Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-07-27
Address of General Garfield at Mem
tor, on the Fourth.

| tor, on the Fourth.
We have listened to the reading
of the Declaration of independence.
To me one of the mysteries of our
history is where our forefathers got
one of the sentences it contsins.
Had they swept the nations of all
the earth, they could not have found
a better one, and yet all other ma
tIons would have pronounced it false.
The fathers uttered it because no
other words would have expressed
their earnestness. The sentence is
this: owe hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created
equal"
At that time not a nation on the
globe believed word of it. Sup
pose they had asked France the ques-
ton; suppose they had asked Ger
many; suppose, in fact, they had
asked any Government. They would
have replied, 81 am king by right of
blood, and by right of earth, and by
the gift of God. From me it de-
scends; from you nothing comes but
your duty to obey me-" The whole
circle of the world would have re-
piled, "That's true" Our fathers
sUood up independently, however,
and in the city of Philadelphia they
declared, "We scorn all power that
does not allow the governed to make
their own government. They did
not make this discovery from any
book of political philosophy. 1t was
born out of the new and wild conti
nent, Just as a rose comes from its
thorny bush, or as one of these trees
springs from the earth. The fathers
thus founded government upon a
new idea. In their famous Declara-
tion they used the word "peOple," p"
and in the Constitution we find the
same word six times. In the begin
ming they formed two kinds of gov
ernment-the National and the
State. The fathers not only formed
these governments, but provided
means for their protection. They
said that no bill of attainder should
be allowed, there should be no trial
for crime without jury, no tax for
goods exported from the country,
and so on. By the local State Gov
ernments they provided individual
protection of property. When done
with that they stood back and built
barriers around the States. They
declared there should be but one
fag-the flag of the Union. But
this is not all of our system of gov
ernment. The third plan which L
have suggested does not lie in the
National Government, but in the
State, and it is the subject upon
which my remarks of to-day are
based. In the Convention it was
disputable question, and was ratified
by the Legislatures by small majori-
ties, so jealous were they of giving
power out of their own hands. We
find in the Constitution these two
articles:
'"The enumeration in the Consti-
tuition of certain rights shall not be
construed to deny or disparage 9th
ers retained by the people"
''The powers not delegated to the
United states by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States.
are reserved to the States respective
lv. or to the people"
When the Government was franz
ed part of it was deposited to a
General Government, a part to the
States, and the remainder to the peO-
pie. This latter, in my judgment, is
the grandest principle of the Amerl-
can Government. 1t is this which l
wish to impress upon you this after
noon. To this third kind of govern
ment was first entrusted religion,
that power which links human be-
ings with the Divine. They put re-
IiSion SO that no power, National or
State, could touch it. They said
there should be no law for its estab-
lishment; that it should be a volun-
tary matter with the people. Now,
wasn't that new? One hundred years
ago, every government of the world
made religion the foundation of their
government. 1t was early declared
in our nation that all men should
worship according to the dictates OF
their conscience. Has this principle
remained? In 1870, there were IN
the United States 10000 buildings
for religious worship, and their total
valne was estimated at 5O,OOO,OOO.
II costs from s7,OOO,OOO to sIO,OOO,-
600 TO sustain these churches; yet
all these expenses are borne, not by
taxes, but by voluntary donations of
the people. Religion only asks of
the Government, 'hands off" The
Government may be a police force
to protect the churches, but it must
not interfere with them.
Irefer, secondly, to the press. The !
fathers declared there should be alb !
solute liberty of the press. Other
Governments owned the papers, but |
ours said, "Let the press be free" Is
there any other Government with
such a nreSs as ourSP In lQgO tbara