The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1904-05-06

| tASLu lue IiSut W NC SdiiSo SiNhi1cu
people. The court house is only safe
in proportion as it is inspired by the
church and the school house. The
less people feel Of outward force and
compulsion of the secular power, the
more need there is of the control Of
religion, the incubation of correct
moral principles and of progressive
education.
This county was organized by the
legislature of the state March 18th.
1887, sixty-seven wears ago. 1t was
then made into law that the inhabi-
tants of this county should have all
the rights and privileges to which by
law the inhabitants of the counties Of
this state are entitled.
Other people must decipher ancient
records, ponder over stones resurrected
or listen to the almost inaudible mur-
murs of tradition to be instructed as
to what their beginnings were. 1t is
not so with us. The men who did
these mighty works have lived among
us. We have heard their voices and
clasped their hands. We are not
obliged to peer through the mists of
times that are past to behold them.
The judge who presided over the tri-
bunal which 1 have mentioned in the
old court house during twenty-five
| hOI
able Josiah Turner, still lives among
us, and Judge McCurdy, who may
well sing of those times and men,
greater part of which he was, is filing,
as always he has been wont to do for
more than generation, an important
place in the ceremony Of this day.
Long may they abide with us, and wit
ness the great results of what they
and their associates began so many
I years ago.
The corner stone has always con-
veyed a symbolic meaning, even in di-
vine utterances. When Jesus disclosed
| His purpose to construct as upon
rock the great and enduring temple OF
faith and to impart the conception of
Il spiritual edifce not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. of
which the immutable basis should be
| Himself, He said in the words of the
Psalmist, Did We never read in the
scriptures the stone which the builders
refused, the same is become the head
of the corner. This is the Lords do
ings; and it is marvellous in our eyes"
In other lands and times the palace
has been the seat Of power and there
has never been an edifce bearing the
significance of this and similar ones
in our own land, expressing the entire
power of the people and their right to
govern themselves. This conception of
government by the people, the personal
equality Of man to man, liberty Of
conscience, Of thought and the express
sion Of it, the equality and personal
ity of woman, of the criminality of
slavery, Of universal suffrage, of the
impolicy Of an hereditary aristocracy.
of the absolute supremacy of the peo-
pie in all political administration, was
made dominant and efficient when the
United States became a nation, and
concentrated and solidified all that had
been done to promote the well being
of humanity by senates and councils
and parliaments for 1000 years.
And thus the stone the builders re-
jected, the same has become the head
of the corner. Nothing that is good
ever perishes. 1t is only the thing
that is evil that ceases to endure.
Here are concentrated the excellenceS
of many generations, those of the two
names history has made imperishable,
and those of the myriads of workers
for humanity whose records and
names have not been recorded.
The builders of this edifSe, this cap
ital of modern community, are not
alone the men and women of the pres
ent day. eInvisible and spiritual hands
have toiled upon this edifice, as the
political construction of this commun-
ity is the result of the efforts and ex-
perience of many people, and for
thousands Of years, by which the
blessings Of liberty have been secured
to man. SO phantoms of the past will
groin the arch and round the dome
and form this structure throughout
with a significance more enduring and
expressive than its bronze and stone.
and it will blend and present in arcbj-
tectural harmony the utility and
beauty which the industry and genius
of many ages have compelled stone
and iron and wood and color to EN-.
body. The Grecian column. the Ro-
man wall, the Gothic arch, the mural
painting, the tinted glass, the pictorial
tile, the medieval decoration will
represent in this structure the thought
and effort of many ages, In many
lands