The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1889-05-01

We shall soon be ever ytnlng WHICH 10 TUX
direct reverse. l predict the worst eonse-
ouences from a half starved. limping gov
ernment, always moving upon crutches'
and tottering at every step The response
of the country was the convention OF l1sl
The deliberaTions OF great councils have
vitality affected, at different periods, the
| history OF the world and the fate OF EN-
pires; but this congress builoeotupoh popl-
lar sovereignty, institutions broad enough
! TO embrace the continent, and elastic
| enough TO tit all conditions of race and ira
/ ditions The experience OF q hundred
! years has demonstrated Tor us the pertec-
| tion of the work, for defense against for
| eign foes, and for self preservation against
| domestic insurrection. for limltless expan-
| sion in population and material develop
ment, and for steady growth in intellectual
| freedom and force
| There were no examples 10 follow, and
| the experience of its leaders led part OF
them to lean toward absolute centraliza-
tion as the only refuge from the an
| archy of the confederation, while the
rest elung to the sovereignty of the states,
| for fear that the concentration of power
would end in the absorption of liberty.
/ The large states did not want TO surrender
i the advantages of their position, and the
/ smaller states saw the danger to their ex-
| istence. The past furnished no light for
| our state builders. the present was full Of
| doubt and despair.
At this crisis the courage aud confidence
needed 10 originate system weakened.
The temporizlng spirit OF compromise
seized the convention with the alluring
proposition of not proceeding faster than
the people could be educated to follow.
The cry: LET us not waste our labor upon
conclusions which will not be adopted, but
amend and adjourn" was assuming stsrt-
ling unanimity. But the supreme force
and majestic sense OF Washington brought
the assemblage to the lofty plane of its
duty and opportunity. He said: 'lt is too
probable that no plan We propose Will be
.rkla h.4r a n
hict is to be sustained If TO please the
people we offer what we ourselves disap-
prove. how can we afterwards defend our
work? Let us raise standard 70 which
the wise and honest can repair; the event
is in the hands OF God"
Freed from the limitations of the en-
vironment, and the question OF the adOp
ton of its work. the convention erected its
government upon the eternal foundations
of the power of the people. IL dismissed
the delusive theory of a compact between
independent states, and derived national
power from the people OF the United
States. II broke up the machinery of the
confederation and put in practical opera
ton the glittering generalities of the
declaration of independence. From chaos
came order, from insecurity came safety,
from disintegration and civil war came law
and liberty. The government of the states,
under the articles of confederation, be-
came bankrupt because IL could not raise
four millions of dollars; the government of
the union, under the constitution of the
United States, raised six thousand millions
of dollars. It's credit growing hrmer as its
power and resources were demonstrated.
The congress of the confederation fed from
q regiment, which it could not pay; the
congress of the union reviewed the com
rades of million OF its victorious soldiers,
salutiDg as they marched the nag of the
nation, whose supremacy they had sus-
tanned. The promises of the cOnfederacy
were the scoff of its states; the pledge of
the republic was the honor of Its people.
The pride of the states and the ambition
of their leaders, sectional JealOustes, and
the overwhelming disttust Of centralized
power, were all aTrayed against the adOp
ton of the constitution. North Carolina
and Rhode Island refused TO join the union
until long after Washington's Inauguration.
For months New York was debatable
ground. Her territory extending from the
sea to the lakes made her the keystone of
the arch. Had Arnold's treason in the
revolution not been foiled by the capture
of Andre, England would have held New
York and subjugated the colonies, and in
this crisis, unless New York aSsented. a /
hostile and powerful commonwealth di- |
vidinR the states, made the union impOssi- |
BILE.
Success was due to confidence in Wash |
ington and the genius of Alexander Ham
iltOn. jefferson was the inspiration of in
dependence, but Hamilton was the incar-
nation of the constitution. He captured
the people OF the whole country Tor the
constitution by his papers in the Federal
the New York convention by the splendOr
OF his OratOry.
But the multitudes whom no argument
could convince, who saw in the executive
power and centralized force Of the consti- |
tuition, under another name, the dreaded |
usurpation of king and ministry, were sat |
isfed only with the assurance, washing
ton will be president" Good, cried John |
Lamb, the able leader of the Sons of Lib |
eTty, as he dropped his opposition; 'fOT TO /
no other mortal would l trust authority so /
enormous" ''WashingtOn will be presi- /
dent" was the battle-cry of the constitu- |
ton. 1t quieted alarm and gave confidence |
TO the timid and courage TO the weak. The /
country responded with enthusiastic u0a1- /
unity, but the chief with the greatest reluc
tance. In the supreme moment OF victory /
when the world expected him TO follow /
the precedents of the past, and perpetuate /
the power a grateful country would will i
lingly have lett in his hands. he had re-
signed ana retired % Mount Vernon to en-
Joy in private station his well-earned rest.
No man ever stood for so much to his
country and TO mankind as George Wash
ingtOn. Hamilton, Jefferson and Adams,
Madison and Jay, each represented some
of the elements which formed the union.
Washington embodied them all. They fell
at times under popular disDr0val, were
burned in efligy, were stoned, but he with
unerring judgment was always the leader
of the people He inspired the movement
for the republic, was the president and
dominant spirit OF the convention which
framed its constitution and its president for
eight years, and guided its course until sat
isfied that moving safely alOag the broad
highway of time, it would be surely as
cending toward the first place among the
nations OF the world, the asylum of the op-
pressed. the home OF the free.
We stand to-day upon the dividing line
between the first and second century OF
constitutional government There are no
clouds overhead and no cOnvulsions under
our feet We reverntly return thanks 70
A Y .nd for he AZ W 4 rnnh ]
dent and hopeful promise march upon sure
ground towards the future The simple
facts OF these hundred years parllyze the
imagination, and we contemplate the vast
accumulatIons of the century with awe and
pride. Our population has grown from
four 70 sixty-hve millions. Its center
moving westward five hundred miles since
11S9, is eloquent with the founding of
cities and the birth of states. New settle
ments. clearing the forests and subduing
the prairies. and adding four millions 70
the few thousands of farms which were
the support OF WAshtngtOn's republic, ere
ate one of the great granaries OF the world /
and open exhaustless reservoirs OF national
wealth.
The infant industries, which the first act 4
Of our hrst administration sought TO en- /
courage, now give remuneratiye employ /
ment to more people than inhabited the 1
republic at the beginning Of Washington's |
presidency. The grand total of their an /
nual output Of seven thousand millions Of /
dollars III value places the United States /
first among the manufacturing countries /
OF the earth. One half the total mileage Of /
all the railroads, and one-Qnarter of all the /
telegraph lines OF the world within our /
borders. testify 10 the volume, variety and |
value OF an internal commerce which |
makes these states, IL need be, independent |
and f-suDportiDg. These hundred years |
Of development under favoring political
conditions have brought the sum of our
national wealth TO a figure which has
passed the results Of thousand years for
the mother land, herself, otherwise, the
rich est OF modern empires
During this generation civil war OF un-
equalled magnitude caused the expenditure
and loss of eight thousand millions of dol |
lars, and killed six hundred thousand and |
permanently disable q over a million young
men, and yet the impetuOus progress Of |
the north and the marvellous develOpment
Of the new ana free sOufh have Obliterated
the evidences OF destruction. aud made The /
war a memory, and have stimulated pro-
ductiOn until our annual surplus nearly |
equals that of England, France and Ger