Iron County register., 1898-04-28
DEMOCRACY'S FATHER
Jeferson's Birthday Anniversary
Observed in Chicago.
john p. AItgeld Contrasts the Acts
OF DemOcracy's First President
with Those of Grover
Cleveland.

The one hundred and fifty-fifth an
niversary of the birth of Thomas JEFF
ferson was celebrated in Central Mu-
sic hall, Chicago, by 1000 democrats,
among whom were ex-Gov. Altgeld, of
Illinois, and other political leaders. Mr..
Altgeld was the principal speaker of
the evening, and in his speech he said:
I'VE have met to celebrate the birthday
of the first president elected by the democ-
racy of America. This, taken in connec-
ton with the unhappy conditions of our
country, as left by the last president, and
as we find them to-day, makes it proper to
say something about both of these men
the one the founder and the other the de-
stroyer of tbs democratic party-compar-
ison is impossible, but contrast may be in
structive, especially to the young men of
the land.
while Virginia was yet a British col
ony young man named Thomas Jeffer-
son, who hailed from the landed gentry,
was a member of the legislature. He had
been highly educated, was a student of
all human affairs, and was a member or
the bar. Although born an ariStOcrat, he
saw that all civilization rested the
hand that tolls. He saw that all OF the
governments of the earth rested on re-
strictive policies which cowed the nobler
Instincts and higher activities Of men.
he 16lC InaI II man were given his lES6-
dom he would work out a higher destiny.
He saw that all men came into the world
equal, and that institutions which created
inequality were a curse to the race, ana
he devoted his life toward securing equal
ity for mankind, liberty and justice. The
agitation in behalf of independence had
begun. Nearly all the rich-the powerful
the fashionable and all that hangs to
these classes were tories who looked with
contempt on those men who talked Of lib
erty and independence; the latter were
called a rabble of demagogues and sgita-
tors.
Pioneer In Reform.
Jefferson did not do like some men who
subsequently became distinguished. He
did not allow others to do all of the earlier,
unpopular and dangerous work of edu-
eating and formulating public sentiment,
but he became the guiding spirit of this
movement.
He assisted in forming the celebrated
committee of correspondence for dissem-
mating intelligence among the colonies and
bringing them into closer relationship. In
1774 he elected member of the con-
tinental congress and drew up the famous
summary view of the rights of British
America which, though rejected then as
being too radical, was adopted by some col
onies and extensively published here
and in England. He helped to draft every
important document issued by the con-
gress, and especially the answers to the
English government And when the cause
Of independence had ripened, his brain
conceived, his heart shaped and his hand
wrote the declara ton of American inde-
pendence, document which has given i'm
mortality even to those who did nothing
but sign their names to it-a document
which was the greatest charter of human
rights ever given to mankind.
THE colony of Virginia had in the mean
time adopted a new constitution, for which
he had written the preamble, and in Oc-
tober, 1776. he resigned his seat in con-
!, o. hrN,, i've
about a radical revision of the laws of
the colony. Virginia had an established
church, and any man who did not adhere
to it and attempted to worship God ac-
cording to the dictates of his conscience
was not only prosecuted but prosecuted.
Supports Religious Freedom.
HE secured the establishment OF re-
ligious freedom in the colony. He secured
the abolition of the feudal and aristocratic
system Of primogendture and entail-that
system under which the eldest son took all
the land, which then meant nearly all
the property-and he founded free COM
mon school system which was subsequent
ly copied in most Of the states. For his
course on each of these questions he was
angrily denounced by those who consad-
cred themselves the better classes, con-
sisting of the rich, the influential and the
powerful, as a demagogue, an agent OF
Satan, an enemy of Christian institutions
and a dangerous man. But he never
wavered and succeeded in bringing the
laws of his colony more nearly In line with
the spirit Of justice. He hoped that he had
eradicated every fiber of ancient or fu-
ture aristocracy.
litical evil, and said concerning it that
he trembled for his countrymen when he
remembered that God was just.
After the revolution he founded the Uni
versity of Virginia, which has given this
country hosts of great men, and it is still
one of our greatest institutions of learning.
The services he rendered his colony alone
entitle him to enduring fame and the
gratitude of mankind He served two
years as governor of the colony, and then
declined a reelection and retired to private
life, but reentered congress in 1888, and re-
ported the treaty of peace with Great
Britain acknowledging the independence
which had been declared in 1776. He next
secured the establishment of the decimal
system of coinage, abolishing the English
system of pounds shiilings. etc.
subsequently he was sent abroad to as
sist in negotiating treaties of commerce,
and then was made resident minister to
France, where he spent about four years.
Here he published his famous Notes on
Virginia.
Democratic All Through.
lone feature of his character at this
time is especially noticeable, i. e., he was
always a democrat. In recent years we
have sent men abroad who have kneIt be-
fore and tried to ape the aristocracy, some
of them even denouncing the country which
had given them commission, but in every
line of Jefferson's utterances during that
time, in all of his letters, there was that
bold expression of his opinion, that aris-
tocracy and absolutism were a curse to
the world, and that the hopes of humanity
lay in a broad and free democracy.
He was still abroad when our federal
constitution was adopted. He expressed
his hearty approval of most of it, but felt
alarmed over the provision which created
the federal judiciary. Here was branch
of government that was unrepublican and
undemocratic. that rested upon an aris-
tocratic, or rather a monarchistic basis.
The judges, who would have all the preju-
dices and weaknesses of other men, were
not to be selected by the people, they were
to hold office for life, and would not un-
derstand the needs the wrongs of the
people, but would be Influenced by class
interests with which they came more con-
stantly In contact. He urged with great
earnestness that such tribunal would go
on extending its Jurisdiction by day and
by night until it should absorb the whole
am sorry to say, my friends. that it has
already been demonstrated that these fore
bodings were prophecies.
In WashinEton's Cabinet.
After the constitution was adopted and
Washington was elected president, it be-
came necessary to have the young re-
public establish as friendly relations as
possible with the different governments of
the earth. AS we were then weak and un-
known. and as our government was con-
sidered but an experiment. and was sneered
at by the influential classes Of the world.
It was q most delicate and difficult task
to secure for US even respectable treat
ment from foreign governments. Mr.. JEFF
ferson returned from Europe and Presi-