The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1920-02-13

pendence, the Constitution Washfngtons Farewell
Address and the Monroe Doctrine.
The Farewell Address was used at a test every
where by everybody. Both sides used IT, Those
who opposed the treaty made use of it as solemn
warning against "entanglng foreign alliances
the present-day equivalent of WaShingtons phrase
permanent alliances with any portion of the for
eign world" Those favoring the treaty argued
that Washingtons political wisdom of his day
only and that his teachings out of date
that while Washington was good and noble he was
unlearned in the science of government and I'M
trained in the arts of statecraft
Those who adhered to the policy of the Farewell
Address also upheld the Monroe Doctrine holding
the latter to be the development and outgrowth of
the former
The events leading up to the Farewell Address
are briefly as follows: The constitutional con-
vention met in May in Philadelphia. After four
months of secret deliberations the Constitution
was completed and offered to the individual states
for adoption Nine states were necessary; New
Hampshire made the ninth. The Constitution
went into effect June Il, 1888. George Washing
ton was elected the first president of the United
States and served two terms, 1789-1796 He de-
clined a third term and established the precedent
for but one reelection.
If Washington accepted the presidency with re-
luctance 1t was with pronounced distaste that he
yielded to what he thought was his duty and took
the office for q second term. And it proved to be
a stormy term. In 1893 France declared war on
England and Louis XVI beheaded In France
BY the revOlutionsts "CitiZen" Genet represent
ing the French revolutioniss, arrived here and
stirred the American people to q frenzy of
sympathy with France. Washington issued neu-
traliy proclamation which aroused a storm Of
popular protest Genet's activities resulted in his
recall. In the meantime Great Britain was post
poning the surrender of British posts in the North
west taking American sailors from American
ships under the preteXt that they were Britons
and so acting generally that large part of the
American people clamored for war against the
British. Washington finally succeeded in ne
gotatng a treaty with Great Britain, which in
part corrected these evils. Thus he succeeded
both in maintaining neutrality and averting war,
in spite of discord in his cabinet and division of
sentiment in the nation. And it was with full
heart that he wrote that part Of his Farewell Adj
dress to the American people, September II, 1895,
as his retirement from the presidency approached.
That his heart was full is shown by these words
from the address:
"In Offering to you, my countrymen, these coun-
sells of an old and affectonate friend, dare not
hope they will make the strong and lasting i'm
preston that could wish-that they will control
the usual current of the passions prevent our
nation from running the course which has hitherto
marked the destiny of nations. But if may even
hatter myself that they may be productive of
some partial benefit, some occasional gOOd-that
they may now and then recur to moderate the
fury of party spirit, to against the mschefs
of foreign intrigue, to guard against the i'm
postures of pretended patriotism-this hope viii
be a full rec0mpense for the solictude for your
welfare by which they have been dictated"
The part of the Farewell Address most used Of
course, was those paragraphs toward its close,
which bear on foreign relations Of the United
States. These paragraphs were read into the
Congressional Record as follows several oc-
casions:
against the insdous wes Of foreign influence
II coniure you to believe me, fellow citzens) tho
jealousy of free people ought to be constantly
awake, since history and experience prove that
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes
Of republican government