Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 10.djvu/97

 CURTIS

stood both the conditions and the perils of freedom, and watches carefully the changing conditions under which republican liberty is to be maintained. She will still welcome to her ample bosom all who choose to be called her children. But if she is to remain the mother of liberty, it will not be tbe result of those craven counsels whose type is the ostrich burying his head in the sand, but of that wise and heroic statesmanship whose symbol is her own heaven- soaring eagle, gazing undazzled even at the spots upon the sun.

Again, within the century steam has enor- mousl}^ expanded the national domain, and every added mile is an added strain to our system. The marvelous ease of communication both by rail and telegraph tends to obliterate conser- vative local lines and to make a fatal centrali- zation more possible. The telegraph, which instantly echoes the central command at the remotest point, becomes both a facility and a temptation to exercise command, while below upon the rail the armed blow swiftly follows the word that flies along the wire. Steam concen- trates population in cities. But when the government was formed the people were strictly rural, and there were but six cities with eight thousand inhabitants or more. In 1790 only one- thirtieth of the population lived in cities, in 1870 more than one-fifth. Steam destroys the natural difficulties of communication; but those very difficulties are barriers against invasion, 71

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