Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-07-06
Democracy Is
Christianity Applied

CONTINUED From Page One)
cause they know they smybolize and
embody the spirit, the sacrifice and
ldealism of our national life.
mo event in all the annals of hu.
man history surpasses in Importance
and far reaching Influence this which
we celebrate this evening. The faith
ers of that day sensed the Importance
of their own act. John Adams, one OF
the leaders of the continental con-
gress, predicted that this event would
be celebrated by succeeding genera
tiona as the great universal festival,
and said that it ought to be commem-
GRATED as the day of deliverance by
solemn acts of devotion to Almighty
Cod. He also said it ought to be
Isolemnized with .pomp and parade,
with shows, games, sports, guns, hon
fires and illuminations, from one emf
| of this continent to the other, from
| this time forward forever more
Sesqui-CentenniaI
"This anniversary being the sesqui-
centennial of the independence of the
United States is deserving of. especfaf
recognition When one pauses to
contemplate the face that our nation
is only $50 years ola and then takes
an inventory of her progress. sand
achievements, he can but feel a sense
/ of amazement One hundred and fifty
years is very brief period when
considering the lives of nations. L.
i is little span indeed compared with
the so centuries of Chinese history
/ the 25 centuries of Japanese history,
or with the almost Is centuries of
English history The story of our
growth and achievements reads almost
| like fairy tale, so far does it sur
pass the development of any other
people or nation of which we have g.
record. From no place among the ma
tions of the earth we have come to a
position that is second to none. In
population we have grown from less
than three million to lis million. In
wealth we stand first among the ma
tions of the earth. Cur per capita
wealth has increased in the past two
generations from $500 to more than
$4,000. One hundred and fifty years
ago most of the territory of these
| United States was a vast unoccupied
wilderness; only a narrow strip of the
rrimeval forest along the Atlantic
coast had been occupied. Al that time
the western frontier was still east Of
the Ohio river. One hundred years
ago it was still east of the Mississippi.
Today we have no frontier.
Educational and Moral Progress
"From the earliest day in our hiss.
tory we have had a passion for edu
e., I ~
forefathers did after building a cabin
for their shelter and erecting meeting
houses for worship was to build a log
/ school house. Before Independence
year more than dozen colleges ana
universities had been established. Then
came the building up Of -onr public
school system which has popularizeG
education and which is the pride OF
every true American. We rejoice in
the fact that any ambitious youth who
has the will can find d way of win
ming an education. In all the walks
of life today we find the college bred
man. Our investments in this cause
have increased in the past so years
at tremendous rate. In 1870 our
expenditure per capita for education
was little over $5; today it is almost
$50.
I'm the $50 years of our history we
have had to meet great and difficult
moral questiohs---quest tions that have
touched intimately the political, social
and moral life o. our people and ma
ton One of these consumed the in
terests of our fathers for the first
century of our natoua1 .eistence ana
was settled by the resort to civil
war In Lincoln's famous words:
Our country could net eist half slave
and half free Much as we deplore
the shedding of SO much precious.
blood from 81 to '65, we all do re-.
joice the curse of slavery was re-
moved from our national escutcheon,
and that we made true in. fact what
we had written into the Declaration
nf InHependt roe-that all men are
created free and equal
"The second great moral question:
that has agitated our people in the
more recent decades and upon which
their will has been epressed is the
liquor question. The answer of our
people to this question is to be found
in the 18th amendment to the Con
stitution, which every good American
is bound to support as long as it re-
mains part of the fundamental law of
our land.
I'm addition to these two outstand~
ing victories for righteousness, there
have been many more which, while
and prohibited by law. Tie average
less conspicuous, have contributes
much to the moral and physical we'll
being of our people. Certain forms
of political corruption, industrial ops
preston, social impurity, unsanitary
housing conditions in our great cities,
which formerly were tolerated are
now frowned upon by public sentiment
Of human life has been greatly IN
creased and personally 1 am optimis-