r nation prosperity will spring up from an American point of view
without waiting for the aid or consent of any other country, and
without international agreement. Then will a mighty people standing for
humanity and general prosperity, shout aloud, "We lead, let others
follow." I thank you for your attention. Good night.

WHAT NEXT?

Patrick Henry, the revolutionist, on March 25th, 1775, said: "I have
but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that is the lamp of
Experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past."
Patrick, the Irishman, always said, "our hind sight is better than our
front sight." Right in the beginning let me say that inasmuch as an
open confession is good for the soul, I most emphatically and with one
gulp swallow this doctrine in toto. I take it for granted that a vast
majority will, without much persuasion, acknowledge that our historical
knowledge has been garnered by looking backward.

Experience shows that causes, equal to each other, produce equal
effects; hence to arrive at a rational conclusion as to what must we do
to be saved from Eastern Imperialism or its equal, Western greed,
supported by law, let us look at the United States in retrospect.

My space is limited. I shall bid for your gratitude by being brief.

I consult my watch, a beautiful piece of machinery, and learn that it
is three o'clock; it is July 21st, 1902. It has been raining, or rather
drizzling for about twenty hours. It is an ideal time for reflection.
Near the window where I sit is a large, vacant lot. The grass is
fragrant, its surface is smooth and elevated. I remember viewing the
same lot eight years ago, just after a similar rain to the one that is
now abating. The lot was then a large pond, eighteen inches deep. What
a change labor has made on its surface! Looking another direction, I
see a lot, now covered with water as it was eight years ago. I will
venture the assertion that it will be covered with water a thousand
years hence, unless labor improves it as it has the one just mentioned.

My library contains several volumes devoted entirely to the history of
the United States. They all say that four hundred years ago, what is
now the United States was a vast territory of uncultivated land,
crossed by the mountain ranges and rivers, that still hold forth. There
were also people here, and they had a government. We call it tribe
rule, and tribal relations. They were savages. Hence, looking b