St. Tammany farmer., 1903-04-04

tory have never heard read or remem.
bered. And yet John Hanson was not
only one of the great figures of the
ante-reyolution, not only a great citi.
zen of Maryland, but also of the em-
byro republic, and president of the con"
gress of the revolution.
John Hanson was the powerful lead
er who prevented Maryland from rati-
flying the constitution of the confed-
Grafton in 1777 and 177S, when all OF
the other colonies, or states, had en-
tered into that agreement. Hanson
insisted that Virginia should DO as
Massachusetts,, Connecticut and New
York had done, surrender all claims to
the northwestern "back lands" or
northwestern territory of the conted-
Grafton. After Virginia surrendered
her claims, the area of Michigan, Wis
consin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio be-
came the common property OF the con-
federation. This action of the state OF
Maryland, under the direction of John
Hanson, led directly to the ultimate
forma tion of the federal union. This
was the beginning of the acquisition OF
public domain; the beginning OF the
acquiring of public lands in common
for the federal union; lands out OF
which free states were carved. 1t was
the common ownership of this public
domain that did more than all else to
cement the states into a more perfect
union. It was Hanson's foresight
which made not only possible, but nec-
essary the ordinances of 1884 and 1857.
from which the federal constitution
developed.
The other statue, of course, is of
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, of
whom every boy and girl has read and
heard. The story is well known that
when he had signed the declaration Of
independence, some one said that
there were so many CAROLS that the
king would not know which one to
take, it he succeeded in capturing the
signers, SO Carroll Immediately wrote
beneath his signature: ''of Carroll
ton," so that his Identification mi ght
be the more complete.
In his speech at the unveiling, Sena-
tor McComas said: "As boy of II
years. Charles Carroll was sent to the
college at St. Omers, and later to the
colleges at Rheims and Paris. At 20,
was student at the Temple, at Lon
don. There for eight years he asso-
ciated with the master intellects, lis
tening to Fox and Burke, in the elo-
quent periods on liberty. At 2s he re-
turend to his Maryland home and, long
before his confreres, he advocated rev.
olution and independence.
ION July 4, 1922, the last living sign
er Of the declaration of independence,
Carroll, helped lay the corner stone
of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad.
Forty years before, with Washington,
he had sought to unite the Ohio with
the sea, by the Potomac; and now, at
the age of IS, he foresaw that the
American union could not endure with
out railroads"
These statues of Hanson and Car
roll were cast at the bronze foundry
of Creut, Paris, and were placed in
their positions in statuary hall last De-
cember, where they renamed until
the time for their unveiling. Each
statue is of heroic size, seven feet
three inches high, with the stand, also
of bronze, of four inches.
Carroll is represented as holding the
declaration of independence in his left
hand and a quill pen in his right hand.
Hanson is shown with document in
his left hand, his head slightly lowered,
as though engrossed in thought. Ex-
cepting the statue Of Pere Marquette.
these statues are more worthy to be
called works of art than any of the
statues heretofore placed in this
marble hall of memories, of memora-
bilia Of the illustrious. ~..
SMITH d. FRY.