Evening star., 1943-04-13
Pa, which was laid at the foot O.
the statue.

Descendant Unfurls Flags.
The statue of Jefferson was not
veiled, but was the center of
simple and colorful ceremony. AS
Grace Moore, Metropolitan soprano,
sang the national anthem, the
youngest-known direct descendant
Of Jefferson pulled cord and furled
American flags suspended about the
statue slowly unfurled. The lad was
21a -year-old Anthony Errad Faith
man of Pike County, Mo. His father,
A. S. Fathman, is with the Gov
ernment here, but the boy was
brought here by his mother from
their Missouri home for the historic
event.
The dedication today was high light
of many celebrations and observances
in Washington, as the Nation paid
tribute to founding father cham
pion of the freedom which is at
stake on world battlefields.
Sealed in a specially built bullet
proof case, the Declaration of Inde-
pendence had been displayed first to
the public yesterday afternoon at the
Library of Congress. There, Archi-
bald MacLeish, librarian of Con-
gress, had opened the official bicen-
tennial ceremonies of the week,
when he declared that never in the
history of either England or America
was the significance of the Dec,ara-
ton of Independence more living
than it is today"
Early today the Declaration was
brought under armed guard of
United States Marines from the
Library to the jefferson Memorial
site. Arriving at 925 am. it was
carefully carried up the white steps
by six red and blue clad marines as
Is guards with submachine guns
went along for escort, for honor and
for protection.
Exhibit for Week.
The Declaration was placed at the
| foot of the heroic statue of Jeffer-
son in the center of the high
vaulted memorial room, and will
remain there for one week, under
heavy armed guard.
Portrait Exhibit Opens.
Following the dedication cere-
monies, other bicentennial events
honoring Jefferson today included
opening this afternoon of the public
exhibition of Jefferson portraits
and maps at the National Gallery
OF Art and a concert and grafton
at the Library of Congress. The
National Archives opened today its
exhibition of documents and maps.
Associate Justice Felix Frank
furter was to deliver the grafton
late this afternoon in the Coolidge
Auditorium of the Library, after
the Budapest String Quartet plays
music from Jefferson's library.
When the Declaration Of Inde-
pendence was brought forth yester-
day at the Library, Mr.. MacLeish
paid tribute to it, and then read the
document. A quiet crowd that stood
about the rotunda stairs and second
floor balcony listened reverently.
The Library exhibition, which will
be open daily, includes the original
draft of the Declaration and many
| other documents of jefferson and his
contemporaries.
THE Declaration is a positive and
not negative document" said Mr..
MacLeish. 1T is less a declaration
of independence from Great Britain
than declaration of independence
for the United States; less a revolu-
ton against the tyranny of a medi-
ocre and stubborn king than a revo-
| luton for society of free and free
DOM loving men.
ITO our enemies abroad" he con-
tinued," it may seem paradoxical
that the American people should
celebrate, in the midst of a war
which finds them fighting side by
side with Englishmen, the birth and
the achievements of the man who
was the principal author of their
independence from the British crown
To the British, however, and to our
selves, there is no paradox. The
Declaration of Independence is one
of the great precedents in the ira
dition OF the liberty of English
speaking peoples ana as such is a
part of the British inheritance as it
is of ours. Like the Magma Charta
which is now deposited among the
treasures of the Library of Congress
the Declaration of independence has
a common meaning to both peoples
What was devisive in the Declara-
tion-what set Americans against
Englishmen and Englishmen against
Americans-was its negative denun-
citation of the British rule. What
is creative and unifying is its
declaration of the basic principles OF
human liberty and its proposal fol-
the future of a society in which
human liberty could flourish. The
declaration. Now in these dam
out.
But never at any time in the
history of either country was the
affirmative and creative significance
of the Declaration of independence
more living than it is today.
'AS men in the free countries OF
the world, beset by dangers from
without and by doubts from within
grope for the meaning OF their lives
they rediscover, with a new and sud-
den understanding, the hard and
revolutionary realities of Jefferson's
declaration. Now in these dam
gerous years, when every preconcep-
ton. every easy understanding, has
been questioned by brutality and
violence. the words take shape again
and, taking shape, take meaning"