Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-05

adopted as their motto in their life and
death struggle for the right of self-gov-
the sentiment of the eloquent
Patrick Henry: "Give us liberty or give
us DEATH"
And chief among these illustrious men,
the fathers and founders of our country,
the men who gave to us our liberty and
our independence, stood the figure of one
whose memory all the world now loves
and honors and reveres; the p~ersonifica-
ton of calm wisdom, CT serene faith. of
enduring courage. of inflexible determin-
alton and intense patriotic ferver, he who
whom we call the Father Of his coun-
try whose name we never mention ex-
cept in love and gratitude and reverence
the immortal Washington.
One of the most benificenl results which
flowed from the Declaration of %Independ-
ence and the founding of this republic, I
nave always thought, was that it pro-
VldeS an asylum, a refuge for the poor
and oppressed of other lands to- which
they were free to come and enjoy to the
fullest extent that greatest blessing
which crowns human existence-the
blessing of liberty. And from the found-
ing of this government up to this mo-
ment. millions of men and women, vic
tim of arbitrary rule, of tyranny and
class distinctions, have exchanged the
misery and poverty and hard conditions
which surrounded them in the old world
for the freedom and equal opportunities
to be found here beneath the stars and
stripes.
To my mind nothing better illustrates
the beneficent spirit and purpose Of our
institutions and our government than the
fact that here today in this great mining
camp are gathered together, enthusiastic
cally and periodically celebrating the
birthday of the republic-rmen and wo-
men from every land and every cnme, OF
every race and every language and every
creed, all meeting on the common level of
American citizenship, all woIshiping at
the shrine of patriotism under the pro-
tecting aegls of a constitution which rec
ognizes and declares that all men are
created equal.
There have been many celebrations of
| American independence since that event
! full day in 1916 when the old liberty bell
tolled forth the glad tidinss that a new
nation had been born, whose mission was
to establish and maintain the doctrines
of free speech and a free press; of the
right of men to worship tsod according to
the dictates of their own conscience: of
the separation of church and state; of the
right of the people to govern them
selves and to select their own rulers, who
at the same time should be their SER
wants; to teach that all men are created
equal, that there should be NO distirc-
tions of birth, 40 aristocracy, no royalty,
no kings or queens, no divine right to
rule; hat all power comes from and re-
mains with the people.
But I question whether there has ever
been a time since that glorious day at
Yorktown when victory at last perched
upon the banners of the struggling pa
tr.Ots of the revolution, when the great
Lafayette stood by the side of Washing
ton to receive the sword of CORVALLIS,
when the citizens of this republic have
a greater cause for rejoicing, or when
the proud title "American c~itizen'' has
meant so much as it does today.
One hundre and twenty-three years
ago we were three millions OF people.
struggling against the mightiest nation
of the old world through seven years of
bloody strife for the right of ~selr-govern-
ment. Today we are eighty millions of
the %freest, most progressive and enter
prising people upon whom the sun has
ever shone. Then our flag was scarcely
seen or known outside the ranks of the
revolutionary army. Today upon every
ocean where ships sail, IN every land
where civilization has planted its stand
ard, the stars and stripes are hOnored
and respected. Today there is no spot in
the civilized world where the American
flag does not for the first time in its his
tory in fact protect an American citizen.
Today for the first time IN so ANN
versaries of this occasion it can be said
in very truth and fact that our flag floats
over a reunited people and country, from
which every vestige of bitterness, hatred
and sectionalism has been forever swept
away in the splendid wave of patriot SIN
and devotion to country which has so re-
Gently stirred and nlled the hearts of all
our people. Today we may in truth quote
the lines of the poet: "One flag, one land
one heart, one hand, one nation ever
more"
And today we nay reverent1y thank
God that our beautiful emblem is at las,
what the great Webster hoped and pray
ed it might become-"a gorgeous design
of the republic, now known and honored
throughout the earth. " y #Not a stripe
erased or polluted not a single star ob-
scured, Il s. " bearing for it's motto =
* spread all over in characters Of liv-
ing light, blazing on all its ample folds as
they float over sea and land that senti-
ment deaf to every true American heart
liberty and union, now ana forever, one
and inseparable.
The lessons taught us by the events
which led up to the observance Of this
day are patriotism, love of country, de-
votion to it's institutions and loyalty to
it's flag.
Nothing probably in it's history has sc
served to emphasize and accentuate these
lessons as the circumstances which have
transpired during the past year.
The war through which we have passed
and some of the results of which are still
annoying us, was unavoidable. 1t was
forced upon us by a long list of crimina
aggressions on the part of Spain, directed
not only to Cuba but at the United States
as we'll. The American people were al
ready wrought up to a high pitch OF
anger n Indignation over the awfu
cruelties and prosecutions practiced upon
the helpless people of Cuba, when oc'
Cured the destruction of the Maine anG
the murder of 266 of her crew. This was
the crowning infamy in the long list OF