The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1869-07-31
The Fourth Of July.

4
thas been remarked by stu
| dents of national character that a
! marked peculiarity Of the native
j American population is q certain
| grim humor--a species 0funeeuth
| appreciation OF what has been
called @the universal fitness OF
/ things.3 1t appears to us that
this feature nowhere else makes
j itself so plainly yisable as in the
celebration OF the anniversary OF
what we are pleased to call our
Independence" Well aware, as
i we all cannot help being, that our
i freedom is a fraud and onr liberty
| an unreal phantom, we do honor
! with the most fitting vul garity,
the most appropriate indecency,
and express our keen appreciation
Iof the real character OF our insti-
! tutions by making our national
i holiday an occasion of UBbounded
mob.license, riot, Drunkenness,
lnoise, waste, and clamer.5 We
/ gather in Sweltering crowds to
! listen to the tulsome Ifiattery of
| demagogues, whose eloquence
| does but stereotype in language
the glare; stencil, and racket of
/ our fire crackers and Roman can
Edles. As is our freedOnl, SO is our
chosen method of rejoicing over
lt-both are admitted and unmitis
gated nuisances, offensive alike to
common sense, good taste, and
decent morality. 3Eo a si.
4 Ii we turn our unaccustomed
Ieyes back to the pages ofour own
| history, we find that, when the
colonies began their war with the
dGoyernment of George the Third,
they had not the most distant idea
of achieving anything more than
q redress OF grievances, and we
today who stasger under evils
infinitely more CALLING, with pre-
| termule power Of stupid patience,
wonder yacantlg that they should
| ever have deemed such trifiRg
matters worthy SO much blood
and suffering. We must turn
away with ahumiliating conscious
ness that the men of '76 are in
tdeed all dead, and have Left chill
dEen, it may be, but no heirs, v
4 We celebrate, i'll terms, our
I independence with q childish
i glimmer of'anlidea that the world
| implies "emancipation,' careless
of the. uRquestionable fact that
our separation from the ''mother
/ country was a thing OF inevitable
necessity, needing no war, and
callingfn0W for no special amount
otrejoieing. We may better say
3 that we celebrate the glorious
pluck of our aneestors--poW bari,
ed with their blessed homes where.
, with they refused to submit to
such an.outraSe on human freedom
as Taxation without Representa-
ton"
4 Its d good thing, to build the
/ tombs OF the prophets and to sing
! the praises Of the dead giants o.
Of freedom, but it is hardly a com
} fort to fire this yearly burid salute
4 over the grave of our departed
national manhood. | ''
To-day we bow our necks to IN
liEnited taxes, in the imposition. o
which we have no more voice thar
!, has the shadow of Bunker Hi
Monument, and we hug the very
II ehaines which, the first t.Fourth b
Jnly" was spent in trying to sun
Il der. Our ancestors did their bes
TO found a Republic, and we, find
: ing ourselves unequaled to tht
; task of acting as their executors
, have placed our Inheritance il
the hands of q perpetual commits
} J sion in the shape of 'caucus,n ant
retain as our special share onE
/; the right to burn unlimited pow
( der and drink uIfmeasured run
once q year. We are right, be
yond a doubt, in our estimate o
; our own capacity as nation, bu
: we must not shut our ears to tn
2 derisiye laughter of an onlookin,
: world. IihperialiSt. .a
Gilbert Carlton Walker, th
, newly elected Governor ofNirgifii
Y was born in Binghamton, Nel
!, York, a little over So years age
i graduated from Hamilton Oolleg
in 1854, with honoy practiced la
7 awhile at Oswego; attended Demt
! cratic conventions very Otter
went out to Chicago, where h
f made money in his profession
h and in 1865 went to Norfolk, vi
ginia. He ran for Congress, bt
n