The Washington herald., 1911-07-05

which the city may be proud. The sub
urbs and the citizens associations also
did well, some holding fireworks displays,
and others games.
! Gives Notable Grafton.
One of the most notable Fourth of July
addresses ever heard in Washington was
delivered by Justice Thomas H. Anderson,
of the District Supreme Court, in the
course of the patriotic exercises in front
Of the District Building yesterday morn
| ing.
This republic represents the most stu
pendous reservoir of human energy in all
history" he declared. He said the finger
of God is guiding American destiny. that
the prototype of the Constitution of the
United States is the Sermon on the
Mount He attributed the development of
the country to the influence of the Chris
tan religion.
Justice Anderson delivered a brilliant
grafton before an audience which willingly
| sweltered in the full glare of the sun to
hear him. The exercises began at $50
! o'clock with a concert by the Marine
Band, and the chairman of the day was
former commissioner Macfarland. The
reading of the Declaration of Independ-
ence was intrusted to Ernest Gichner.
The expounding of the Constitution was
the notable feature Of Justice Andersons
address. He declared it so far trans
scends other constitutions that it has
come to be a model after which the Or
ganic laws Of other enlightened govern
ments are being framed.
Welfare of PeoDIe
Its highest purpose" he said, rs the
general welfare of the people, and it is
therefore constructive rather than re-
strictive. Hence It follows that every
undertaking that has for its object the
advancement of civilization and the bet
terment Of the people, whether by the
state, by individuals, or by organizations
acting under authority Of the state, fails
within the scope OF the public welfare
clause Of the Constitution, and is entitled
to our loyal support, uninfuenced by
party affiliations local prejudice or de-
nominational doctrines or differences
I'm thus directing your attention to the
scope and purpose of the national Con-
stitution, 1 would reawaken your interest
and stir up your minds to a higher ap-
probation Of this great charter of our
constitutions ever devised by the wit of
man that it has come to be the accepted
model, after which the organic laws of
other enlightened governments are being
fashioned, In order to meet the ever-in-
creasing demands of the people for larger
liberty and the right to participate in
the making and execution of the laws
under which ,they live.
1T is the first organic law in the
history of mankind based on natural
justice and, therefore, its only prototype
is to be found in the Sermon on the
Mount, the worlds first and greatest
constitution"
Music by Marine Band.
The opening address Of Mr.. Macfarland
felicitated the city on having inaugu-
rated the safe and sane Fourth idea
which is now advancing so rapidly
throughout the country. The programme
of the Marine Band was confined to
patriotic airs.
At the close of the formal exercises,
a daylight display of fireworks was held
under the control of the committee of
the day. Nearly a thousand persons
gathered in the plaza in front of the
District Building for the exercises, all
of them boiling under a record-breaking
July sun.
Dispatches indicate that the day was
celebrated through the country without
the usual list of fatalities that have
for years followed in the wake Of the
cannon cracker and the pistol. In some
places the old custom is dying hard,
however. There were several reports
from Connecticut, New Jrsey, and Penn
sylvania of fatal accidnts due to the
reckless usa of firearms