Arizona weekly citizen., 1889-05-04

the coming century, and kept bright the beacon fires of liberty The architects of constitutional freedom formed their institutions with wisdom which forecast ed the future They may not have un- derstood at first the whole truth, but for that which they knew, they had the martyrs spirit and crusaders enthusiasm Though the Confederation was a gov ernment of checks without balances, and ofpurpose without power, the states men who guided it demonstrated often the resistless force of great souls ami mated by the purest patriotism, and united in judgment and effort to pro- mote the common good, by lofty appeals and high reasoning, to elevate the mass es above local greed and apparent self interest to their own broad plane.
 The most significant triumph of these moral and intellectual forces was that which secured the assent of the States to the limitation of their boundaries, to the grant of the wilderness beyond them to the general government, and to the insertion in the ordinance erecting the Northwest Territories of the immortal proviso prohibiting slavery or involun- tary servitude" within all that broad do main. The states carved out of this splendid concession were not sovereign ties which had successfully rebelled, but they were the children of the Union. born of the covenant and thrilled with its life and liberty. They became the bulwarks of Nationality and the but tresses of freedom. Their preponderat- ing strength first checked and then broke the slave power, their fervid loy alty halted and held at bay the spirit of State rights and secession for genera l tions and when the crisis came, it was with their overwhelming assistance that the Nation killed and buried its enemy. The cornerstone of the edifice whose Centenary we are celebrating was the ordinance of 17S7. It was constructed | by the feeblest of Congresses, but few enactments of ancient or modern times have had more far-reaching and benifi- cent influence. It Is one of the sublim- est paradoXes of history, that this weak Confederation of States should have welded the chain, against which, after seventy four years of fretful efforts for release, its own spirit frantically dashed | and died.
 The government of the Republic by a l Congress of States, a diplomatic conven- tion of the ambassadors of petty Com monwealths, after seven years trial, was falling asunder Threatened with civil war among its members, insurrec- | tion and lawlessness rife within the States, foreign commerce ruined and in ternal trade paralyzed, its currency worthless, its merchants bankrupt, its | farms mortgaged, it's markets closed, its labor unemployed, it was like a helpless wreck upon the ocean, tossed about by | the tides and ready to be engulfed in the | storm. It was voice accustomed to command, but now entreating. The veterans of the war and the statesmen of the revolution stepped to the front. The patriotism which had been misled, but had never faltered, rose above the interests of states and the jealousies of jarring confederates to find the basis for union. Ut is clear to me as A, B, O. said Washington, ''that an extension of federal powers would make us one of the most happy, wealthy, respectable and powerful nations that ever inhabited the terrestrial globe. Without them we shall soon be everything that is the direct re- verse. I predict the worst consequent ces from a half-starved, limping govern ment, always moving upon crutches, and tottering at every step" The response of the country was the convention of 17S7, at Philadelphia. The Declaration of Independence was but the vestibule of the Temple which this illustrious as sembly erected. With no successful precedents to guide, it auspiciously worked out the problem of Constitution al Government, and of imperial power and home rule, supplementing each oth- CT in promoting the grandeur of the na tion and preserving the liberty of the individual.
 The deliberations of great councils have vitally affected, at different pc riods, the history of the world and the fate of Empires; but this Congress builded, upon popular sovereignty, insti tutions broad enough to embrace the continent, and elastic enough to fit al conditions of race and traditions The experience of hundred years has dem onstrated for us the perfection of the work, for defence against foreign foes and for self preservation against do mestic insurrection, for limitless expan sion in population and material devel opment, and for steady growth in intel lectual freedom and force. Its continu ing influence on the welfare and destiny of the human race can only be meas ured by the capacity of man to cultivate and enjoy the boundless opportunitie! of liberty and law. The eloquent char aGterization of MT. Gladstone condensei its merits: ''The American Constitution is the most wonderful work ever strucl off at a given time by the brain and pur pose of man."
 The statesmen who composed thi
 great senate were equal to their trust Their conclusions were the results o
 calm debate and wise concession. Their character and abilities were so pure anC great as to command the confidence O the country for the reversal of the polio! of the independence of the State of tn, power of the general government, whicl had hitherto been the invariable prac tice and almost universal opinion, anC . for the adoption of the idea of the ma tion and its supremacy.
 . Towering in majesty and infiuenc, above them all stood Washington. thei , President Beside him was the venera
 ble Franklin, who, though eighty-on, years of age, brought to the deliberation
 of the convention the unimpaired vigo and resources of the wisest brain, tn, most hopeful philosophy, and the larg est experience of the times, Oliver Els worth, afterwards Chief Justice of tn, United States, and the profoundest jur ist in the country; Robert Morris, tn, wonderful financier of the Revolution and Governor Morris, the most versatil, genius of his period; Roger Sherman one of the most eminent of the signer of the Declaration of Independence and John Rutledge, Rufus King, Fl bridge Gerry, Edmund Randolph anC the Pinckneys. were leaders of un equalled patriotism, courage, ability anC learning; while Alexander Hamilton anC James Madison, as original thinkers anf constructive statesmen, rank among tht immortal few whose opinions have fo ages guided Ministers of State, and de termined the destinies of nations.
 This great convention keenly felt, ant with devout and serene intelligence met its tremendous responsibilities. It haC I Al .@ -,f (