White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1911-07-09

OF New York. The composition of
the document was assigned by the
committee to Jefferson. The commit
tee reported On June 28th, and a
vote was taken on July End, and a
resolution declaring independence wa
passed that day by II of the f3 states
New York refusing to vote. Con-
sress then debated on the Bird and
4th as to the adoption of the specific
document prepared by Jefferson and
presented by the committee of five.
and that document-the same as we
have 1t today-was adopted IN the
evening of July 4, 1875.
One of the pleasures of my life
was to visit old North church, in
Boston. You remember it was in the
belfry of this church that. when Paul
Revere heard the British were adj
Vancing on the city, asked a friend
to hang a lantern in the belfry
tower, one by land and two if by
sea- when Revere crossed the
Charles river and stood most of the
night by his saddled horse gazing at
the belfry for the light or lights,
ready to spread the alarm through
every Middlesex village and farm"
Two lights did appear, and the
- jim ntlt SOOH at dlI1B. Dui
more pleasurable still was my visit to
Independence Hall, Philadelphia. The
very table upon which the Declara-
tion was signed and the chairs in
which the members of Congress sat
are still there to be viewed by the
public, as is the old cracked Liberty
Bell, which pealed forth its thunder
ing notes the moment the Declaration
was signed to signal the glad tidings
to the anxious multitude which sur
rounded the building.
Thus we see that a Resolution of
Independence was adopted on July
End, but the specific document which
has come down to us not till the 18th.
The Declaration was not signed by
all the members of Congress at the
time, but only by the President and
Secretary of the Congress. To en-
courage the soldiers in the field,
printed copies bearing the names of
the President and Secretary were
sent broadcast over the land. As
stated, New York refused to vote on
the adoption of the Declaration, but
IN July 9th, a New York convention
formally ratified the document. 1t
then became, as 1t was entitled, The
Unanimous Declaration of the Thir-
teen United States of America" On
July 18th, Congress passed a reso-
luton that the Declaration be
engrossed on parchment, and on Aug
list 2, 1916 the % members of the
continental congress set their hands
and seals to the document, the like
of which the world had never before
known. The parchment. with the or
iginal signatures was deposited with
the Department of State when the
government was organized In 1889.
T~hirty-four years later, In 1923, Presi-
lent John Quincy Adams had a cop
per plate fac-simile made for the
purpose of giving a copy to each
of the signers who was living, and
TO the heirs of those who ~weredead;
but unfortunately It ruined the origin
al. The wet sheet pressed on the
face of the parchment drew out the
ink so that the signatures n prac-
tically all the text became illegible
and almost invisible. After that, the
original was shown only on special
occasions. and In 1894, during Presi-
dent Cleyeland's administration, it
was definitely sealed in a steel case
to keep it from the light and air.
From our Revolutionary forefath-
ers we inherited a precious inheri-
lance: and it deyolves upon us, and
cur descendants, and the countless
enerations yet to come, to so live
that this liberty will not slip away
from us. But it will slip from us
If the time ever comes when we are
not deserving of it, and this nation,
born and reared in the cradle of lib
erty, will topple and tumble and
imble to decay as other nations
have done before it. Egypt, Assyria,
Greece. Rome. and other powerful ma
lions fell with the degeneration of
their people. Their foundations were
pillars of sand. We hope and trust
that our nation rests on a foundation
Of adamant as firm as the Rock of
Ages. But il, by some unforeseen ca.
lamitous chance. those whose duty 1t
ny be to guide our ship of state,
either through incompetency, bribery
riminal negligence, or any form OF
corruption, fail to properly safeguard
the rights of the masses OF the Ameri
can people. these masses will have
the moral and the legal right to
change. or even abolish, our present
form of government, and set up a
new one; and their authority for so
uOlIlk viii Dt lnt DCtiuiaiAOh VI III
dependence itself. Does not one of
the paragraphs of that document read
as follows? 1--WE hold these truths
to be self evident, that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain inalien-
able rights, and that among these are
life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
That to secure these rights, govern
napfS ORC inStffutpd among men de-
irving their just power from the con-
sent of the governed; that, whenever
any form of government becomes de-
structive to these ends, 1t is the
right. 1t is the duty, of the people
to abolish 1t, and to institute a new
government. laying its foundation on
such principles, and organizing its
powers in such form as to them
shall seem most likely to ERECT
their peace and happiness.
word of eulOgy To Washington