Inoepemlonoe Day Celebration.

ADDRESS

HON. s. D. Foss.

  oeoem, h
DELIVERED IN INDE]§’ENDENCEA . SQUARE; PHILADEL-%-

PHIA, I’A.., JULY 4, 1914.
(l?rintod in the CONGRIDESSIONAL Rmcono, July 9, 1914.)

Mr. FESS saicl:

“ Mr. Chairman, members of the committee of the greater
'.ll‘oo1'th of July, zmcl fellow oitlzenss, 138 years ago today the
<;:e:x1l:en:;1io.l celebrattloxx of the :;1clo};.ll:.loo. of the Deolamtion of
;Inde~pe11tlooee was held to thi:;< oity. Wltile the hletox-lo docu—
ment was being; reutl, l;>ehi1.1cl the Ireacler, by the eicle of Gen.
(.1:-rant, the Preeident of the United States, sat at W'hite~hai1-ed,
White-bez.1r<:le(.l old gelltlelnaxx with :1 fotled p:.u*t:hn:1e11t in his
1[li'lILld$. As he followed the roo.<;li11g of the i1m::oortol dowment he
frequently broke out, ‘ ‘Womlerfulo document! Wonderful docu-
ment I " '1“hose 11e211* him noticed tours; tI‘l(315Z1‘lllg down. his cheeks
as he thoo spolie. Little clitl those who hearszl him thin}; that in
less than a. dozzen years the people over whom he was then.
1't11i'11g, who loved him poosionotely, but who knew that his
presence in Brozzil prevented it €3L')I")lSlIIltlllZi0Il{ll govemxnent, would
my to him ‘ While we love you ztrtlently, We love oomstitutionol
,o;ove1'1.:m:1e‘nt better.’ IEIi.'~:; own people b2T’l.l.liSh£3(1 him and. ;;)en-
oiohed him for life that they meight troinelote into ooto.-:.s.'l govem-
ment the msincriples fou'txclod in the A1:oelri<:::ixn Deo1o1'o.1:i<.m of
.IJ:1<:1epende11ce. Hence Dom Pedro was banished, and Brazil,
having gone to becl one night :1 momtrehy, arose the hem: mom»
mg on repuhlie. "This wvos the effect of the p1.‘iI1<EiI,')1€S§ of this
document upon the people of the lz1x'ges‘t empire in South Amoo
loo in 1889. . L

“'1‘he Declaration of Independence adopted in this hall is
mroperly regomfled the greatest charter of human liberty known
in history. It is not :3. form of government, but :21. mere on-
llOll11(f€%I13€!Ilt of o. prlnoip'le-—~g1'eote1' than Magoo Charla, greater

tthan the Bill of Rights, greater than the petition of xfights, '

g:reate1* lthan the plan of govermnexxt. It is not on inclictment
egztinst the people of the mother country, but against the tyr-
z1.11I1y of an E1:1glie11 l;:.i11g, 2:1 tile-spot. Of the 28 counts -in this
fomouo national indictment, all but 2 begin with the personal
pronoun ‘he,’ referring to George the Third. The people of
Engiloncl generally believecl ill the majesty of the people as sug-

gested by the power of the House of Commons, the elective body

of representatives "of the people.
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“The greatness of this instrument must be viewed from simi-
lar documents in the past.

“In Greece, in her palmiest days, one-tenth of her people
were citizens, nine-tenths were slaves. The citizens possessed
all powers of government, the slaves no privileges whatever.

“It is difficult for us here today to realize that Greece, who
gathered her students in the academic groves to be taught
by her Plates and her Aristotles, was theination whose mass of
population were mere slaves, in which a mere tenth of the popu-
lation had any participation in the government.

“ In Rome a similar situation is noticed. When her conquer-
illg eagles perched in every quarter of the civilized world, Home
knew but two classes-——the ruling and the ruled. Two entirely
separate people. The patricians, one—tent.h of the nation, held
all power and privileges of government, while the plebeians,
n;ine—tenths or the mass of the people, were without participation
in government.

“Down to the thirteenth century all Europe was divided into
two classes-——the feudatory and the serif. The former owned the
land, while the latter were a part of the land. The serif of
medieval Europe was a rank higl1e1' than the slaves, as he could
not be separated from the land of which he was a part, as a
building is now regarded a part, while the slave could be sold
as a chattel. 4 "

“ In feudal Europe the serf possessed no privilege, no power,
no participation in government to speak of.

“ In modern Europe the people natural.l.y divided theinselves
into the two classes known as the privileged, on the one hand,
and the great middle class on the other. There has been but
one current in all history, a gradual slipping away of power
from the few toward the many.

“The power and privilege g1';1cl11ally slipped away from the
one—tenth citizens of Greece, one-tenth pat1'icians of Rome, one
tenth feudatories of niedieval Europe, and the priiileged few
in modern Europe.  

“A constant growth of influence is noticeably progressive in
the slave of Greece, plebeian of Rome, serf of meclieval Europe.
and the great middletclass of modern Europe. m

“Another fundamental principle is noticed-——reforms do not
proceed from above as a rule, but from below. They come from

the rnassrather than from the cl The ,«;:rea,t miicldle ,1.io1:)11la¢

tion gave the world Magna Charta, the House of Conuyuons in
England. The same class gave the Bill of Rights and the
Eiigrlish Conunonwealth, with Cromwell at its head. The same
element gave the petition of rights and the famous Eiigglisli Revo-
lution of 1688, when the divine r.ig.;;l1t to rule gave way to the
voice of the people as heard through Parliament. It was duringg:
these days of mighty. political reform that the New World was
peopled, partly for the sake of religious ifreedoni, but vastly
more significant because of its political freedom. "i

“Out of this agitation our Nation was peopled. To. New
England came the Puritan with his cleniocratic sympathies. ‘To
the Southland came the cavalier with his sense of religious
and political liberty. To the central Colonies came the neutral,
surcharged with the spirit of local government in which all
should have a hand. ‘ i"

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3

. “Where this principle was contested by the mother country
it was answered in the greatest document in history, written by
the greatest Democrat of the age.

“Note its headlines.

“All men are created equal.

“ They are endowed with inalienable rights, among which are
life, liberty, and happiness. ,

“ How would such utterances be taken in Greece, in Rome. in
feudal Europe? How were they taken in modern Europe?

“ Note further:

“ To secure these rights governments are instituted among
men. I I

“I When they become subversive of these rights it is the duty
of the people to change it, or even to abolish it, and build a new
government upon the foundation that the right to govern must
come from the consent of the governed. ,

“Here for the first time in the World’s history of civil gov-
ernment was such an announcement made. It was fundamental
here, for of all the people on earth thispeople, which Was a
picked people of Europe, was prepared for self-government.

“The Declaration of Independence is not an instrument of
government, but a mere announcement of a fundamental prin-
ciple of a government of the people by the people.

“On this hallowed day, here on this sacred spot, our citi-
zenship should link to this wor1d’s famous document, our char-
ter of liberty, that other equally historic and significant docu-
ment, also adopted in this same building, the Constitution of
the United States, the frame of the Government, Without which
the Declaration of Independence would have meant little to
posterity.

“The declaration stood for liberty, While the Constitution
stood for law and order. .

“The first declared all men equal; the second demanded
justice and general welfare.

“The first was signed by a notable group of statesmen, in-
cluding Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin ll‘ra.nklin.
Roger Sherman, Charles Carroll, and others, while the second
by George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin,
James Madison, James Wilson, and others.

“Both of these world-famous documents were drafted and
adopted not only in this famous city but right here in this
famous building, made sacred for all time to come.

“Well may your city be proud of this event. In future years,
when the Nation shall recur, to this annual occasion, may I be-
speak for you a Wider consideration of the real significance of
the second document, the work of that immortal band of 56
statesmen unequaled by any similar group in the history of
the World.

“Inspired by the authority vouchsafed them to translate the
principles of the Declaration of Independence, through the
powerof the sword in the War of the Revolution, they couched
an instrument of government in 7 short articles, of less than 40
sections, employing less than 4,000 Words, thereby producing a
document pronounced by Gladstone the most Wonderful instru-
ment ever stricken off by the brain or purpose of man.

“This instrument, without a parallel in history, has stood
through the years of the most marvelous material development,

52634:-—13669

4:

during which a small Nation of but 13 seaboard States has
grown to a Nation of a half a hundred empire States, and a
mere 3,000,000 people to 100,000,000, and a war-striclren confed-
eration to a Nation of $130,000,000,000, which is one and three-
quarters times wealthier than the next wealthiest country on
the globe. Through all this growth the instrument of ‘govern-
ment has stood with less than half a dozen changes in all the
Nation’s life since the inauguration of its first President.

“These two historic documents, finding birth in the same
building only 11 years apart, are worthy the admiration of all
the world. It will be noted that the struggle in government
throughout the past has been to assure a larger participation in
its aftairs by the individual, without regard to rank. Under
these two great documents ours has become the land of oppor-
tunity. The toiler can whisper to his child in the cradle the
inspiring note of :t'uture success, for avenues of distinction are
open to him as to the children of the well-to-do. In America the
child of poverty may become the man of eminence in many lines.
This is the legitimate fruitage of the principles of the two fa-
mous instruinents adopted at this historical place. Let us hold
to this birthright of American liberty, justice, and conimqn weal.

“You have done well here to—day to inaugurate the greater
Fourth of July celebration. We should hold it sacred as the
place and time to rededicate our lives to the service of our
country, in order that we may insure to our people the security
of an equal opportunity to all for the sake of justice, general
welfare, and the blessing of liberty, preserved among our people
to the latest posterity. Your celebration is significant in its
purport. The President of the Nation has added to its meaning
byhis presence to address you as the head of the Nation. I
congratulate you upon this one hundred and thirty—eighth anni-
versary of the Nation’s birth.”

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. WASH!-Nt}TON 2 GOVERNMENT PRINTING CSFFICE 1 -1914