The herald., 1895-06-17
Southern California Association
Lyceu.m League
THE FIFTH OF THE KIND
An Oratorical Conte st the Chief Feature
of the Occasion
Each Grafton Coed, 1t Was a Difficult Matter
for the Judges to Decide-The Award
FinaII,, Made

hall, DOWney, on Sabul uay, JuHe lotu,
and was called to order by Vice-President
George B. Mclaughlin of Pasadena at
1O:l3O a. m. The officers who had been
elected at the last couve ntion and not yet
been installed then took the oath of office.
The officers of the association are as toll
lows: President. Arthur Ellis of Pomona;
first vice. president, George B. McLaugh-
lin of Pasadena: second vice president.
W. A. Hill OF Santa Ana; secretary, E.
L. Payne of POMONA; treasurer, J. W.
venable of Downey; standing committee
Arthur Ellis, E. l.. Payne, E. A. Rem
fro, of Downey; r. W. Watt OF Santa
Ana; and Lamar Harris of Los Angeles.
1t was then announced that the lyceum
from Ocean View and Westminster had
withdrawn from the association, and
therefore were not rep resented in the
convention, which would make the NUN p
Der of delegates rather smaller than had
been expected. Mr.. Ellis, the president,
was then introduced. and after few
brief remarks proceeded to the business OF
the morning. Before the appointment
of the committees. upon motion, the
newly organized lyceum of South Pasa-
dena was admitted to mem bership in tho
ASSOCIATION, in order that its delegates
might be seated. The delegates present,
as shown by the report of the committee
OH creden tials. were as follows:
Downey Messrs. Renfro, Venable,
Pearce. DE Nure and Barnett.
Pomona-Messrs. Pitzer Bennett, Az
cry, Decker. Harris and Waterman.
Pasadena-Messrs. Hobson. Walbridge,
York, Strong. Taylor. Stevenson, Wind
ham and Taylor, Sr.
Santa Ana-Messrs. Watt. Marks,
Nuurse. Monaghan, Balloon. Martin,
Hill. Goldsmith and Swope.
Los Angeles-Messrs. Stimson. Kinney,
Ruess, Ludlow, Clark, Harris. Blum,
Umstead, seyler, Brown and Hixson.
South Pasadena-Messrs. Stephens,
Crossley. Dougherty. Brown and Keith.
A short recess was then taken, after
which Mr.. Kinney of Los Angeles was
chairman. reported, re-indorsing the OBJ
jects and purposes of the lyceum League
of Am erica, fdvoring national con-
vnntlon of the lyceu.ns of the whole
country. nominating Hon. Waldo Nj.
bership on the advisory board OF the l..
L. A. and pledging the clubs to exert
them selves toward the establishment of
new lyceums in this territory. The bal
ance of the forenoon was given up to
business of little interest to persons other
than me m bers of the league. the only
h lcdent being a lively debate upon a
pr> lposed constitutional amendm ent
cha. 1ging the parliamentary authority
of tn e association flom Gus ming to Rob-
erts. which finally resulted in the reten-
tion OF the former. At 2:2l, the conven-
ton too.k recess for lunch, re.assemb-
LING at 40 p. m. 1t was then decided
To postpo,1e the further consideration
of business until after the oiatorical con-
test.
The oratorical contest was the chief
feature of the convention. and proved
ant n
the orations was good. and 1T was dith
cult matter for the judges to arrive at
anv decision. After considerable delibe
ration on their part, however, the. prize
for the most excellent Grafton was gwen
to Mr. Marks of Santa Ana. for his al
dress upon Thomas jefferson. The judges
were R. z. Wickham. enc OF the most
nrominent citizens of Orange county, a
mem Der of the late assembly and head
minute clerk therein: J. II. Ards, an at
torney, and W. c. Smith. a physician,
both influential citizens Of Downey. The
prize prepared for the successful COM
petitor in the con test. and which was pre-
septed to Mr.. Marks by The president
with an appropriate speech, was pin
in the form of a shield, bearing tho
motto: Fiat Via Vlae|A way IS Made
By Energy" Mr.. Marks briefly expressed
his appreciation of the honor which had
been conferred upon HIM, and his in
tention of keeping the pin as a memento
of his connection with the southern
California association. In the intervals
between the orations the assem- bly, was
favored with excellent music by the Dow
ney male quartette, Messrs. A. B. Clay
ton, Joseph Venable, e. A. Renfro and
Walter De Nure.
The subjects OF the orators were: Mr..
Umstead, Should migration be Re-
stricted?; Mr.. Mclaughlin. American
Patriotism; Mr.. Pearce, Anticipatons;
Mr.. Waterman, Legislation; Mr.. Marks,
Tahomas Jefferson.
A brief synopsis of the grafton of Mr..
Marks is as follows:
There have been few periods Of equal
extent in the wo-lds history which have
produced men of greater ability or nobler
patriotism than the years Immediately
preceding and during our Revolution.
Hamilton, Randolph, Washington,
Franklin, Jefferson-these were men the
like of which the world has never seen.
But jefferson is not to be held up for
admiration alone. The man who could
claim the attachment and affection of all
sections of the country as he did and
has deserves cur consid Grafton. Vir-
glnia planter. a lawyer, member of the
colonial legislature-these were the foun-
dation upon which he built the structure
of his greatness. His success at the bar
was phenomenal, yet Mr.. Jefferson was
never destined to be a lawyer. Fate had
expended all her resources to produce
q man WOTbuy VI bue OCCdSlOus anu never
before had such occasion presented itself.
Other nations and other peoples, writhng
under the heel of tyranny and oppres-
sion. had made vain efforts for the estab-
ishment of freedom; but it had been re-
served for the American colonists to make
the first long stride in the direction. and
for Jefferson to frame the document
which declared their freedom from ty-
ranny of England. and which constituted
the foundation of our government. And
the influences OF that document were not
confined to the relation between this
country and England. Each throne
throughout continental Europe received a
shock, each scepter started from the hand
O. it's holder. France. Germany. Austria
and ITALY, from across the ocean saw the
CLEAN of our beacon-light, and have been
following Mr.. Jefferson's way to liberty.
II needed high purpose and firm resolve
10 lead in this creation.
"If Washington was the father of his
country, Jefferson was the father OF our
'ibfrty; If Washington was chieI on the
leld OF battle, Jefferson was first in the |
chamber of state; if Washington was first
In the hearts of his countrymen, Jeffer- |
son made it possible for him to have |
countrymen.
The chief act of Jefferson s admins |
sration as president was the Louisiana |
purchase. England and France both de- |
sired this territory. but Jefferson bv one |
stroke of statecraft. bold. sudden and |
dnanticipated, thwarted their plans ami |
added second empire to our already |