Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-05
American independence.

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AS the Years pass. and as In
dependence day recurs for celebration
II becomes more difficult to recreate
in the mind the conditions in which
the Declaration of Independence was
drafted and signed. the circumstances
which compelled that daring act OF
INSTRUMENTATION on the part of the
British colonistS in America and
which permitted them to win their
battle against heavy odds For Amer.
lean Independence has become so fixed
fact, has been established for so
many years and has so completely
Justlned itself that II seems to have
been natural evolution. quite in &C.
cord with the laws of human institu.
lions.
As matter of fact. there was
nothing inevitable about the separa
ton of the colonies. Had there been
wiser monarch AT London, or had
he been guided by wiser counSelors.
the breach between the mother coun.
occurred, at least not at that time.
Oppressive measures had been in.
stltuted against the people of the
colonies. They were regarded with no
sympathy. They were treated as sub.
Jects serving only to enrich the
kingdom.
The very difficulties of understand
ing, due to the great distance that
separated the New World from the
Old and the lack of intercourse. that
caused the crown to fail to sense the
true spirit of the colonies. made for
the separation. The people on this
side of the Atlantic knew England far
better than the people and particularly
the rulers of England knew the
colonies. Many of the Weather of
the colonists had visited the homeland.
Few of the lawmakers of Great
Britain had visited America.
Champions of the American cause
there We're, to be sure, In England
But they were a small minority, and
their warnings against harsh treat
ment of the distant subjects by the
crown We're Of no avail. They were
unheeded, and SO measure after meas
ure was employed to the end of fore
ing subsection to the royal will and
compelling the payment of tribute to
the royal treasury.
Such a situation could not now de
velop, for there is no lack of under
standing between Great Britain and
her colonies and dOminions beyond
seas. Indeed, the lesson taught by
the separation of the colonies and
their establishment as an independent
sovereign state was we'll learned bv
England. The mistake that brought
about the secession of the colonies
that formed themselves into the
United States of America was not
repeated.
So the very difficulties that prevent
ed understanding and which brought
about the impositions which became
too great to be longer borne were the
making Of the new Republic. The
isolation, the distance from the home
land, the privations that had become
part of the community life in America
all were factors for the success of
the great experiment in self-govern-
ment.
Men were bred to mighty stature
by those hardships and trials. Yet
the strange part of the matter is that
the spirit of independence, which
famed into an undying torch at Phila-
delphia on the Fourth of July, 1875,
was spread through so widely scat
tered a people, over such vast dis
tances, in such widely differing cir
cumStances. Today words flash over
of miles. in the twinkling of an eve.
Ideas are borne to millions of minds
in seconds. Millions of people are
constantly moving about on business
and on pleasure bent. Newspapers
are printed in countless quantities and
spread swiftly before vast multitudes.
Marvellous means of instant COM
munication have been developed. But
one hundred and fifty years ago all
was different And it is because of
that difference that the phenomenon
of the great secession which brought
a world power into being is so diff
cult for most Americans of today
fully to understand and appreciate.
Nevertheless, the marvel came
about. The new nation was born. 1t
has survived many trials and is now
without question the strongest of the
nations of the earth. 1t pauses today
from its great activity to pay tribute
to those men who. a century and a
half ago, dared to set up a democracy
in defiance of a powerful monarchy,
and thus created for the first time in
the history of mankind a government
for the benefit of all the people and
not for the benefit of a few.
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