Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-02-15
DOCUMENTARY TREASURES
Question Of Preservation Gives Grave
Concern. liii
SPECIAL BUILDING NOV SUGGESTED
Constitution IF the. g United States Of
:: ,Priseless Sentimental :VaIue-orisi-
,.na!1of " Mashi,astoH's Farewell Ad-
81 dress Owned gn New York. -: -,

10 -:paSSElfIs Is StlerttttoHS Sll6tdFeu w
porphyTy and marble. The United
States. however. having existed wholly
in an age. of. paper has all its. most
precious historical records in the form
of paper documents. which can easily
: be destroyed by fire, and injured by
dampness,, extreme dryness or rough
hahulins. :! ~ n.as::.a,: IS, -
A recent fire which destroyed ire
placable records is. the census bureau
at WashtngtonSand almost slmultane-
Gus fire in the. state capitol of West
Virginia, which practically wiped out
the archives of that, state, have rein
forced the argument of those urging
that 'fireproof hall Of records be built
in Washington so the Federal govern
ment's. priceless papers may be kept In
safety. What some of the most impor-
tant and best known of these docu-
ments are, and swhere they are kept is
told in the following bulletin issued
from the Washington, D.. c., headquar-
ters OF the National Geographic Soci-
ety: ~. ~ ',t
A steeEfiArk of the Covenant
while ,thNs Constitution is the most
important document possessed by the
United States, the Declaration OF Inde-
pendence comes first among our. great
state; pa perHtn spoint of time and prob
ably in the Hearts of the American peo-
ple.> The original Of ibis II challenge to
tyranny which. like the first shot fired
at Lexington. has been heard around
the. world. and has helped to mould
monarchies and colonies into republics,
is in the hsn% of the department of
state and is kept in assteel, case in the
state, war. and navy building, which
adjoins the White House on the west.
The: original Of the Constitution Is
locked in the same case, which may
therefore be considered the steel Ark
Of the Covenant Of the government of
the United States.
"Washingtons farewell address may
fairly be considered one Of the great
est papers produced in the las years Of
the republics, independence. This doc
ument is not owned by the Federal
government, but Is Kept in the New
York public library at 42nd street and
Fifth avenue. ~ -.
THE next paper to stand out as
milepost in the shaping of national
policy is the message to congress by
President Monroe proclailning the Mon
roe doctrine. The original message. IS
in the files of the senate in the capitol
building at Washington.
Gettysburg Address in Congressional
Library-And Newspapers.
''The Gettysburg address of Lincoln,
scrawled in longhand. is in the library
of congress, at Washington. This ad-
dress, now considered one of the great
orations Of the world. attracted little
attention when it was delivered. In the
newspaper reports Of the following day
it was subordinated to long, t1owerV
speech Of Edward Everett, delivered
from the same platform The speech
was published, however. an important
fact; for by the time of the Civil war
and to rapidly increasing extent since
newspapers by multiplying copies CT
important documents have made their
content safe from destruction even
though the priced original may be lost.
By still another step, applied science
has multiplied the form Of famous rec
ords as well as their wording. Because
of the Photographic copies that have
been made, today even a school child
may be as familiar with the appearance
of the Constitution or the Declaration
of independence as the favored lew
who have. looked upon the treasured
originals.
"Lincoln's Emancipation Proclama-
tion is in the:.'library; of the state de-
partment in Washington, and there toe
are all the treaties entered into by the
United States, from that Of 177S with
the French and that of 1888 which
closed the Revolution. down to the
present. Among these perhaps the
most interesting are those which nave
contributed to the greet territorial
growth Of the country.
"rhere is. the treaty of 1903 with
France which arranged for what is
probably the greatest real estate deal
in history-the Louisiana Purchase
There is the treaty with Spain. which
added Florida to the new republic; anc
the. uncompleted treaty with the lnde'
pendent republic Of Texas which led te
the only instance in which separate
nation has merged itself with the Unit
cd States. Near them in the files Of
the state department are the treaties
with Mexico adding to the Gnuec
States California and the other terri
tory west of Texas and south of Ore
ron. the treaty with Great Britain
adding Oregon; the treaty with Russls
arranging for the second greatest pur'
chase of territory. the Alaska Fur
chase: and the treaties which nave re-
shifted in bringing Hawaii. the Phii
innines. Porto Rico, Guam, and the VII
Gin Islands under the American nag
-NTbv not give tn