Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-09-17
A HISTORIC DATE

The anniversary Of the signing of the Declaration
of Independence has been made a national holiday. That
fact has helped to keep public attention focused upon 1t.
and upon the event which it commentaries. The 18th
Of September is not a national holiday, yet upon that
day was completed a work which has had an effect on
mankind perhaps not less important than that of the
signing Of the declaration itself. 1t was on September
II, 1887, that the constitution of the United States was
accepted by the convention assembled for that purpose.
and by that convention submitted to the states for their
approval.
The Declaration Of independence is a wonderful doc
ument. In sentences which have become classics in
politics and'in literature it declares the principles upon
which righteous human government rests, and it sets
forth with force and dignity the specific causes which
impelled the American colonists to withdraw from the
authority of a government which. in their case, under
the direction of unwise and short sighted men, had so
violated those principles as to make further recogni-
ton of that authority by the colonists inconsistent with
the spirit Of free men. In earnest and solemn words 1t
was declared that hencefbrth the colonies were and
ought to be free and independent states.
But the Declaration of Independence, important
though it was, was not an act of government. It laid
The foundation for government. The superstructure re-
NAMED to be erected. To declare that all men were
born free and equal; that they had certain inalienable
tights; that governments derived their Just powers from
The cosent of the governed:-all this was a magnificent
thing for the colonists to dare, a momentous thing for
them to do. But, had the matter been left there no
American nation would have been born, and the colonists
would merely have exchanged a state Of tyranny for
one of chaos. 1t would have been a case Of faith with
out works, and faith in such a case, according to the
apostle. is dead. Faith, to be effective, must be shown
by works; principles must be translated into action.
The colonists themselves quite early recognized the
need of appropriate action to supplement their declara-
ton Of principles, and their first attempt in this direc-
lion was expressed in the Articles of Confederation under
Which such central government as existed was carried
On for practically the entire period of the Revolutionary
var. The Articles of Confederation represented, in the
main. the conception that there was an irreconcilable
conflict between democracy and unity, and in the effort
to guard against what they believed to be the dangers
Of a strong central government, a structure was created
so weak that it soon became apparent that it was
doomed to fall to pieces Of its own weight.
Then came the framing Of the constitution. IN
that document was presented to the world for the first
time, on a broad and comprehensive scale, the concep-
ton of a nation with all its powers vested in the people
themselves, with it's parts Independent as to their local
activities, and yet possessing all the powers and func-
tons, and all the strength of a real nation. 1t may not
be strictly accurate to say that the American constitu-
ton has served as the model for the formation of other
constitutions; but it is correct to say that the spirit
which underlies that constitution has helped to shape
every liberal constitution in the world since that time,
and the labors of its trainers have therefore borne fruit,
not only in our own land, but in all other lands where
free men dwell and orderly government obtains. The
world OWES a vast debt to those men who completed
their labors on the 18th Of September, one hundred
and thirty-one years ago, and it is not without signifi.
canoe that their descendants, reared under the influence
Of the constitution which. they prepared, uniting with
4. other free peoples who have striven and fought SO gal
lantly and so long, have become the deciding element
in e. gigantic conflict, in which the freedom Of the
world is at stake. The 18th of September, therefore
has become a memorable day in the history of America
and of the world.