Evening star., 1941-07-04
This Fourth of July


accepted by the Representatives of
the United States of America in
General Congress Assembled, July 4,
1776, was the answer of the New
World to the challenge of tyranny
in the Old. Careful reading of the
text shows that the document is,
in effect, the announcement of an
intention upon the part of these
colonies" to resist ABUSES and uSur-
pationS" designed to reduce them
under absolute despotism." The
delegates of the thirteen different
communities joined in an indictment
of King George III and the Parlia-
ment of Great Britain before
Christendom. A lengthy bill of
complaint was filed against "a form
of government" which had become
destructive" of certain inalienable
rights" including life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness"
With reference to the principles
affirmed in the phrases last quoted,
it is necessary to remember that the
authors of the Declaration were
writing against a background eStab-
lished by social philosophers we'll
known on both sides of the Atlantic.
Those teacherS-John Locke most
notably-had set forth new concept
of the purpose of organized society.
1t was their doctrine that the con-
sent of the governed" was an essen
tial requirement for any tolerable
system of administration. The busi-
ness of the managers of public affairs,
they insisted, was the insuring to
individual citizens of those privileges
with which they are endowed by
their Creator" Since the sovereign
lord of England and his legislature
had been guilty of repeated injuries"
not merely to the general welfare
of the colonial people but also to
that theory of neighborly association
under which they desired to live,
they proclaimed their absolution
from all allegiance" to the British
crown.
But the Declaration is something
more than an advertisement of a
separation from the mother country.
1t is likewise contract between and
among the signatory States ito pro-
Uidn ric fNr thoj- f,,tr
security" One of their primary
objectives is that of safety" King
George, it specifically is explained,
was "waging war against u.s." There
was no question, then, that recourse
to arms would follow the publication
of the revolutionary covenant. In
deed, the inevitable struggle had
been in progress ever since the battles
of Lexington and Concord in April
of the previous year. Congress simply
confirmed the prevailing strife, con-
demning especially the "circum-
stances Of cruelty and perfdy
scarcely paralleled in the most bar
barous ages" with which it was
waged by "a prince whose character
is thus marked by every act which
may define tyrant."
Read in the light of this Fourth
of July, the Declaration of Inde-
pendence is seen to be possessed of
an applicability which might be lack
ing in less critical times. Thoughtful
Americans will find in the precious
charter of their liberty a solemn
obligation for themselves in the
emergency which now, as in 1776,
prevails. Humanity everywhere in
the Eastern Hemisphere is in chains.
A modern despotism unguessed by
the founders of the United States
affronts "the Laws of Nature and of
Natures God" The danger to DEM
ocratic civilization surpasses every
previous threat in its compelling
magnitude. Notice of the enmity of
gangster power has been formally
broadcast That force has decreed
the destruction of individual integ-
rity. 1t was in response to such a
program of criminal oppression that
the immortal Signers joined to
mutually pledge"-"our Lives, our
Fortunes and our Sacred Honor"