The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-07-05

it's ensign in the West, the event
would have had no significance be
yond our own borders. Many a state
| and people before this had declared
| their withdrawal from an establish
| ed rule and an intention hencefor-
ward to take in hand their own des-
! TIMES under an independent govern
ment and some had made that de-
claration good by force of arms The
significance of our great declaration
| to those outside our borders lies not
SC much in the assertion of our indie
! pendence but in the reasons luSulylnS
! it and which are set out IN lhe pre-
amble. The preamble is a bill Of
rights for all mankind. 1t is as broad
as humanity and will outlast the
| eternal hills which are being slowly
but surely moved down by the winds
| and rains and frosts and carried by
| the centuries to fill and level up the
| valleys.
. On the recurring anniversaries of
| this day, it is customary to point out
! and emphasize the vast material
growth of this country which has re-
suited from our liberty and the MAIN
| tenance of our free institutions. 1t Is
a pleasing prospect and an inviting
| theme. 1t is source of pride to
contemplate the 13 small colonies
With less than three millions of peo-
| PIE, clinging to the coast or Slowly
! climbing the crest of the AlleghanleS,
! yet brave enough to defy the King OF
| Great Britain with all his forces and
then to turn, to the picture of our
! eighty millions Of today with our fiag
! floating from Maine to Manila and
! our possessions stretching from Pana-
ma to the Pole-for our ownership OF
Alaska gives us an interest in that
spot on our sphere, unseen as yet by
mortal eyes, which lies nearest to the
| polar star. 1t is pleasant to turn from
the poverty of people whose sol
| diers tramped barefOoted through
Jersey SHOWS and lay starving in their
| ragged regimentalS by the biVOuac
fires at Valley Forge that we may
| contemplate the wealthiest nation of
all the world today, and indeed of all
| the ages, which has given millions for
islands off the China coast and with
light heart has appropriated sum
larger than the aggregate valuation
of all the property in the thirteen
colonies that we may unite the two
oceans near the Equator for the con-
Venience of our commerce. 1t is gra-
flying to our pride to compare the
| slow means of intercourse and dis
patch of intelligence of those times
with the lightning speed of today,
with wireless telegraphy, the trans
mission of the human voice from the
Lakes to the Gulf and the ceaselesS
roll of transcontinental trains from
ocean to ocean. We had then not a
chartered bank in our whole confed-
eracy but few printing presses, no
public libraries and no public schools.
The marvellous material development
made since our independence is be-
yond the boast of any other age or
any other people. Whether we have
made any growth in the spirit OF self
denial, and self-sacrifice and patriot
ism which enabled the generation Of
177G to make their proud declaration
good might possible give us pause
But, as / have already Said-inter-
esting to us as a people as is the clos
ing part of the declaration which dis
solved our union with Great Britain
and the tangible material benefits
which have come to us from the
achievement of our independence,
there is q deeper interest for the rest
of the world, if not to us also, and
to all future ages in the fundamental
principles set out in the preamble to
that great principles
which for the first time were then
soIemnly and deliberately proclaimed
as the basis and foundation of all
government.
Listen to the grand old words which
fell upon the ear Of a startled world,
which soon caused Il revolution IN
France, which have refor med Eng
land, which have traversed Europe.
and which today are agitatinG al, peo-
pies and are still slowly hut surely
disntegrating dynas(ies and all
despotisms resting on force and ali
government not founded upon the
consent of the governed"
1t is declared 1--WE hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are en-
dCwed by their Creator, with certain
inalienable rights, and among these
are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. That to secure these
rights, governments are Instituted
among men, deriving their just pow
crs from the consent of the governed,
that whenever any form of govern
ment becomes destructive of these
ends it is the right of the people to
alter or abolish it, and to institute
new government, laying it's founda-
ton on such principles and organic
ing it's powers in such form as TO
them shall seem most likely to effect
their safety and happiness"
Thusffell with "a crash the fiction of
the divine right of kings. Thus
boldly was proclaimed the sacred
right of revolution and the absolute
sovereignty of man, OF the masses,
over the form and agencies of all
government. From henceforWard the
masses were to be master and all Of
fice-holders whether king or con-
stables were public servants, account
able to and removable at the will of
The people. This was far more than
a severance of our relations with
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