Every means by
which such things can be stimulated is legitimate, and such a method
smacks of true American ideas. It is right, too, that the National Guard
of the States should be developed and strengthened by every means which
is not inconsistent with our obligations to our own people or with the
established policy of our Government. And this, also, not because the
time or occasion specially calls for such measures, but because it
should be our constant policy to make these provisions for our national
peace and safety.
More than this carries with it a reversal of the whole history and
character of our polity. More than this, proposed at this time, permit
me to say, would mean merely that we had lost our self-possession, that
we had been thrown off our balance by a war with which we have nothing
to do, whose causes cannot touch us, whose very existence affords us
opportunities of friendship and disinterested service which should make
us ashamed of any thought of hostility or fearful preparation for
trouble. This is assuredly the opportunity for which a people and a
government like ours were raised up, the opportunity not only to speak
but actually to embody and exemplify the counsels of peace and amity and
the lasting concord which is based on justice and fair and generous
dealing.
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