, 1896-07-06

ed with eager hands the rope that
swung the bel in Independence hall.
and its iron tongue rang out a peal
that finds an echo now in 10000 900
hearts.
We are here because that ship of
state still rides the seas. We are here
because the echos of that bell have
never died away. have rolled from
soul to soul until the whole earth rings
with the music OF freedom; for all 9TH
er Independence days in modern life.
have caught their life and have drawn
their meaning from the fourth day in
the month Of July. 1776. 1t ushered
into life this great republic: illumi-
mates the asst regions where rolls the
Amazon; flashes from the SUBMITS Of
Andes and Cordilleras: gave repub-
lies to the two Americas: shone across
the sea into the dark dungeons of hoary
headed wrong; lit up the pathway Of
the conquering armies of revolution
airy France; gave the old world light
enough to write the constitutions Of
continental Europe: and shining far
beyond into the dim interior Of Asia,
gilded with the CLEAN Of freedom the
sod hut of the Russian serf: the proud
est, tenderest day that ever filled it's
blue urn with fire.
No wonder the small boy gets up
early in the morning and goes to bed
late, with torn clothes, d%isfigured feat
ures and a full heart. Nm wonder labor
forgets its toll, its gain,
childhood its task. old age its burden
and with Haunting flag and roll OF
drum we gather here to lay the wreath
of love upon the shrine of freedom. Nor
we alone. From sea to sea, from lakes
to guilt, American citizenship raises the
American flag in an American sky and
stands today, with uncovered head
again to hear that declaration.
That declaration meant something.
100 years ago. Those Is original states
were poor, weak, divided, a narrow
strip of sparsely populated land firing
ing the Atlantic coast. England was
great. rich powerful: then as now the
ruler Of the seas. And yet. those 13
original colonies. poor, weak, defense
less as they were. without a centralized
government, without money Or credit.
without a soldier. ship or Jul threw
down the gage Of battle at the feet OF
the proud Mistress Of the World. For
what? Because the enforcement Of an
English financial policy threatened the
welfare of America. Impelled by a
manifest destiny. inspired by a cour
age as sublime as ever throbbed within
the breast Of man. the authors Of that
document dedicated this country to in
dependence. They stood erect and un-
afraid. They counted no cost. they
bent no knee to place or power. No
threat Of panic dried the ink upon their
hating pen. The men who wrote that
declaration with one hand did not hold
the trembling fingers Of the other upon
the pulse of Wall Street. Every school
boy knows the part New York City
played in the war for independence.
That declaration was moi propped up
by any syndicate of foreign or domes-
tic capital for what there was in it for
them. Was the cooperation Of George
III asked or expected? We do not SO
understand 1t. Appealing to the Su,
preme Judge of the world for the recti-
tude Of their intentions, in the name
and by the authority Of the good peo-
pie of the united colonies they did SOL
EMMY publish and declare that the
united colonies were and Of right ought
to be free and Independent states; that
all connection between them and the
state OF Great Britain was and ought to
be totally dissolved; that the united
colonies had full power to do every act
and thing that free and independent
states may do; and for the support OF
this their declaration, with a firm re-
lance on the protection,-of Morgan,
Belmont, the English Rothschilds-
No! A thousand times No-with a
firm reliance upon the protection of
Divine Providence, they mutually
pledged their lives, their fortunes and
their sacred honor.
Nor was this all. They made |. the
business Of the time to carry that dec
laration into effect. From the steep
slopes of Bunker Hill to the swamps of
the Carolinas; %contending with savage
foes in Adirondack woods. and before
the belching mouths of British guns at
Saratoga and at Yorktown; batless un-
der summer sun. and shoeiess in win
ter frost. half fed, unpaid in the SHOWS
of Valley Forge, through eight long
years of toll and blood and tears they
wrought to make that declaration real.
From the clenched fist of wealth and
power. the ragged soldier OF the revo-
luton wrenched the Jewel Of independ-
ence. 1t cost something to do that,
something in dollars and cents, but not
as much as servility, not as much as
an un-American policy. for those eight
years Of awful struggle. those eight
long years Of war. left this country
with less than one-third the national
interest bearing debt piled up by sub.
servient hands in the last two years OF
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