The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-12-03
OUTGROWTH
Of LIBERTY
The Constitution of the
United States.
HISTORY OF THE CHARTER
The Address by Rev. Mr.. WesterveIt
Before the Triangle Club
Members.

lecture on the Constitution of the
United States, delivered by Rev. Mr.
Westervelt before the Triangle Club at
the Y. NJ. c. A. Hall on Monday even
ing:
The United States, as a nation, is the
outgrowth of the idea of liberty, or
independence. The Constitution of the
United States is the embodiment of
that idea.
The history of the development of
the idea of liberty is therefore the his
tory of the formation of the Constitu-
ton There is no time, tonight, to go
back to that beautiful day ina June in
the year 1915, when King John Lack
land granted the Magma Charta and
established parliament and the right of
trial by jury; nor is there time to
study that day in 1911 when Luther
With firm set lips, drove the nails into
! the paper of his declaration of indie
pendence from the Church of Rome.
| Nor can we stand by George Buchan-
an, the noble Scotchman, who in 1879
! Numbered in the ears of kings his
statement of the truth that The will
! of the people is the legitimate source
of power" Nor can we study the per-
secutions which drove the Puritans
from England to Holland. and later
made a portion of them launch out
on the stormy waters of the Atlantic in
1920 that they might wander across ii
as Pilgrim Fathers searching for a
home in which to Worship God &C
cording to the dictates of their own
conscience" We must stop for few
minutes with these Pilgrim Fathers as
they land on the Massachusetts coast.
They called it holy ground
The land where first they trOd.
They left unstained what there they
found
Freedom to worship God"
The 1O1 persons who, December u
1920. landed at Plymouth Rock
brought with them the compact
formed in the cabin of the Mayfiower
and started in America that love fol
liberty and that recognition of the
worth and the rights of the individual
which have finally become the nationa
characteristic of the United States
Since this Monday evening is so nea
the national Thanksgiving Day, it il
only right for us to notice how tn
two principles underlying the action o
the Pilgrim Fathers have had nationa
growth side by side. Love of libert.
and divine worship have marked ma
tional growth in the four great move
ments of our national history.
l. The dawn of civil liberty in tn
Plymouth compact of 1920, in which tn
Pilgrim Fathers combined themselve
into a civic body polite for the pur
pose of government as a colony
was followed in 1921 by the frs
Thanksgiving service for the Divin
blessings which had prospered thei
first year of independence. Thi
Thanksgiving Day was called simpl
by the governors of Plymouth colony
and was in no sense national. The low
of independence increased mightil
throughout the land for $50 years, unit
the times demanded the Declaration c
Independence July 4, 1916 and tn
war of the revolution. 1t was fittin
, that Congress should recognize tn
] hand Of God in this glorious harves
, LOT the idea of liberty, and shoul
| therefore call for day of Thanks
, giving in 1777 because of the successfl
union of the colonies and hopeful cor
tinuance of the war against England
This was the first step toward ma
tional Thanksgiving Day.
With the Declaration of Indepenc
ence came the certainty that som
form of government was absolutel
e necessary for the united colonies
:, which We're now being known as state
II All the nations of Europe were MOI
i arches. There We're no constitution
which could be adapted to this infai
republic. The different states had fe
the heavy hand of England upon the
ed to adopt some form of governmel
which would protect the weaker fro
the more powerful and wealthy State
and at the same time form all of the
into one body polite. This was {
exceedingly difficult task Many jea
ousies and fears had to be recognize
The weak States demanded the sar
rights as the larger and strong
States. Delaware and Rhode Island I
CURED the same privileges as Virgin
|. and Massachusetts. The ports of ent
tof South Carolina We're afraid of NJ
York and Boston. The people were e
ceedingly opposed to taxation w
Nv not that the heavy burden laid up
them by the mother country, Englan
On the other hand it was known
fore the Declaration of Independen
was framed that it could not be
substitute for a government. Unlt
upheld by a united people it was ST
to fall to the ground. The men w
signed the Declaration of Independer
q and their confreres in the Continen
Congress were compelled by the 10,
OF circumstances to draw up "Artic
of Confederation In the nrea mi
we find the following statement:
The delegates of the United Sta
of America in Congress assembled. ,
the year of our Lord 1777 and
on this fifteenth day of November
the second year of the independence
America, agree to certain articles
confederation and perpetual union. y
In these articles of confederat II
men felt loyalty to individual ratl
than united states, and kept power
the hands of the states rather than
the hands of the nation. They prov
ed for no such office as president. TT
provided for no national iudicia
Ihey provided no way in which
meet the national expenses. except
contributions" from the States or
borrowing without knowing how
raise money with which to paw the
debtedness. They provided no syst
OF taxation. AS Professor Fiske sa
Among the sovereign powers of a g,
eminent. the power of taxation is
fundamental one upon which all
others depend" Because the power
taxation was left in the legislatures
ne states. rather than vested in
United states, the articles of conf
Grafton proved a failure. Colonial
dependence was not enough. The IN
luallsm of the States and the in,
pendence of the nation was fond
De an absolute necessity. The we.
ness of the United States hecana