The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-07-05
LAND LEAGUERS AT MAVERICKS
GROVE.
The Fourth Appropriately Celebra'ed-Pa'
trio,ic and Appropriate Speeches.


The members of the Irish. Land League,
their families, invited guests and public gen.
orally, assembled in that beautiful cluster Of
sturdy pecan trees, known as Mavericks
grove, to celebrate the glorious 4th. Every
arrangement had been made for the pleasure
and comfort of the crowd, there being abun-
dance of refreshments, both solid and liquid.
A neatly decorated speakers stand and dane
ing pavilion had also been erected. The
programme of the day was postponed until the
afternoon to await the arrival of Hon. H.
McLeary, who had been announced as the
orator of the day. Shortly after Mr.. Nc
Leary's arrival, the speakers stand was occu-
pied by the speakers and officers OF the land
league.
Judge Peter Shields presided, and announced
the opening of the regular programme, being
music by the band. At the conclusion of the
music Mr.. Gerald Griffin, read the de-
claration of independence. Judge Peter
Shields then delivered the opening address,
as follows:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: One hundred
and six years ago to day the immortal docu-
ment which you have just heard read was pro-
mulgated to the world as the reason for that
long and unequal struggle which resulted in
the independence of the American colonies
and the establishment, as a fixed fact, Of the
American republic.
The pure men who founded this govern
hott tha
reluctance, but they were driven to the meas
ure by the most rigorous expressions. Eng
land, self reliant, proud of her great name.
and arrogant of the prestige of her army and
her navy, forgot the rottenness and .corrup
ton that was preying upon the body polite;
she forgot that the powerful should be Just to
the weak, and she drove the colonists to des
peration, and in the struggle which ensued
that great but corrupt power was forced to
succumb before the less powerful but more
virtuous colonies, and England became an
other example Of the assumption of arrogance
in prosperity working out is own humiliation
The founders of the republic have passed
away, and an embellished name, pure men,
DRY and the preservation of those principles
shaped and tried in the fires of the revolution
was the priceless legacy b~queathed by them
to their children; and shall we forget these
memories of the past! Shall we shut our ears
to their warnings? trust not. Heaven for
bid that the highest councils of the nation
shall continue to be disgraced by the necessity
of investigating committees, developing the
most astounding frauds and jobs. say these
things earnestly, and l believe they meet a
hearty response in the heart of every true
American citizen, no matter what his party
creed. We all love our country and
L. 7 LII
that our nation is marching on the high road
Of progress to the throne of some imperial
Cesar. yet we should not treat with levity
every suggestion that there is danger ahead,
for who can read the signs Of the times with
out painful apprehension that at no distant
day the country may be plunged into revolu
ton and subverted by INSCRIPTIONS politicians
whose ambition and avarce lead them to over
ride the law for place and political distinction.
The Unsuitable ambition for power and wealth
is the ruling spirit Of the age, and the great
strife now going on through the country is the
result of this spirit, and capital and labor
struggle for the mastery; the rich man strives
to be richer-to accumulate property more
than he or his family can enioy-and the poor
man, from the necessities of the case, grows
poorer, until the spirit of labor rebels and the
vexed question Of the rights Of capital and
labor presents itself to the country for solution
There have been built up in our midst great
and powerful corporations and oppressive
monopolies, whose wealth is untold, and who
year by year grow richer, more powerful and
more oppressive, until they WELD power
greater than any despot. while the people
stand by and tremble in their impotency.
There is one and only one safeguard.
against these evils. and that is in the honesty
and virtue of the legislature, the incorrupti-
bility of the law making power; and when the
people do, if they ever will, rise up in their
power and majesty, sink parties and party
politics and place men only in office whose
characteristics are incorruptible honesty and
4 stern sense Of justice, then, and not till
then, will the great problem of capital and
labor be solved. Labor may strike and strive
but it will fail. The working man may pic
ture the wants Of his family, the dire necessity
under which they suffer, but they must suffer
on until subsidies and special laws are abol.
ished, and lawmakers get beyond the in
Auence of capital and the laws are made to
favor the poor alike with the rich.
The future is uncertain before us, but the
past is at least secure. The fc ot-prints of the
nation are deeply marked in the imperishable
rocks of time; our grand achievements are our
pride and glory, and let US hope that the fu-
ture may not dim their lustre.
Our American civilization is peculiar to it.
self and is fast extending over the whole
world 1t has knocked at the door of the
Japanese empire and penetrated into the land
of the Celestlals. but this republican spirit,
this western civilization has exerted greater
influence in Europe than elsewhere, and as the
result, Frar &c to-day knows no emp ror. and
in Snain the Strupple between liberty and