It affords me heartfelt gratification to respond on behalf of the State of
Ohio, to the generous words of welcome that have been uttered by the
representative of this great State and great undertaking and charming
city, to
those who have come to witness and participate in the honors to be paid the
State and the people, of whom we are so proud.
It seems to me, your Excellency, that you have gathered welcomes from the hearts of all your people and have tossed them from your lips over this beautiful audience and I can assure you they will abide with us as sweet for-get-me-nots of the occasion and of our visit here, and your words of welcome will be sweet memories to us as they come floating down into our hearts with thoughts of love, of home and country.
Ohio rejoices in this exploitation of the marvelous development of the Trans-Mississippi States. Ohio applauds the energy and enterprise, the ability and zeal, the courage and consummate skill which has given to our Nation and to the world this splendid manifestation of the triumphs of civilization during hardly half century of progress. Ohio recognizes the distinction given when the Trans-Mississippi States in their great Exposition program set apart this sister State to pay their tribute of respect and their homage for a deed well done. No praise or homage can be more sincere than ours; we realize the significance and the intent of this vast and magnificent demonstration in glory of this rich domain and its people; we are mindful of the righteous claim you have to the approbation of all who love advancement in the affairs of men.
The great west and Ohio are indeed bound by a fraternal chain; a common ancestry unites many of our respective people, and the States have progressed along the same lines. The enormous expanse west of the Mississippi teems with Ohioans, or the sons and daughters of Ohioans. No arm has been more potent in the redemption of that which was a vast wilderness, than that of Ohio. Her colonists have only stopped at the Pacific, and I am now told that much Ohio enterprise is manifest in Japan and the far east. I know that you will not resent this claim of ours to some of the credit that is due for the achievements now before the eyes of all men. The first settlers of our State, whether from old Connecticut, or old Virginia, were conscientious people; people who brought with them not only industry and perseverance, but also those religious principles which go so far to stamp the history of a State.
"Fresh from the Revolution's fire, They came to hew the empire's way, Through trackless wastes, and to inspire The sunlight of young freedom's day."
They founded a peerless State, and not content with such an achievement as Ohio, some of these pioneers and their children straightway kept up the noble work and carved four more great States out of the northwest territory. The example thus set by Ohio's pioneers has, I verily believe, been imitated persistently down to this day. Her children are to be found everywhere in this matchless agricultural area. They are of sturdy stock and I know I voice the sentiments of all when I say that their adopted States have profited by their coming and by their staying. There is an Ohio colony in this State and an Ohio Society of this city. Like its distinguished sister organization of the city of New York, it is composed of strong men--those who have made their mark in the business and professional world and who enjoy the esteem and confidence of their fellow-men. It is, I assure you, a great pleasure to all of us who come from the land of their birth to know that these former Ohioans have had an active part not only in this work, but in much that has preceded it.
I beg of you to believe that this laudation of Ohio and Ohioans is only inspired by my desire to obtain some credit for agency in this grand work by which you put before all the world a plain and truthful, yet glorious, exhibit of the wonderful fertility of your land, the strength of your industries, and the ability of your people. Surely in such a cause one can lay stress upon any fact or theory which will enable the claim that some of the virtue is owing to your kindred.
Speaking for myself, and yet as I well know, showing the innermost thought of many of the Ohioans who are here with us today, I must say that I cannot express the wonder of my mind when dwelling upon the history of this Indian country of old and its present day development. In approaching such a subject one must, in a measure, feel some awe. It is more like the work of an Aladdin, or a magician, who, with his wand transforms the crude into the finished product, or from the rough material makes a splendid creation. When Ohio, in the dignity of a youthful State, was pluming herself upon her Constitution, upon her representatives in Congress, and upon her Government, the great region of which in this year Omaha is now the central point, was a portion of the District of Louisiana. When much of the history of our State had been written this was known as the Indian country; when Ohio was plunged into the dissensions that sometimes come with a supposed advanced state of civilization, these were but territories. It is hard to realize, and yet we all know that it is true.
Not long ago, in a convenient little book which seems to have been written for the especial benefit of Governors of States, I came across some paragraphs expressing opinions of those who cannot be called people of very remote age and relating to this very district. I cannot forbear to quote a few of these, as they seem to furnish the best means of introducing the standard by which the Trans-Mississippi States are to be judged today. That is, they show how little man knows of the future and how vain are his theories when dealing with mighty nature. Let me quote now:
"In his Universal Geography, Jedediah Morse remarked that 'It has been supposed that all settlers who go beyond the Mississippi River will be forever lost to the United States.' Lieutenant Pike reported to the War Department, that 'From these immense prairies may be derived one great advantage to the United States; namely, the restriction of our population to some certain limits, and thereby a continuation of the Union. They will be constrained to limit their extent to the West, to the borders of the Missouri and Mississippi, while they leave the prairies, incapable of cultivation, to the wandering and uncivilized aborigines of the country.' Major Long reported that this region bore 'a manifest resemblance to the deserts of Siberia.' The Edinburgh Review said: 'There lies the desert, except in a few spots on the borders of the rivers, incapable, probably forever, of fixed settlements.' The North American Review (in 1858) said: 'The people of the United States have reached their inland western frontier, and the banks of the Missouri River are the shores at the termination of a vast ocean desert over 1,000 miles in breadth, which it is proposed to travel, if at all, with caravans of camels, and which interpose a final barrier to the establishment of large communities, agricultural, commercial, or even pastoral.'"
And I can add to these remarks the suggestion which I think will be borne out by the Congressional Record, that it was the great and wise and eloquent Daniel Webster, who, in a speech opposing the institution of the wagon road across the plains, said that no good would ever come out of the region; that it was incapable of civilization, or cultivation. These I know are not the precise words, but I believe the effect has been rendered faithfully.
You all know, in a general way, what a startling transformation has ensued in the Trans-Mississippi country, for I do not limit the impractical line of old to the Missouri River. It was all the same to these deluded men, who saw nothing in the rich prairie country. At the risk of repeating facts and figures, which may be well understood by the citizens of this region, and which may, therefore, be trite observation, I wish to put before your minds some statements which will give a truer conception of the immensity of the change. I will leave unspoken all reference to your manufacturing, to your commerce, and to trade in general, and will deal only with that portion of the general subject which concerns the true foundation stone of our national prosperity -- I mean AGRICULTURE. And even in agriculture I must limit the scope, for in this country it becomes too broad for ordinary discussion. I find, according to the Reports of the United States Department of Agriculture, that in 1896 the states of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota--which we commonly call the Trans-Mississippi States, when considering them in an agricultural sense,-- had an acreage of corn, wheat and oats under cultivation which was very nearly 38 per cent of the whole acreage of the United States devoted to such purposes. Furthermore, I find that upon this acreage in the Trans-Mississippi States I have named, there was produced a combined crop, which was over 40 per cent of the whole of such production in the Union. And again, as I have figured it, I discovered that this crop represented very nearly 30 per cent of the total value of such production in the Union. The figures run into stupendous amounts and are almost beyond comprehension. The wealth of Golconda could hardly have been considered in connection with such financial results as these broad prairies produced. What feeble efforts are those of the mining regions of the world, when one considers them in comparison with the wealth of the cereals of these states. Again, the thought comes, how little do we know the possibilities of the soil, or the resources of man. To the north of us a thousand miles from here lies the territory of our neighbor, the Dominion of Canada. But a few years ago it was supposed that the vast expanse north of the divisional line was practically unfit for serious effort in the way of agriculture. And yet the work is going bravely on with great returns. It is now very nearly to the Athabasca River, and who knows how much farther north it may go in the future. Even climatic conditions may not be able to stop the march of progress and of civilization. We must not forget that the men who pronounced this region as valueless to the white man looked only through the spectacles of the period.
I cannot express the degree of praise I feel for those who have accomplished the mighty and marvelous task of making this region one of the garden spots of the world. Even if nature was kindly in her response to the zeal and every of the husbandman, there were yet tremendous difficulties to be overcome. The comfort and the luxury that now surrounds many of your citizens are only indicative of bounteous nature and hard work. There are many still who are in the throes of the beginning, but I have every confidence that the result will be the same in all cases where equal conscientious endeavor marks the effort. This Exposition speaks well for every industry of your region; it typifies, as no other monument or enterprise reared by human hands could, the virtues of your aims and purposes, and the success which has crowned your efforts. It is wonderful to see, and yet it teaches a lesson plain to all men. It is the result of the American character and, therefore, we all can share in the just pride.
My countrymen, can any of us, thinking not in a vain-glorious, but in a truly appreciative and patriotic way, form any proper conception of the strength and power, the ability and the resourcefulness, of our great nation? Students of all records of man have acknowledged that the American result--the direct product of the Anglo-Saxon race--has no parallel and we have become accustomed to the praise and wonder and perhaps the envy of the older nations as such have been expressed from time to time. Would that we ourselves could be able to reach some just estimate. Not that it might be used in self laudation, which is ever unbecoming, but that all should know how great our gratitude to God should be and how much we should value the work of our fellow-men in this blessed land. The history of America is replete with the stories which tell the triumphs of our people over obstacles. had any other illustration or incident been needed it was supplied this year when the Nation, busy as it was with its own affairs and vast interests, espoused a good cause and astonished the world by an exhibition of quick transformation from a state of peace to that of war. The result, as is usual with us, has been significant and valuable. Another side of the all-conquering American nature has been shown, and again the world is wondering and waiting for the next development. It has seemed strange to those abroad that with such momentous matters in hand, the nation should be able to continue business without serious interruption or effort and that, among other evidences of unconcern, the people could take an active part in such an affair as this, which is always supposed to be an incident of peace. We can be proud of our country, but my fellow-citizens, even we cannot understand her. As well might the average man attempt to estimate the force and power of a cataract as to reach a true realization of the colossal resources and the marvelous conditions of our republic. This creation before us is but one exhibit--one demonstration of the power that lies behind. It is a striking example and a finished product, but even its human authors, despite their hard labor, will admit that it but represents one of the fingers of the deft and mighty hands of a nation, which under the guidance of a Divine Providence seems destined to act for the good and the teaching of the world in the future as it has done in the past.
The view we have had, and will have, today, of the achievements exhibited by this great Exposition cannot but move us to the spirit of emulation. Not in a boasting spirit, nor that of rivalry, but in that of fraternity, let me say that Ohio can and must do as well at a later date. Ohio, when her century of time shall have come, must send her greeting and her bidding to this progressive people that they may journey eastward, even as we have come westward, to worship at another shrine of progress and development. Five years hence Ohio will have her Centennial, at the beautiful city of Toledo, the metropolis of our state's northwest, whose face is bathed by the waters of the River Maumee, and her feet by the restless waves of Lake Erie-- ever coming and going--. A multitude of her enterprising citizens from all walks of life are now here to second the invitation I extend you and to anticipate the assurance of the welcome to you all by some future Governor of the State. Come to us then as we have come to you today, with hearts swelling with pride and joy that such a spectacle and an occasion as this can be, with generous thoughts and words of kindness and good will, with willing eyes to see the triumphs you have achieved and with ready hands to help lead the way to still higher paths of honor for all our people.
In closing let me say that Ohio has exulted in this opportunity to do even a small part toward making this undertaking the glowing success it has proven to be. It is our hope that the bond between the States may grow stronger year by year by reason of this closer communion. Cordially and heartily we accept and treasure the assurances of amity that have been spoken. As earnestly and sincerely do we repeat the pledges for our part. I congratulate you all upon the result of your labors and wish you unbounded success and the utmost realization of your hopes in every way.
May your States, strong as they are in the elements that go so far to place commonwealths in the front in the never-ending race for renown and reward, gain still greater fame. May they is the years to come feel that there has been the same steady advance and the same virility and power which made possible the remarkable results which are chrystalized in the Exposition that lies before us today.[SR]
Exposition are educators according to Toledo, Ohio Mayor Jones. In a speech here during Ohio Day he noted, "Expositions bring a more valuable lesson in spreading the idea of democracy, than in any other way...helping us loosen the sense of class consciousness...that has divided us into sects and factions. We learn through efforts like these in Omaha that we truly are one people." [EB]