Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-04
A New Declaration Needed.


John Adams In his arguments for in
dependence. And on July 4. l776, an
infant Congress formally ratified its
decision to cast OF the rule Of men and
substitute rule of laws.
There was little spontaneity about
the decision. The preceding Congress
had voted against the radical theory OF
complete independence. But the theory
had been gaining strength in spite Of
Congress. In January Thomas Paine'S
Common Sense" urging independence
as inevitable, had brought into the open
what had been talked about In whispers
New Jersey. Pennsylvania and Mary
land had instructed their delegates to
stand irm against such stun. South
Carolina was hostile to the doctrine,
and New York and Delaware were
divided. But In March and April Con-
gress virtually threw the fat in the IRE
and took the momentous step when It
closed American ports to British ships
and declared British ships lawful prizes
North Carolina and Virginia had gone
on record in favor Of independence.
In June. Lee Of Virginia formally moved
in Congress the adoption Of the tnde-
pendence resolution, and Adams sec
onded his motion. There were two days
Of debate, and q committee was APP
pointed to draft resolution. The reso-
luton was reported and came up on
July l..
Before the vote the Congress lis
tened to o letter from Gen. Washing
ton. He said that to oppose the 10000
seasoned veterans coming against him
from England he had 7,700 men. Four
teen hundred Of them had unservice-
able firelocks. Half of them were with
out bayonets, and about 800 were un-
armed. Some routine business then
was transacted and Congress went into
committee Of the whole to take up "the
resolution respecting independently"
And now" said John Adams, lis the
time for US to decide"
The vote was nine to three In favor OF
the resolution. It was afterward made
unanimous and on July the amended
resolution became an immortal docu-
ment.
One hundred and ffty-three years
have passed and the rule Of laws as a
whole has worked. For the most part
our sovereign laws have been just and
respected. But there are too many OF
them. Some Of them have grown de-
crepit with age and are no more ut to
govern than senile old men. Some Of
them are capricious and without dig
nifty. Some OF them are silly old la
dies who should mind their own busi-
ness and some Of them are drastic and
arbitrary and despotic. Some OF them
are loved with the loyalty that good
monarchs inspire; some Of them are
hated and laughed at behind their
backs. Good and bad they are dressed
in ermine, given the scepters of author
ity and turned out in wholesale guam
tity by forty-eight Legislatures and Ma
tional Congress that seem unanimously to
have adopted some unwritten Declare
ton of Dependence on laws and legis-
lation. The free American can scarcely
move without stepping on the toes Of
some new King Of whom he has never
heard.
There are no 10000 disciplined vet
Grams marching on us today and we
have the bayonets and nuskets to repel
them If there were. But everywhere
there are ugly signs Of disrespect, not
for a few Of our laws alone, but for all
of them. And the danger is not that q
few will be overthrown, but that all of
them may suffer from the sins Of the
few. We need another declaration OF
independence and q housekeeping in
the castles Of our rulers. Those laws
UNIT to rule should be quietly beheaded.
The convenient method Of defamation
might be undertaken without, irrepa-
rable losses. And those rulers that are
left, that will command respect and
obedience, viii have the sons Of 177e to
back them up.