The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-04-11

Euilt the NOMINATIONS OF tnlS BoNeIh-
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 overwhelm'
ing necessity for such an instrument
is to prevent insidous encroachments
upon the rights of the individual citi-
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 citizen. And so the constitu.
tion of the Uuited States was regarded
by its trainers as an instrument of the
most sacred import, an alteration of
which could only be made by the peo
ple 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 IL
came from our forefathers. On another
battlefield OF that war, Abraham Lin
coin said ut is for us, the living,
rather. TO 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
remaining before us; that from these
honored dead we take increased devo-
tion 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.
ment Of the people, by the people. for
the people shall not perish from the
Garth"
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
ican of to-day, then II becomes him to
be guided and governed only by patri-
otic impulse and the desire to do that
which will most largely contribute to
The pcrmanency OF republican institn
tlons, Advancing our civilization 81
that we will not, by recognizing the
false claims of selfish interests, ant
forgetting the American maxim thai
our object should be to attain the
greatest 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 ol
the people and that the chief aim Oi
government is to maintain thai
equality ''-t =,
Under our system OF government
the nation has reached a material de
velopmenl hitherto unknown. TIL,
people have prospered beyond thu
dreams OF those who lived century
ago. But with the development OF Tho
country and changes in economic con
ditions. and particularly with the
growth OF great private corporations
performing many OF the functions o
government, has come the necessit!
for the exercise CT strict governmental
control and rigid enforcement of al
the laws enacted to restrain the ricl
and powerful from encroaching upol
the natural and legal rights of th'
poor and weak