The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-07-05

| more men 10 put uONu the f0DCIllOU,
while the women at home raised more
wheat, than any State in the Union.
After ''Narching Through Georgia"
was sung by the audience, led by select
voices and the band, Mr. p. c. Jones
| read with evolutionary force the "Decla-
ration of Independence, and then "Star
Spangled Banner" was rolled out from
hundreds of threats, followed by Rev.
| w. 3. Oleson reading "Lincoln's Adj
dress at Gettysburg" which he remark
ed was to have been read that day by
President Cleveland upon the spot
where.it was originally uttered.
Hon. H. S. Townsend, as orator of the
day, after rally from the band, deliv
cred the following address:
Mr. Minister Resident, Ladies and
Gentlemen: We are here to-day to
celebrate one of the greatest events in
the history of the world. The Fourth of
July does not commemorate merely the
| triumph of handful of Americans over
a handful of Englishmen a hundred
years ago; else it were well to let the
| day fall into oblivion. Many triumphs
have been achieved since that time by
the side of which the American RevOlu-
ton sinks into insignifcance, considered
| from a military point of view Nor are
we here to call to mind simply the sub
| lime fortitude of our Revolutionary
Fathers, though this is worthy of our
highest encomia. Their sturdy deter
minatiOn, their lofty self-sacI itice, their
| buOyant hope in the time OF disaster,
their implicit faith in the living God and
| the triumph of e living right, and their
unwavering loyalty to one another and
to their common cause, have made them
admired of all whose hearts respond to
! heroism. But we are here to-day to
celebrate something rarer than heroic
! virtue, and rarer than the birth of a
great nation. These are themes worthy
of the highest Oratorical powers; but
wish to call your attention to the signal
| triumph of great principle, for which
| the United States stands guardian to-day
before the world. 1t is the principle for
which the heroes of 1916 fought. Its
triumph crowned their lives and deaths
| with immortal glory. 1t is this which
makes the Fourth of July day to be
| celebrated in all lands.
Ask almost any American schoolboy
about the cause of the Revolution, and
he VIII tell you that the difficulty arose
on question of taxation. Britain had
been to great expense to preserve her
American colonies and to protect them
from their French and Indian enemies.
Ought not the colonists to do something
to REIN burse the mother country for her
outlays? Parliament thought so. Ac
cOrdingly a tax was laid upon various
articles. 1t WAS the tax on tea which
precipitated the contest, and it conse
Quently demands our attention to-day.
No one could claim that the tax was OPP
pressve. 1t amO Inted to only six cents
pound Look a Valley Forge and see
soldiers leaving their tracks III blood
upon the frozen ground and snow for
want of shoes look at the perilOus re-
treat from Long Island look at that
dreadful night crossing the Delaware, We
who say that men can only be reached
and reused by touching their pockets,
and tell me if you think those grand old
heroes endured all these hardships and
dangers, and many times more, for the
sake of Il saving OF six cents pound on
tea If you think so, what must you |
think of men who submit to the |
present tariff laws of the United |
States! Yet this is the tax which was /
the occasion of a war lasting eight years. |
But it must be remembered that it was |
not merely question of taxation. 1t |
was taxation without representation !
which they declared to be tyranny and !
resisted so manfully. The only theory |
on which the demand that representa-
justified, is that the people have a right |
to govern themselves, and that all |
rulers, be the kings, cabinets, parlia-
ments or what not, exercise only dele
gated powers. This was understood by |
the leaders to be the principle for which
they fought. Claiming that the people
possess all original and natural political
rights, they demanded the power of the
public purse. With it they could direct
the course of their rulers. They exer-
cised the power of the public purse
their representatives. Hence
they demanded representation in the
body which assessed taxes upon them,
and declared that taxation without
representation is tyranny. You have
just listened to their statement of
the doctrine in the words of Jefferson.
He declared that governments are in
stituted among men for the purpose of
securing to them their natural rights,
and that such governments derive their
lust powers from the consent of those
governed. This is the key note of the
Declaration of Independence. 1t is this
doctrine which caused the document to
take such deep hold upon the hearts of
liberty-loving men of all nations. And
it is the triumph OF this principle which
we are here to celebrate.
Precedent counts for much with Eng
lishmen; and we must remember that
our Fathers were English subjects,
descended from Englishmen, with all an
Englishman's instincts. Did they de-
mand the recognition of any new prin-
ciple? BY no means. 1t was an article
OF the English Constitution almost for
ever beyond question when Henry VII.
became king, that all taxes must be
levied and disposed of by the peoples own
The Bill of Rights was
a matter of more recent date. 1t was
less than century and half since the
people of England asserted their rights
so powerfully against Charles I. Henry
VII, conqueror though he was, himself
chose to reign as the chosen of parlia-