Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1921-04-01
WHERE AMERICAS VAL
UED DOCUMENTS ARE
KEPT
KEPT

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The most important chronicles Of
some ancient nations have come down
to present generations engraved on
porphyry 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
handling.
A recent fire, which destroyed ir-
replaceable records in the ensus bu-
reau at Washington, and an almost
simultaneous fire in the State capitol
of West Virginia, which practically
wiped out the archives of that State,
have reinforced the argument of those
urging that a ireproof hall of rec
ords be built in Washington so the
federal governments priceless papers
may be kept in safety.
While the Constitution is the most
important document possessed by the
United States. the Declaration Of In
dependence m first among u
great state papers in point of time and
probably in the hearts of the American
people. The original of this challenge
to tyranny which, like the shot fired
at Lexington, has been heard round
the World, and has helped to mould
monarchies and colonies into repub-
lies, is in the hands Of the depart
ment of state and is kept in a steel
case in the State, War and Navy
building, which adjolns the White
House on the west. The original of
the Constitution is locked in the same
case, which may therefore be consid-
cred the steel Ark of the Covenant
of the government of the United
States.
Washington's farewell address may
fairly be considered one of the great
est papers produced in the 145 years
of the republics independence. This
document is not owned by the fedesal
government, but is kept in the New
York public library, at Forty-second
street and Fifth avenue.
The next paper to stand III as a
milepost in the shaping of a national
policy is the message to congress by
President Monroe proclaiming the Mon
roe Doctrine. The original message
is in the files of the senate in the
capitol building at Washington.
The Gettysburg address of Lincoln,
scrawled in l%onghand, is in the library
of congress at Washington.
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclama-
ton is in the library of the state de-
partment in Washington, and there
too 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
have contributed to the great terri
torial growth of the country.
There 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 ;
and the ~uncompleted treaty with the
independent republic of Texas which
led TO the only instance in which a
separate nation has merged itself with
the United States. Near them in the
files of the state department are the
treaties with Mexico adding to the
United States, California and the other
territory west of Texas and south OF
Oregon the treaty with Great Brit
ain adding Oregon; the treaty with
Russia arranging for the second great
est purchase of territory, the Alaska
Purchase and the treaties which have
resulted in bringing Hawaii, the Phil
ippines, Port Rico, Guam, and the Vir-
gin Islands under the American flag.