Omaha daily bee., 1885-07-06
Eternal Vigilance Not ONLY ihG Price
Of Liberty but Of National Life.
The History Of Ancient Republics
a Warning to the People,
The Malign Ii ansnce of Corporate
Power in tho Avenues OF Govern
ment-The Necessity of Con
slant Watchfulness.
NonFoLlps

celebration wa a greater success than Its
warmest friends had ever hoped for.
Trains loaded with people came from
every direction. Thousands of strangers
were In the town. Arches lined the
principal streets. The red, white and
blue stresmed from almost every house.
The music, vocal and Instrumental could
not be excelled. The strset parade was
the finest aver seen in the Elkhorn val.
ley. Beautiful young girls, each one
representing a state, were seated In a car
drawn by richly csparisoned horses and
proceeded by q baud of music psraded the
streets, followed by ieprete utRtionE.
of trades, fun and frolic. The members
of the grand army of the republic post
and firemen entered into the exhibition.
Arriving at the grove, a beautiful shaded
lawn, after prayer by the Rev. Parker,
there followed an instrumental piece by
the Norfolk band, and tho singing of
America" by o chorus of one hundred
voices. Col. Cotton, In one of the best
Introductory speeches ever offered in
this portion Of the state, presented Sen.
ator Van WICK to an audience of at
least 5000 people. For over an hour
the sepator held the vast body with
an attention never exceeded by
any orator in this state, frequently inter
rupted by cheers at the points which
pleased his hearers. The Grafton was
was a mastery discussion, given in forci.
BILE language and manner, of questions of
practical interest to his audience. Senator
Van Wyck's was In good voice and no
platform orator ever produced a better
or more profound impression In this city.
The committee was well selected from
Norfolk's best and EImost representative
citizens and are to be congratulated on
the SUCCESS of the whole entertainment.
Following is the address in full: Ladie1
and gentlemen
Liberty on this continent will be pre-
served while this great nation bows in
humble alteration and uncovers at this
sunrising of this glorious anniversary day,
generating the spirit as well ca the sym
boil which typefies all that makes lie a
Joy aud benediction.
While tho starry flag is dipped in the
brood Atlantic, amid songs of praise,
shouts of rejoicing and booming of can.
non, making o continuous roar and pro.
longed echo three thousand miles-un.
folds over stream and river, mountain
and plain, stirred by breezs ID of the broad
Pacific, shows a shining belt Of red,
white aud blue from ocean to ocean.
As citizsns of the republic we have a
right to boat. The great privileges we
enjoy will BIO longer maintained tho
more we e,teem and value them. When
we case to be proud of the brilllancy of
the gem of universal liberty It will be
only tinssl and 8 trinket In our possession
and be wrested from our nerveless hands.
1t Is meet that the old should come and
renew strength and hope by recalling all
that liberty has done for thsm, and
youth should come seeking inspiration to
cherish and defend this boon, which coat
so much yet 80 frail as to be easily lost.
To know its value we must not forget
Its cost. To know It's permsnancY, we
must not forget how easily 1t may be
wrenched from our grasp.
H HISTORY OF ALL REPUBLICS
attest both, and shows that this pearl of
great price never was taken from a poo
pie until they had ceased to appreciate
its value; until they had suffered the
concentration of great wealth in the
hsnds CT the few, withdrawing from the
many the fruits Of honest labor; and
with great wealth thus acquired tc pro-
fame the temple of justice, to purchase
the halls of legislation, and corrupt even
themselves In the source and fountain Of
power.
A free people has never becn man
acled until they themselves have placed
Ia the hands of IN ollgsrchy this material
to forge the chains and then bauely x
tendsd their arms to receive the fetters.
Taking the ages past, history generally
presents but ono page; thst of wrong, re-
preston and suffering. We gaze upon
the earth, gea and SKY, beautiful to the
eye and thought; abundant to provide for
the wants, and administer to the happi.
ness of each, even the humbleat, of the
hundreds of millions living to-day, and of
the Thousands of hundreds of millions en-
tombed.
You need not read the record of all the
years; only contemplate one day, this
very day, among the nations of the earth
and realize how little six thousand years
has accomplished for the world. Figures
have not yet been found to compute the
years that would be required a. this rate
of evolution, to give all men. who are
made only a little lower than the angels,
q full fruition Of what theyshould possess.
Again gaze upon the earth, and sea,
and sky. Imagine all nations, speaking
languages innumerable, with diverse
theories of government, and religion,
separate from them the handful of rulers
and the oligarchies who rule the rulers,
and that vast multitude without a dissent
Ing voice, would raise one piteous cry,
that all men should enjoy what the God
of creation intended; freedom of thought,
of worship and of government; freedom
from exEortion, from robbery; the right
of every man to the fruits of his labor.
Yet the cry of this vast multitude goes
unheeded; wrongs and Injustice continue;
of power and wealth tyran.
lees to-day as In the early dawn of his.
tory, and the masses are SILL laborlng for
the few.
THE MYSTERY OF II PROBLEM
Increases with passing years-how the
can continue to be enslaved2 No
the particular character of the
despot or the form of the despotiAm. The
subsection by a foreign conqueror WAS no
moro CALLING than that IL flicted by the
voice Of the people of I~SraeI, when they
demanded a king to rule over them.
History repeats itself. The world
in circle, the orbit advancing
,lowlY during each revolution. We