The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-05

known. 1t developed a class of men
whose devotion to liberty was unas-
sailable, whom no danger could arpal
whom no defeat could dscoura ga: a
band Of patriots who had adoptad as
their motto in their life and death
struggle for the right of self-goyern-
ment the sentiment of the eloquent
Patrick Henry. Give US liberty or
give us death"
George Washington.
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 re-
veres; the personification of calm wis
dom, Of serene faith, of enduring cour-
age, Of infiexible determination and
patriotic fervor, he whom we call the
Father of His Country" whose name
we never mention except in love and
gratitude and reverence-the immortal
Washington.
One of the most benefcent results
which flowed from the Declaration OF
Independence and the founding of this
republic, ] have always thought, was
that 1T provides an asylum, a refuge for
the poor and oppressed of other lands
to which they We're free to come and
enjoy to the fullest extent that greatest
blessing which crowns human existence
the blessing of liberty. And from the
founding of this government up to this
moment. millions of men and women,
victims of arbitrary rule, of tyranny
and class distinctions have exchanged
the misery and poverty and hard condi-
lions which surrounded them in the old
world for the freedom and equal oppor-
tunities to be found here beneath the
stars and stripes.
All Men Equal
To my mind nothing better illustrates
the beneficent spirit and purposes of our
institutions and our government than
the fact that here to-day in this great
mining camp are gathered, enthusiast
tically and periodically celebrating the
birthday of the republic, men and wo-
men from every land and every cline,
of every race and every language and
every creed, all meeting on the common
level of American citizenship, all wor-
shipping at the shrine of patriotism,
under the protecting aegis of consti-
tuition which recognizes and declares
that all men are created equal
There have been many celebrations of
American independence since that
eventful day lin 1875 when the old lib
erty bell tolled forth the glad yet SOL
emn tidings that 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 God 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
servants; to teach that all men are
Oh, 10
distinction of birth, no aristocracy, no
royalty, no kings or queens, no divine
right to rule; that all power comes from
and remains with the people.
American Citizens.
But 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
triots of the revolution, when the great
Lafayette stood by the side of Wash
ington to receive the sword of Corn
wallis, when the citizens Of this repub-
lie have had greater cause for rejoicing
or when the proud title, American cit
izen," has meant so much as 1t does to-
day.
One hundred and twenty-three years
ago we were three millions of people
against the mightiest nation
of the old world through seven years Of
bloody strife for the right Of self-gOv-
eminent. To-day we are eighty mill
lions of the freest, most progressive and
people upon whom the sun
has ever shone. Then our flag was
scarcely seen or known outside the
ranks of the Revolutionary army. To-
day upon every ocean where ships sail,
in every land where civilization has
planted it's standard, the stars and
stripes are honored and respected. To-
day there is no spot in the civilized
world where the American flag does not,
for the first time in it's history in fact,
protect an American citizen. To-day
for the first time in so anniversaries 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, ha-
tired and sectionalism has been forever