Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-07-05

/
son, of the Women's Relief Corps. Mrs.
Beeson's singing was greeted with loud
applause.
Miss Jennie Stedman recited 'Inde-
pendence Bell" in a very acceptable
manner, and Pref. Henry Ludlam gave
Drake's American Flag" which was
well received by the audience.
The Grafton of the day then followed
| Gen. Rollins epoke in a clear, strong
voice, which was heard at the remotest
corner of the building. He WAS fire.
queDtly interrupted with applause. His
speech was as follows:
THE GRAFTON.
Mr.. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
Eighty eight years and four months ago this very
day the immortal author of the Declaration of
| Independence, which has just been read rode
| quietly on horseback up to the capitol of the
nation. Dismou uting and taste ming his horse he
went in and took the oath of Office as President
| of the United States. small country then, of a
| little over five millions Of people. Four months
ago this very day, Ben pjamin Harrison, in a car
riage drawn by four magnificent horses, rode
| to the capitol, escorted by military and civic
procession, beftting and proper upon SO great
an occasion. and was sworn in as President of
| more than sixty millions OF peoples
The departure from the primitive simplicity
of the approach of the Sage of Monticello to the
| capitol by the prest mt Chief Magistrate of the
Republic IL no more marked than is the mighty
growth Of the nation in the intervening years
| of these events Each act is symbolical of the
time of its occurrence and of the different con-
dtious of our beloved country. Had Harrison
| performed The equestrian act of Jefferson ii
would have been heralded 10 the world as a
| piece of stfeetation unworthy of the head of a
| great and mighty people. The author OF the
| ever memorable Declaration, The third Presi-
dent of the United States, might as well have
attempted to have been conveyed to the capitol
| in one of the tabled chariots of Jove
as by the equipage and attending retinue of
!, txuan 81 pr1 sir dapt Of hn arl1h
What was becoming in the ruler OF e people
Just past the threshold of national ex stence
might not be BETTING to him who is called to
govern nation celebrating its one hundred
and thirteenth birthday. The log cabin is the
contented home OF the pioneer, but the princely
merchant of an old country p efers the brown
stone front with all the modern app pIiances and
fixtures for ease and comfort.
The question might be considered whether
more OF the economy and simplicity of the
early statesmen of the country would not be
becoming in the public men of today. and
whether more of the frugality which distin
guished the first generation of people after the
organization of the government would not be
befitrlng the present citizens of this democratic
Republic: This, however, is day of com.
memoration. 1t is an occasion of Joy and of
anniversary rather than Of search and inquiry
We would rather, on this day of all days, praise
the good we have than dwell upon the evils
which may be. When the signers of the i'm
mortal Declaration, which at the time was read
across an ocean and around the world, affixed
their signatures, and some of them, to say the
least, tsrdily, to the greatest document of an
cient or of modern times, little did they realize
iitical lii 'f faith for ''s three score millions
of people. as this country now has,
and for nation bounded on two sides by
mighty oceans and on the other boundary lines
by the frozc waters of British colony and the
warm currents of the Gulf Stream.
The Declaration. grand as it was, was for the
feeble colt nies, and little did the promulgatOrs
of it think that across broad prairies and mighty
mountain chains its sonorous and fiery words
- rhnro
tant shore of the Pacific, and that here in this
thought-to-be impenetrable county, and then
a part of another nation, the loyal men and
women of great State of the Union would
meet to celebrate the day of the issuance of the
bold and determined manifesto which they, the
fathers and founders of the Republic, declared
10 all mankind.
"Freedom and the right are ever strong"
"Our fathers builded better than they knew
Freedom, born upon rugged SOIL child of
necessity, nurtured amid scenes of con flcts and
of struggle, hardened by the cruel hard OF op-
preston, driven to self-defence bv imperious
tyranny, maddened by fendish imposition,
compelled by selfresIect to self assertion, with
strong blood curdling, at fever heat. with up
lifted hands and brave heart, declared in
| thunder tones. that An men are created
equal" and 'Of right ought to be" free and in
| dependent. Right is stronger than might. 1t
| may be crush ed for an hour or day, but at
last, freed from its oppressive shs ekles, unawed
by fear, unyeXed byevil, undsunted by mensces
| OF men or money, its voice will be heard
| in awakening rotes of alarm or declaration
and there are always, in every generation and
| in every age, good men 10 heed the warning
| and obey the behest.
What mighty changes have been wrought
| by time When the Stars and Stripes were
first unfuIled upon the battle field of Saratoga,
| upon the occasion of the surrender of Bur
| goyne, had any one predicted that the hour
would come when the commander of the mill
| tary forces of the Republic could order the
movements of a detachment of the army upon
| a frontier three thousand miles eway, in less
| time than it takes to make this state ment he
would have been considered a fool. Had any
one then said that the day would come when
| in rolling chariot, palace car, you could
| go across the continent from one ocean to the
| other he would probably have been declared
a witch and hung. Within the memory Of
| men now living, the first railroad was built
and today the tinkling bell of the locomotive
| is heard along one hundred and fftv thousand
miles of railroad, and the silent line of electric
communication connects almost every town
| and village. OF the country and brings us into
ersin merebaS "n of talks With the
grain dealer of San Francisco, and buys a
million bushels of wheat in less time than our
made in W development of every ma
vast forests has been builded into ships,
which traverse every sea, and land in every
port. Her great mines of iron, lead and cop
per furnish the metals which have been
and articles of use from the sheet anchor of
| man.of war to the finest needle used by delicate
hands, from plough-share to to the second
hand of a chroDometer. from the telegraph
wire or cable, which enGircles the earth, TO the
| smallest copper rivet used by the ingenious
hand of mechanism. Her tremendous deposits
OF coal have been developed to an enormous
extent and have placed many millions of dol
aIs III the pockets and Golfers of her citizens
Her yearly agricultural products will feed the
starving millions OF the world and leave enough
| for home consumption, to be had at less price
than anywhere else upon the globe. Fiom the
fisheries OF Maine TO the Coral reefs of Florida
| the music of buZzing machinery cheers the
| hours OF the day and breaks the silence OF the
night and the endless number and variety of
fabrics aud fmple ments attest the inventive
genius OF the Repub, ic, and establish her rank
as the first nan ufacturIng nation of the earth
From the Atlantic to the Pacific, on the north
ern route, you can gil along upon an iron
road, by the side OF busy towns and cities and
through waving fields OF hundreds of thousands
of acres of golden grain.
nanzaed in the mountains of the West excel
in extent and value the widest statements of
story or tales of romance. By the many SUBJ
stantial and ha dsome bridges which span her
States to the great Father of Waters by the
long rows of magnificent buildings which adorn
the streets and avenues OF her great cities; by
the palatial residences of her bankers and her
merchants; by her schools of fine arts, of scup-
ture and OF painting; by her gorgeous galleries
of pictures; by her finely decorated private
walls by her sumptuously bound and printed
volumes of learned and interestiog books; by
all that decorates and beauties her public
places and makes cheerful and attractive the
homes of her people, she has established her
place as a nation of art. In arms untaught un-
educated, she sent to the field of contest upon
both sides in the late war, upon land and water
more than two and half millions OF her sons,
and while the country trembed beneath the
martial tread of great armies, the busy spipdles
of her factories still whirled; her fields OF ripen