Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1908-05-03
i. JOHNSON At SHILOH
2 MINNESOTA EXECUTIVE MAKES
NOTABLE ADDRESS.
lsJESTiON OFSTATE RIGHTS
9--eaees Not Approve Of Commonwea lths
E5ejng Made Subservient to In
serior Federal Courts-Would
Uphold Constitution.

Coy. John A. Johnson of Minnesota
%>iGvered at the dedication of the Min
1'taota monument on Shiloh battle
.seld. April 10, an address that will
.S3pk as one of the abcst public de-
.ETerances of recent times Spoken
OK. 4 battlefield that may be taken az
Ihe symbol of the great war for the
aMson. the governor took occasion to
EEL OF the peril that threatens our fed
wal form Of government. This peril
vas emphasized by the recent dee-
.ssi3n of the supreme court in the rail
way cases going up from Minnesota
fGll3 North Carolina which practi-
.slfy makes the state governments
A2uDselvient to the inferior federal
courts. The significance Of these de-
s3sRons is widely underst God, and they
11naye given rise to general discus
.sSoa of the question of the rights OF
Gbe states, and Gov Johnson s speech
sssl rank as an important contribu-
Ton 10 that discussion The dedica-
1Gry address in part follows.
Representing the people OF the com
= EstonWealth of Minnesota. We are as
sasnbIed on one OF the historic battle
Nelds Of the civil war to pay our trib-
AGe of respect and affection to the
=Demory of the sons of Minnesota
Who here yielded up their lives that
4tais might continue to be united ma
ION Their sacrifice was not for per
ssonal gain, but was ia response to
duty, and a contribution to the civ
31ization OF the age and for the pur-
lose Of perpetuatins the Institution OF
1human liberty.
appreciate that nothing which
e2an say will add to Or detract from
The glory Of their achievement, which
ia itself is an enduring monument TO
the patriotism and heroism OF the
american soldier Their sacrifice,
aEowever, was not different from that
(Which has been made throughout all
OF the ages by those lovers OF liberty
-sho believe in a government when
.snight give to all the people the right
40 life, liberty and property. The
love OF liberty was not born in this
country OF ours; it was Graded along
salae Danube and about the shores OF
,Gs7e Baltic, even when Rome had
c5sached the limit of her imperial
grandeur Increasing in intensity
with the passing of the centuries, it
Sound it's highest expression in the
slider countries in the great English
asnarter of civil rights, which forever
guaranteed to the people OF that land
Immunity from the despotisIn of those
Who claimed to rule by virtue OF Di
vine right.
One hundred aud thirty two years
ago the great contest Of humanity was
transferred from the old world to the
aaew, and here, because OF the isola-
zion Of this country because of the
aaigh character OF the man who es-
,soused the cause Of liberty, and be-
..cause OF the signal victory achieved
NY them in that struggle, an opportu-
nifty was afforded to crystalline into
7mritten law the aspirations of the pa
Efiots of all the ages. The men who
puilt the foundations of this govern
9yient were those who had submitted
80 the supreme test OF patriotism, for
those who inspired the constitution of
she United States we're the same who
1aAd pledged their lives, their proper
SEES and their sacred honor to the
cause, Of Independence.
While the primary object OF writ
aen constitution is to define govern
suental powers, and to limit govern
aaental departments, the overwhelm-
tns necessity for such an instrument
is to prevent insidious Entertainments
SNpon the rights OF the individual citi-
zen. both from those in office and
from those who by reason Of their
1agealth and power have an influence
tar greater than that possessed by the
average citizen. And so the cOnstitu-
Sion OF the United States was regarded
by its trainers as an instrum of the
9oaost sacred import, an alteration of
switch could only be made by the peo-
93ls themselves ia whom all ultimate
power is vested. and then only after
&.he fullest discussion and widest pub
licity
Under the beneficent goyer', nent SO
established the nation has l;0spered
xand the people are happy One great
ciGnd came upon the nation in the
form Of an awful civil war, in which
1wo sections of the country We're in
conflict with each other Thr Aeroes
wbo resE here gave their li>-i that
11esas nation might be maintai" - IS it
came from our forefathers. o. other
battlefield Of that war, Ar @A3 Lin
coln said: ut is for ~, ing
xather, to be dedicate un-
ianished work they hay Is tar 50
a2obly carried on. 1t is Ia Ter for us
so be here dedicated to the great task
remaining before us; that from these
aonored dead We take increased devo-
zion for that cause for which they here
gave the last full measure of devotion :;
that We highly resolve that these dead
snail not have died in vain; that the
aation shall, under God, have a new
birth Of freedom and that the govern