St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-05
NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.
LIBERTY AND EQUALITY MAKE
AMERICA THE GREATEST
OF REPUBLICS,
LESSONS OF THE REVOLUTION,
MarveIOus Advancement of the
Cause of Labor During the
Nineteenth Century.

Labor and the Chicago Trades and
Labor Assembly at Sfarpshooters'
park was the leading feature of
ChicaSo'S celebration of the Fourth.
In point of attendance at least it
topped all the others. fully 10000 peo-
pie being on the ground to listen to
the addresses made by Vice Presi-
dent Stevenson and Gov. Mckinley,
of Ohio. Thomas J. Elderkin, vice
president of the American Fedora
ton Of Labor, presided over the
Speech-making part of the pro-
gramme, and in a few well chosen
words introduced Vice President Ste
venson, who was greeted with en-
thusiastic applause as he stepped
forward.
THE MEN FOR THE HOUR.
The vice president paid a tribute to the
industry and enterprise that had found
ed and extended the great city CT Chi
cago, then proceeded to sp-ak of the
continental congress at Philadelphia
in 1T16, when the Declaration Of H.
dependence was signed, and continued:
The men who signed this d claVatipn
were not unmindful OF the grave re-
sponsibility which they assumed. 1t
was no rash act upon their part. They
well knew that Great Britain would
never permit tn Sc colonies to be
wrested from her grasp without a
struggle. They we'll knew that Eng
land, with her united wealth. her pow
erful army. and g, navy that made her
mistress of tha seas, was a foe to be
respected, even hy the strongest gov
eminent upon the earth. To the inn
perishabIe hcnorS OF the signers CT this
declaration b. it said that they did
not hesitate when the dread issues of
the hour were to be decided. The
declaration was signed: the die was
cast: a nsw era had been reached in
the worlds history; q new govern
ment had been proclaimed; brave words
had been spoken; the gospel of uni
Versal liberty had been proclaimed to
the world. For ages mankind had be-
lieved there is divinity which doth
hedge a king. The world was now
Startled from its lethargy by the dcclar-
alton that resistance to tyrants is
obedience to God Tia new gospel
proclaimed by the signers Of the Declar-
ton of Independence was in conflict
with that by which the world had been
the point of the sword. had wrested
from an unwilling tyrant that Magma
Charta which for ages had been the
palladium Of English liberty. Again
and again, during the reign of the long,
line of the predecessors OF George
the Third, some darling prerogatiya OF
kingiy powe! had been grCdgfnGly con-
coded to an eXasperdtei people. But
4heSe We're nera offers to restrain
within bounds, to limit, not 20 destroy,
the one-man power. Our Declaration
OF, Independence soieMnly announced
as a self-evdent truth that ell men
are born equal. 1t proclaimed as
cardinal feature of the social compact
as the corner stone of civil govern
ment, the absolute equality of all
men. GovernGl nts were declared to
have been established among men
for the benefit CT the governed. What
a glorious inheritance is this declara-
toni What lofty craftsmanship is
br5athed in its every utterarCe, Well
did the great COrnTnorer OF England eX-
claim: The men who can SO write de-
serve 10 be free
"Whence came the men who signed
this declaration? In what school of
politics OF philosophy did they learn
THESE SiebI Truths. w no Taught lHeln
the science CT political government?
From what royal line of law-givers
old they spring? Unskilled in the
diplomacy and craft that control cabi-
nets and govern empires, they We're of
the people raised up by an all-wise
Providence to overcome the obstacles
and grapple with the dangers that
threatened their liberties From the
earliest struggle for freedom to the
days Of Thomas Jefferson the men who,
in the halls of debate or on the field
of battle. have been the eloquent advo-
Gates of human rights, or the bold de-
Tenders of human liberty, have sprung
from the ranks of the people. The
calm dignity with which this reyolu-
ton was inaugurated, the ties of al
legiance sundereG, the solemn declara-
ton made that henceforth these
colonies were 10 be free and independ-
ent states, and the solemn appeal of
the representatives of the people to
posterity for the the rectitude of their
intentions, is one of the grandest and
most imposing events in history.
LAW AND LIBERTY.
This is a land of liberty-of the
largest liberty. But it must never be
forgotten that it is liberty regulated by
law. Whatever savors of lawlessness
is antagoniStic to the spirit of our free
institutions. Whatever the grievance
OF the citizen his redress must be found
within the pale Of the law. For unjust
legislation, whenever it exists, there is
a remedy. 1t comes not through de-
fiance OF the law and contempt of its
ministers, but the sole remedy is that
OF the ballot. In this land of liberty,
of two
can he no justification or excuse for the
attempt, whether by ore or by many,
TO override lawful authority. All politi-
cal power springs from the people.
Through the peaceable and lawful in
strumentaliiy CT the ballot they can
bind and loose-make and unmake
Thus equipped with the all-potent bal
lot IL is not possible that the people
Will long permit unequal or unjust laws
to remain upon the statute book. The
remedy, however, can come only
through the pcaceable agency l have
indicated. Through the law and its
CHOSEN mStrunentalities come protec-
ton to property and person. Whatever
tends 10 weaken lawful authority. to
lessen respect fer it's chosen agencies.
imperils the very safeguards of society
This Is n government of law-its author
1ty is paramount Broad as is our do
main it has no permanent abiding
place for him who would wantonly
destroy what it has cost centuries of
sieep!ess endeavor TO achieve. Broad
as is Our national eInblem to-hin1 who
Woul! strike it down there can be no
asylum beneath its ample folds.
Self government is no longer an ex
pertinent it has safely endured th1
crucial test cf 100 years What won
deIs have been wrought At the i'll
auGuration OF Washington our domain,
wa.i virtually confined TO the AfIantin
seabnard Now il stretches to the
western limit Of the continent. The,
thirteen colonies. ,iow forty-nine pros
Porous states and territories. What
magnificent cities. as if touched Nv III
f9nd OF magic. have sprung IN in this
Wo;te''; Wilderness. here heautifyiuc
grove and piairies, there dotting the
great highways of nature. until they
have ilAcEr1a tho ~ Of