The Newark journal., 1908-04-24

who claimed to rule by virtue or Dl-
 vine ri..ht.
 One hundred and thirty-two years ago the great contest of humanity was transferred from the old world to the new, and here, because of the isola-. tion of this country. because of the high character of the man who es-
 poused the cause of liberty, and be- cause of the signal victory achieved
 by them in that struggle, an opportu-
 nity was afforded to crystalline into
 written law the aspirations of the pa triots of all the ages The men who
 built the foundations of this govern
 ment were those who had submitted to the supreme test of patriotism, for those who inspired the constitution of the United States were the same who had pledged their lives, their proper
 ties and their sacred honor to the
 cause of independence.
 While the primary object of writ
 ten constitution is to define govern
 mental powers. and to limit govern
 mental departments, the oyerwhelm-
 ing necessity for such an instrument
 is to prevent insidious encroachments
 upon the rights of the individual eiti-
 zen. both from those in office and
 from those who by reason of their wealth and power have an influence far greater than that possessed by the average citizenS And so the constitu- ton of the United States was regarded by its framers as an instrument of the most sacred import. an alteration of which could only be made by the peo- pie themselves in whom all ultimate power is vested, and then only after the fullest discussion and widest pub licity.
 Under the beneficent government so established the nation has prospered and the people are happy One great cloud came upon the nation in the form of an awful civil war, in which two sections of the country were in conflict with each other. The heroes who rest here gave their lives that this nation might be maintained as it came from our forefathers. On another battlefield of that war, Abraham Lin coin said: Tt is for us. the living. rather 10 be dedicated to the un- finished work they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task before us; that from these honored dead we take increased devo- ton for that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion: that we highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain: that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth Of freedom. and that the govern nent Of the people. by the people. for the people, shall not perish from the earth''
 Our concern is not of the past. nor wholly with the present. but much with the future. If the destiny of the republic is in the hands of the Amer can of today, then it becomes him to De guided and governed only by patri. otic impulse and the desire to do that which will most largely contribute 10 he permanency of republican institu- ions. Advancing our civilization so that we will not, by recognizing the false claims of selfish interests, and forgetting the American maxim that our object should be to attain the good for the greatest number, incur the penalty which other people have paid, rather let us hold ever in mind that those who framed our gov ernment believed in the equality of the people and that the chief aim of government is to maintain that 
 Under our system of government the nation has reached material de-. velopment hitherto unknown. The people have prospered beyond the dreams of fhaSa who f;.ol .