People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1893-07-07
TEFFERSON'S CREED.
ADDRESS
THOS. e. WATSON,
Delivered at D0ugIasVille, Georgia,
July 4th, 1898.


dulge in some reflection some re-
view of the past, some examination
of the present, some thought of the
future.
No man doubts that we have
reached period when great changes
are fastening upon US. Vital issues
which have remained IN the back
ground,-issues which have stood
for generation like>an armed force,
resting in line of battle, awaiting
the words " Forward March," are
now moving, steadily moving, ire
sistibly moVing,-to join battle with
their opposing Principles!
Every citizen owes it to himself to
study the methods by which he is
governed. Upon the laws of the
land depend his property, his liberty,
his life. If oppressed by vicious leg
islation, there is no escape whatso-
ever which he can devise by person
al industry, or frugality, or recti-
tude. He becomes the helpless sub
iect of national tendencies which no
Individual is strong enough to resist.
Let us come together In the spirit
of those who seek to reason, to in
vestigate and to know the truth.
Citizens of a common country, we
surely want good laws, good gov
eminent. 1t surely must be the pur
pose of all of us, no matter to what
political faith we adhere, to see hon
esty, equity, and wisdom prevail; to
the end that the people may be
prosperous and happy.
Let US then upon this memorable
day sink the bigot into the student:
merge the partisan into the reasoner:
Danish the politician, ana give place
to the patriot.
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE A PROTEST
AGAINST EUROPEAN MFrE0Ds.
Who framed this Government /;
and upon what principles was it
founded?
You may waste ever so many
hours porting over Stamp Acts; you
NAV nod drearily through Webster's
assertions that the Revolution was
fought upon a Preamble you may
believe, because you have heard it so
ofte1, that the American Colonies
cut loose from England because the
mother country insisted upon "taxa-
ton without representation"
All of which Is true, but doesn't
begin to touch the real point in the
case.
The pith and marrow and vital
spirit of the whole business went
vastly further.
Our ancestors came here protest
ing against the order of things in the
old world. They were kickers pio-
neers of new creed, seeking new
country in which to plant it. They
put the ocean between themselves
and the things they hated.
What were those things2
1st. A religious tyranny which
compelled them to support faith
and a priesthood which they alb
horred.
2nd. A political tyranny which de-
MED them the essential rights of
manhood.
Combating the savages and the
wilderness, these ut-hearted An
glo-Saxons gradually grew strong.
And in exact proportion to their
growth in strength, they showed
their dislike of the European forms
of Government.
Nearly every township in the Col
onies was small Republe,-teach-
ing Democracy, practicing Democ-
racy, and drifting steadily to the
time when the ideas of that Demoo-
racy must meet in death grapple
with the ideas of the English Mon
archy.
In IVA, those small republics,
scattered along the coast from Maine
to Georgia, thought the time had
come to test the question as to who
was the best man"-Democracy or
Monarchy.
The Stamp Act, and all conceive
BILE Preambles, were mere incidents,
or precipitants to the conflict. The
issue at stake was the vital difference
between the principles which pre-
vailed on the different sides of the
Atlantic.
Such a difference was certain to
lead to fight sooner or later, Pre-
amble or no Preamble.
THE OBJECTS AIMED AT BY OUR
CONSTITUTION.
Democracy fought, suffered and
won.
Casting off European forms, it
fashioned a Government which still
endures.
When our forefathers wrote down
those articles of agreement and con-
tract. which we call the Constitu
ton of the United States, they pre-
faced it by stating that it was done
in order to "form a more perfect
Union, establish justice, insure do