New York at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis 1904: Report of the New York State CommissionEllis, DeLancey M.
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New York at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis 1904: Report of the New York State Commission
Ellis, DeLancey M.
Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 : Saint Louis, Mo.) -- New York (State)
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
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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