Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, July 4, 1914, Page 10

ROM much that historians have written about the 4th of July, 1776, an erroneous idea of the happenings of thatgreat day have ~become & common heritage of the people of our land. Many an American considers it part of a patriot- ie duty to muse upon the imaginative plc- ture entitled “The First Fourth of July,” which some historical writer has painted upon his vision. In fancy he sees Independence Hall in Philadelphia and the Continental Coh- gress with ‘its ruffled shirts, long cloth coats, knee pants, silk stockings and low shoes sitting with dignity, but lis- tening spellbound to & wonderfylly strange and entirely new document called ““The Declaration of Independence. = * In fancy he even hears the popular ag- claim of “That is just what we all say and “It 1s well worded, Mr. Jefferson.” Then the mind pictures the various dele- Bates to Congress hastening forward, eager for the*honor of affixing their sig- natures to a sheepskin document. ‘The scene changes to the ringing of the great liberty bell, to the assembling of the people at Philadelphia who applaud the reading of this bill of rights and to the final closing of the day with every man, woman and child in Philadelphia happy because he is no longer a British subject, having become a free American in a single day. Such a vision pictures an heroic scene; but the true record of events does not affirm that these so-called happenings took place on that memorable day. By biotting out the imperfect details of the Pplcture the Fourth of July is in no way robbed of any of its glory An authentic account of what trans- pired at that time changes the meaning of the Fourth of July from one day to sbout sixty in which the whole history of our national liberty is told and the heroic heart throbs of the sorely tried colonists . are keenly felt. The day itself properly symbolizes the liberty for which the patriots of that time stood ready to sacrifice their lives in or- der to launch the United States as a na- tional craft which should be anchored by no weight of foreign despotism. . » - It was a time of danger when brother, friend and neighbor became estranged by reason of -political opinion. . Some colo- nists still loved the mother country with true English pride, while others were so embittere dby the injustice of the sov- ereign across the seat that they willingly gave their all to thé cause of the people of the new land. Many were clearly convinced that- 1t was_their duty to repudiate the sover- elgnty of George III, but they feared to be considered rebels when there was such probability that.. Efgiand’s; wealth and power might resybiugate the revolution- The desire for independence had come to the colonists gradually. For six weeks before the war & Boston paper denounced such a thought, contending that it was slander to aceuse any one in the provirice of panting after independence.” During the latter yart of 1774 George Washing- ton himself wrote that no thinking man among the coionists wanted to leplra.ti from England, and Franklin ridicule the fdea. He gaid that he had neves heard any one drunk or sober express any sentiments for making a new nation. ring the eariy days of the revolution the bluecoats never dreamed of separat- ing from the beloved land of their an- gcostors. In fact, such a_ course would bave been condemned by Americans themselves as treason. Jefferson declared that prior to the 10th of April, 1775, he had beard no whisper of the disposition of any one to stand from under the governmental power of Great Britain. The inevitable, however, came with the spring of 1776, when local assemblies began formal discussion regarding the liberty of colonists. These Dbodies possessed but little power, but they id a great part in crystallizing the sen- timent for independence in many quar- fers and forcing those opposed to the 1dea to-declare their inimical attitude. * - * The g00d Work of these small legisla- tive bodies was reflected and magnified @s soon as the delegates were ‘sent to the Continental Congress. Then the spirit of liberty permeated the very atmosphere of the national assembly and many an individual received the courage to align himeelf with the new cause. , June 7, 1776, there had bee: xtra paper” o have informed the pub: lic of the latest political news ane might have read the flaring headlines “'Richard Henry Lee of Virginia the man of the hour,” for it was he who on that day started the Fourth of July. It was this southerner who introduced the = first declaration of independence in Congress dmmf the American. peoplg free. udgment dictated the caution of omitting John Adams' name from the minutes, as the second to that motion, 7ot the fact iy known today, when there v of redcoats w. PalBos S <Cheir ¢ walting to seize 00_much praise cannot be gzivi the introduction of Lee's rslulugl‘a:,n ver it was t0 the credit of the Continental Congress that action was not forced upon such an important measure at that . It could not havé succeeded until all objections had been silenckd, all fears of England’s success allayed, until all were consclentiously convinced that the eause of liberty was just. It was im- 5::““ that all should look the God- of Liberty squarely in the face with & devotion to follow where she should As _no ugreement could be reached on the 7th of June, the resolution was laid over until the mext day, when it was again postponed for consideration unti the 1st of July. Sufficient time would therefore be given for delegates not al- ?‘dy instructed to receive orders from he provincial government as to how to cast their votes. * * ¥ Tn order tuat the cause of liberty should mot be retarded during this wait Con- gress at that time appointed a commit- toe of five to prepate a declaration of in- @ependence to the same purport as Lee's resolution, in the hopes &! the new doc- trine would be " unanimously = accepted when the matter should be again taken up in July. Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, John Adams, Benjamin Frank- Bn and Thomas Jefferson, as chairman, were given the honor of serving on this m) t _charge. mmu«d that a southerner 1d be ehosen o write the declaration, oruer to increase the probability of its unanimous adoption. Logically, Jefrerson ‘was the man to carry this work through, for the masterly style of his pen was well ‘pns. h “such co-workers, though, epnnot be supposed that he alone was legislative | for discussion by Congress sittfug as a| i the author of the resolution; for the re- sponsibillty had been assigned to all five jointly, ‘and the counsel and advice of all | ere necessary, However, the credit of the phraseology is given to Jefferson, while John Adams is said to have given close attention to the revision and the amending of the resolution. . The entire committee helped perfect the document by making it the subject of critical analy In allowing the Declaration of Independence to be ready before its assembly on June 28 Congress preceded its schedule Satisfied that all were acquainted with its contents, the legislature then laid the | bill on the table until it should come up | committee of the whole. By trial vote July 1 only nine colonies voted as favorable to the resolution. Only two of Delaware's delegates being pres- ent and both voting differently placed the attitude of that colony in doubt. Me- Kean. realizing the situation, dispatched | & messenger to the absent member, eighty miles away. . * * * Vithin half an hour after Caesar Rod- ney received the summons he was riding at breakneck speed toward Philadelphia, remaining in the saddle all night, but reaching Congress next day in time to put his state on record as favoring the Declaration of Independence. ‘A split in | the vote of Pennsylvania delegation was a discouragement to th strong ad- vocates of the new document Although John Morton of that state was only the third to cast an assenting vote in his delegation, yet that was sufficient | to place Pennsylvania on the side of the “‘ayes,””. as only five from that colony voted. It was the support of each eonol and not the support of the individual voted. It was the suppoit of each colony | the respopsibility for the official action was put upon the v s local govern- ments, - South Carolina alone was repr sented by men who were unwilling on| that day to favor the document. Final legislative action was therefore deferred. until the next day. That, July 2, was probably the most meraorable of all dates of our national history. During | the storniy debate at that time the dec- laration was both attacked and com-| mended. John Adams, representing the | enthusiasm of the spirit of 1776, led the arguments in favor of the resolution, speaking, as he himself expressed it, like one oppressed with the weight of the sub- ject and the momentousne®s of the oc- casion. His concluding eloquence, “Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote,” was| voiced words not only of a statesman, but also of & hero whose courage won enthu- siastic adherence among those formerly undecided as to their stand. The force- ful reply of the polished John Dickinson | of Philadelphia, who opposed the measure Las he had opposed seftling the trouble | with England by arms, convinced the as- sembly that he was a stanch supperter of the colonists. * * * However, Dickinson was a man too cau- tious for “the times and not confident enough in'the old fiint musket of the con- tinental army. For this reason he found himself almost alone when the vote of the day was taken, and it was found that the-declaration had been unénimously in- dorsed by all of the thirteen colonies. The next day John Adams wrote a let- ter to his wife.in which he sald: “‘Yes- terday the greatest question was decided which was ever debated in America, and /a_greater, perhaps, never was nor never Will be decided among men.” Adams must STLVER TR STAND TROM WHIcE THE TN Was UseEp [oR THE DE CLARATION OF INDEPENDE NCE. have felt overjoyed at his victory, for the same day he wrote another letter stating that the 2d of July would be & memorable epoch in the history of America, and that he believed the anniversary'of the day would be celebrated by succéeding gen- erations He declared that it should be commem- orated as a day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty, and that it should be celebrated with pomp and parade, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illumination from one end of the continent forevermore. The vote in favor of the declaration was not sufficient to make the adontion of the new resolution complete, for the next day Congress sat as a committee of the whole to conSider the bill, At that time slight alterations were made, certain clauses censuring England were omitted and others regarding slave trade were left out, while other amendments were added. The 4th of July Congress assembled again and into a committee for the consideration immediately resdived itself of the Declaration of Independence. When John Hancock, as president of the AP, Congress, resumed the chalr, Mr. Harri- sion, greatgrandfather, of our former President of the United States, report- ed that his committee had agreed to the R GE ~> Wprc e declaration, report. ‘What followed this announcement is largely a matter of surmise, despite the fact that the debate lasted all through the warm day, when delegates elther talked or listened swathed in heavy, close-fitting stocks. The nine hours of this exciting session were not spent in discussing the rejection or acceptance of the Declaration of Independence, as that had been settled two days before, but the point at issue was whether or not the particular declaration which had been prepared by Mr. Jefferson and his committee should be accepted without further change or amendment. = -* Every member of that Congress was acting. with deliberation and a full reali- zation that he was helping to make his- tory. Every supporter of the resolution knew the probable consequences of being held for treason in the event that Great Britain should subjugate the American colonies in the war. To have reported which they desired him to Well, Well! President Wilson | uses his pen, at times, for other purposes than writ- ing messages to Congress. 1In off hotrs he turns to poetry — humorous— and when he wants a good brand of that article he writes it himself. Here's a littls limerick of his combining the phi- losophy of an Epic T tetus, the rhythm of a Longfellow, the humor of a Gilbert and the poetic charm of—a Dr. Wilson: For beatts T am not a star— There're others mors lovely by far; But my fage, T dow't mind it— You see, I'm behind 1t— It's the fellows in front that I jart Saved by Powers. Representative Ca- leb Powers is a slen- dér, quiet young man with the face of ‘4 lcollege stu- dent—totally unlike the popular idea of & man from the land of race horses and corn juice. He is from Barbours- ville, in Knox coun- ty, a reglon settled before the days of Daniel Boone. One ot Mr. Powers’ conatituents w e n t out on an eléctioneering tour - in the cAmpaign which sent Powers to Cony gress. This man was a great admirer of Powers and told the people of the candidate’s many virtues in ‘such glow- ing terms that he.actually made voting for Powers a necessary attribute of at- taining salvation. = Among the men who listened to these impassioned _speeches was a certain Joe Nason. Now, it happened that a revival was held in the neighborhood just after the electioneering and - that -Nason -attended religlous services as ardently as he did political meetings.” The' preacher spoke at length of the fires, of hell, of the glory of heaven, @&nd _then . walked among his congregation fo exhort sin- ners to repentance. He caught sight of Nason in the fringe of men lining the back of the chureh. g “Are you saved, brother?’ asked the minister in an earnest voice. Nason_stralghtened himself up proudly. Saved!” he roared. “Well, I reckon I is—didn't I vote for' Caleb Power: A La Wall Street. “I _ started ' in business early in life,” remarked Representative George Young of North Dakota, “and in an ineredibly short time I was conducting an in- dependent Mine of traffic in' ~ connec- tion with one of the most important branches of indus- try-in- that sec- tion.”” There was a suspicions . twinkle in the eye of the honoraple member of the Hopse. - “To speak more piainly,” he continned with a quizzical quirk of the corners of his mouth, "I made my Am.m?na; when I was seven vears old catching bullfrogs in the swamp back of town and selling the legs to the hotel keepers for 5 cents a dozen pairs. When, later in life, 1 found these same legs quoted on the cards of the city restaurangs at 75 cents and dollar a pair, I could have scalped that hotel keeper for swindling a seven- vear-old child; but, in those ambrosial days, 1 thought myself the most for- tunate of business men to get such terms. “Five cents for just a dozen old bull- frog legs! It seemed almost too good to be_trug. There they were, squatting down there in the swamp, walting for me to come and get 'em. All I had to do to get a whole five cents’ worth was just to ‘slosh around in the muddy ooze ‘that oftentimes reached my knees, and some- times fall In a hole over my head, and bark my shins and get mosquito-bitten and my face scratched and my clothes torns-just that for about four or five houts any day, and I'd have fully five cents’ worth. Time? What's & boy's tim “My orily. fear—felt every time I made a delivbry—was that my purchaser might complain that the high prices were ruin- ing him and demand a reduction of a couple of cents a dozen; of course I'd have ylelded rather than let my monop- oly go. “Also I feared at times that overpro- duction might glut the market: frequent- Iy' T would forbear to catch another halt dozen lest the sudden dumping of sich & quantity—more thang the public could Feadily absorb—mightf break the market and bring on a panicin priees. “I didn’t know it, but I was playing the Wall street game in all its essentials; wo was that hotel keeper!" 7 7 To Feel Natural. It the tourist, gazing upon the congressional _§en- ery of the House office bullding, can get, on a clear sum- mer morning, a good view of Representa- tive Hayden of Ari- zona, looking west, he cannot fail to observe @& com- manding, knob-like protuberance jupting from the southeast flank of that well known political land- mark. And, recalling that this particular bit of man-scape was for many years sherift of Maricopa county out in that country where they grow men with the bark on, he cannot fail to whisper to the cir- cumamblent office seckers: “Congressman Hayden packs a gun Which is Arizonese for carrying a pistol This conclusion s wrong, however. The beetling eminence swelling from the rug- ged flank of Representatiye Hayden and dominating the scene, as the critics put it, is no massed artiilery of deadly au- tomatic; it is nothing more formidable than a hip pocket crammed full of hand- kerchiefs. “I wear 'em there so's to feel more like my natural self,” explains the repre- sentative from the newest state. “You see, when I was sheriff, I packed a gun on that hip for so many vears, that it got to be just like clothes on me: 1'd as soon have thought of leaving off my boots. 1 observed Jast winter, however, that guns were no longer worn in the east by the Dbest dressers, and, wishing to be.in style, 1 laid mine aside. “1 ftelt_so blamed uncomfortable with- out it, though—so sort of half dressed and like I wasc't fit to appear i ladies’ society—that I stuffed a lot of pocket handkerchiefs down in that hip pocket; mow 1 feel more decent and respectable. the speeches of those arguing in favor of the declaration would have been to place their lives in jeopardy To have published the sentiments of those opposed would have been to arm the torles with arguments for persuad- ing wellmeaning patriots into disloy- alty to the new cause. If it had not been for a seemingly trivial incident the de- bates of that day might probably have Jasted over until the next, and so the 5th of July would have become the birth- y instead of the 4th. d?o\\:rd evening the discomfort of the assembly was increased on account of the swarms of flies which came, from & nearby livery stable, into the hall of legislature. These pests were so auda- clous in assaults upon the statesmen that Jefferson said their annoyance helpe c ot nd bring the matter to a conclusion, an Harrison reported the declaration - Congress as accepted, though in the i 4 claration was minutes of that day the declara s at first left out on account of the ven geance of England. | * * The plecture of John Hancock, presiding in the chair, and Thom;-on'behmdka ! colonial desk with his large giver ink- well, sand sprinkler and pen Heoeptagte; asily imagined. We also e dems and Jefferson sat side by ;\de n the great highbacked chairs for o least & part of that day. Today ‘adC pendence Hall, in the old statehouse ' Philadelphla, remains about 2s It was on that 4th of July, and s s the setting the stage the drama 1s cof pleted, but the drama itself is 1 uppiy. YAl :nifxv.-e have left orhlh:exrlec’t::d‘:: hat memorable day ls the Deciaration of Independence. and as that represents what all brave American SO0 onists were ready to lay doyn their down to What should be handed rx:ra:;d(u:rded as courageously as it had has amply 3 July been won. the Fourth of July has SmEw urpose and deserv » on 'm';v?:dm::xpme Spirit of Liberty for AL Yeclaration of In- Whether or not the Declaration o7 10 was SIgD 0 e e by any Dut Hancock. as presi. ent, of the Continental Congress ang joubt, for the journal entry ~records igned by order of and in behalf of (oR~ ess.” Jefferson himself made © 3 fl:ung statements regarding this ques tion. > e wrote to Samuel A. Well that a deimates except John Dickinson signed the resolution that rvhl'nhg. but at an- he that a this is so Jobn Thompson, as secretary, probably made the copy Many argue that the whole of the Congress must have signed the declaration for the respon: bility of adopting such an important measure should not have Fenen borne by rock and Thompson alone. “'T':(eulur(o of such an argument is par- tially destroyed by others who contend that every onegof the thirteen coloni had assumed its share of the respons! bility In placing itself on record July 2 When the Declaration of Indepemdence was unanimously accepted. Some contend that the delegates met informally on the morning of the 5th of July and signed the document. Whether or not the signa- tures were affixed on the 4th of July, Congress’ act was official on that day {hat Jefferson’s Declaration of Indepen- dence was acceptable to every colony. ‘And o it resolved that copies should be sent throughout the new-formed republic. The general assemblies, conventions, councils, committees of safety and U commanding officers of the Continental Army to be Informed of the inde- pendence of the United States. Thess Coples were signed by lHuncock and Thompson. The Congressional Record of July 19, shows®that « resolution was in- troduced in the national assembly to the effect that the declaration should be en- grossed on parchment and presented for the fif\amn of every member ou tha 24 of August i