The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-05-31
MEMORIAL ADDRESS,
Delivered by Hon. w. r. Hackney In the
Garfield Opera House in Wichita on
Decoration Day.

This magnificent audience, the occasion
for its gathering, and the memories whic
| flood the soul of him who was partici
pant in the great conflict which these an
nual demonstrations commemorate, ar
bHt little understood by those who had n
part or parcel therein. To your kindl
feelings 10 the people of Cowley county
with whom | soJourn-your neighbors an
friends-rather than any merit OF my OVID
| am indebted for the great honor which
this hour and your presence confer.
would be false to myself indeed did | fai
10 confess here and now the happiness
which feel at the opportunity thus Offered
of addressing the people on this occasion
on subject OF so much interest to all
From every pulpit, Office, workshop
manufactory and farm in this broad lane
its patriotic and loyal children gather il
great crowds like this, today, to testify
| their appreciation Of the courage anc
| fortltude of the men, who, in the dark
days of their country's greatest travail,
abandoning their homes and loved ones
went forth to do or die in order that the
unity and perpetulty of this government
might he maintained.
In the midst OF peace plenty, prosperity
and full measure of happiness we assem-
bic now TO pay tribute to their vaior, to
draw inspiration from their sacrifices, to
learn wisdom from their teachings, to
flower the graves of their dead and to pay
in they covered the name of the American
soldier with glory and filled the literature
! of this world with wonderful remini-
SCIENCES of their brayery-without which
this magnificent city of the plains would
not have been, while the people of
| Wichita, with the splendor OF their ambi-
! ton, the magnitude of their undertakings,
the courage of their convictions and the
! grandeur of their achievements, would
! never have been heard of.
Our forefathers, smarting under the
wrongs perpetrated by brutal monarchy
stung to madness by the cruel expressions
of lcentious and wicked parliament, and
suffering from the tyranny of English
! askmasters sent here to rule over them,
| revolted against their then condition and
| sought to establish for themselves a gov
! ernmenJ of their own, in which they start
| led the nations of the world by declara-
! tion of!principles which declared that I'VE
! hold these truths TO be Self-evident, that
all men are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain in
alienable rights; that among these are life,
/ liberty and the pursuit OF happiness; that
to secure these rights, governments are in
stituted among men, deriving their Just
powers from the consent or the governed
| This WAS the language OF men about to
lay the foundations of a great nation, the
corner stone of which was to be the protec-
tion OF all men, black or white, red or vel
low. rich or poor, learned or unlearned
''All men are created equal" says the
text, hot few. not any particular color
nor requirements, only men. But they
did not stop here, they went farther and
said that they were endowed by their
Creator" with the right to life. liberty
and the pursuit of happiness" and yet
they did not stop even here, but they went
still farther and said, so as to clinch the
affirmative of the proposition, Ito secure
these rights, governments are in
stituted among men, deriving their
just powers from the con-
sent of the governed" That is
to say, all men are equal, that they are
made So by their Creator, and in order to
maintain the same, governments were
necessary and their powers were derived
alone from the consent of the governed.
Nowhere is either color or condition except
ed from the graphic language of this God
like declaration
The better to understand the full signifi-
canoe of this immortal pronunciamento,
brief reference to the then conditions of
men may not be out of place here.
For centuries the people of the world
had been shackled both in mind and body
by clerical and monarchical assumptions.to
such an eXteut that the liberty of the citi-
zen was an idle tale whispered by the more
enlightened IN secret around their hearth
stones. There were but two classes of men,
the privileged class composed of the clergy,
the titled or wealthy on the one hand,
amounting to few at best, on the other the
untitled, poor and laboring Millions In
telligence was the exception, ignorance the
rule, and for centuries an infamous clergy,
banded with titled licentious aristocracy
had in IdlenesS and debauchery ruled, rob-
bed and enslaved the millions. But with
the dawn of Voltaire and Napoleon upon
the history of the world and the over
throw of the French monarchy which fol-
lowed, new light entered the minds of
men. Voltaire shook the foundations of
clerical bigotry and priestly assumptions
as never before since Christ. with thongs
drove from the temple the unclean follow |
ers of the Jewish Sanhedrim; while Ma |
poleon as representative Of the people, |
marched his victorious legions into every |
capital of Europe, giving to the tottering |
thrones OF that hemisphere such !
a shock as the world has
never had before or since. Born a
poor boy, by the power of his genius he !
astonished the world and struck the shack
les Of slavery from the minds of mi lions |
OF men, kindling anew the fires of liberty |
IN the hearts of the oppressed everywhere. |
In the blazing campflreS of his victorious /
armies our forefathers read a vindication |
of their declaration. English gold and !
English literature have sought to detract |
from his fame because he, at the behest of |
the French people, was called to the throne /
OF that mighty nation, nation of people |
untitled for self government at that time
With the flight of time, however. will /
come enlightenment when these influences
will be destroyed and then a new historian
VIII truthfullY write OF him and his times
as did Napier, That up to the peace of
Tilsit the wars of Napoleon and1 France
were essentially defensive. For the bloody
contest that wasted the continent for so
am not ne.,.,
eminence between ambitious powers: not
I dispute over some accession of territory,
nor for the political aScendency of one or |
the other nation, but a deadly conflict to
determine whether aristocracy or democ-
racy should predominant; whether equality
or privilege should henceforth be the prin-
ciple OF European governments"
When the declaration of our fathers was
English aristocracy was in
no moot to brook the insult thus offered |
Bloody war followed the declaration; En-
gilsh;sails swarmed upon every sea: her
soldlery murdered and robbed every
where. But the men who made
occasion and had the courage of
their convictions. They builded nAvys
and organized armies, which after long
weary years of destructive war, resulted in
a victory for them. Naughty King George
aHd his arlStOcracy were humbled Indeed
aux tbat -CtN4hi3NAOA Ga TIE ldkASES became /
the corner stone upon which has been
erected what Is today the greatest and
grandeSt government on earth. In the
face OF this noble declaration so broad aid
comprehensive, 80 far reaching and in
SO certain if honestly carried
out 10 bring liberty. peace, plenty ana
happiness 10 ali, they. IN the interest of
harmony, are inclined TO Uemp0rize with
wrong. The conditions then vera such
that they could not do otherwise The
bllsterIuZ, bligktinC curse ct human