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The National Geographic Magazine 



not one dollar of which, directly or in- 

 directly, goes to any officer of the insti- 

 tution (applause), if I except our Ed- 

 itor, who gives his whole time to the 

 work and who edits our National Geo- 

 graphic Magazine. It is an honor for 

 us to serve the National Geographic 

 Society; that is sufficient remuneration 

 for us. 



Geographic science is almost the 

 highest — practically the mother of all 

 natural science. It considers the 

 lithosphere, the hydrosphere, and the 

 atmosphere — the earth, the water, and 

 the air. It has to do with the fauna 

 and the flora — the two forms of life 

 that are the effects of sunshine, heat, 

 and moisture. It is interested in all 

 forms of research whose objects are to 

 discover the laws that underlie natural 

 phenomena. It is concerned with re- 

 search, with exploration, with the de- 

 termination of the configuration of the 

 surface of the earth, and with the de- 

 termination of those far-away geo- 

 graphic boundaries that are so little 

 known. It gives thought to the forma- 

 tion of and change of political bounda- 

 ries ; to the climatic, the geologic, and 

 the economic environments that cause 

 human families to move and to weld 

 themselves into great national units, 

 and the causes that effect the disinte- 

 gration of those units. Geographic 

 science, therefore, as we understand it, 

 my friends, covers a broad field. We 

 can hope to cover but a small part of it, 

 and that part only imperfectly. I 

 listened but a few days ago to a sermon 

 by a great Scotch divine. He said, "111 

 fares the nation where wealth accumu- 

 lates and men decay." Now, the Na- 

 tional Geographic Society, in its hum- 

 ble way of diffusing knowledge, is aid- 

 ing to create men who do not decay. It 

 is aiding, with other institutions of its 

 class, to build human character which 

 shall inure to the welfare of the Ameri- 

 can people. It is adding a wealth that 

 means a stronger, more united nation, 



and a higher civilization ; it is adding a 

 wealth that doth not corrupt — a wealth 

 of human intellect. (Applause.) 



I said that the founder of this Society 

 was Mr Hubbard, who acted with the 

 aid of two of those who are with us to- 

 night. The heirs of Mr Hubbard, Mr 

 Alexander Graham Bell, Mr Charles J. 

 Bell (who I am glad to say is present), 

 and the other heirs of Mr Hubbard 

 have very generously given to the So- 

 ciety a beautiful building for its home, 

 without any obligations on us, financial 

 or otherwise. It is a memorial to Mr 

 Hubbard. Some poet has said, "Mil- 

 lions of the spirit surround us forever, 

 and the soul that once lived shall never 

 more die," and as we gather here to- 

 night I can imagine that the spirit of 

 our first President is looking down 

 upon this scene and with his heart filled 

 with gladness bidding us God-speed in 

 the work of the National Geographic 

 Society, and I would ask you one and 

 all to rise and silently to drink to the 

 memory of our first President, Gardiner 

 Greene Hubbard. 



Our first toast of the evening is "The 

 President and the Flag." Our civiliza- 

 tion was first planted on the eastern 

 shore of the continent, thence it trav- 

 eled over the Allegheny Mountains into 

 the great fertile valleys of the interior. 

 It soon crossed the wide plains of the 

 West, mounted the rugged battlements 

 of the Rocky Mountains, and then 

 hesitated when it reached the placid 

 waters of the western seas; but it was 

 only hesitation, for finally it leaped for- 

 ward from this island to that, and today 

 we find the free institutions of this 

 country planted at the very doors of 

 the Orient. Therefore, from Washing- 

 ton to Roosevelt, every President of the 

 United States has been interested in 

 geographic research, in the alteration of 

 the boundaries of political empires ; 

 and thus we come appropriately to the 

 toast, "The President and the Flag," 

 and who of those in our land is better 



