The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1903-03-21

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 1878, 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" OF
northwestern territory of the confed"
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
formation of the federal union. This
was the beginning of the acquisition of
"a 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. 1t was Hanson'N foresight
which made not only possible, but nee
essary the ordinances of 1884 and 1887,
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 M said that
there were so many CAROLS that the
king would not know which one to
take, if he succeeded in capturing the
signers, so Carroll Immediately wrote
beneath his signature: "of Carroll
tom so that his Identification might
be the more complete.
In his speech at the unwilling, Sena-
tor McComas said: "As a 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 a 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.
"On 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
troll were cast at the bronze foundry
of Circuit, Paris, and were placed in
their positions in statuary hall last De-
cember, where they remained unit.
the time for their unwilling. 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 a document il
his left hand, his head slightly lowered
as though engrossed in thought. Elk
! cepting the statue of Pere Marquette
these statues are more worthy to b.
J called works of art than any of thu
statues heretofore placed in thil
marble hall of memories, Of memora
bilia of the iIlUstrious.
|, SMITH D. FRY.