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ICbe Conservative.
CIVIC RESULTS OP THE REVOLU
TION.
Address of Charles 8. Lobingier at the annual
mooting of the Nebraska Society , Sons .of the
Revolution , at Omaha , February 22,1002.
Mr. President , Ladies and Com
patriots :
In our histories it is the martial
glory of the revolution of w.hioh we
read most. The bravery of the men
of Bunker Hill , the heroic sacrifices
at Valley Forge , the triumphant scones
of Saratoga and of Ybrktown , these
aio the pages of the revolutionary
record upon which we most fondly
linger. But ,
"Peace hath her victories
No less renowned than war , ' '
and dear as those events have become
to us through the valor or our ances
tors , it is nevertheless true that not
fl. the military , but the civic results of
' / ' the revolution , have made it a land
mark in history. Nor are these re
sults at all such as were contemplated
by the promoters of the revolution.
The colonists entered upon the great
struggle , not , we are told , even to secure -
' [ cure independence but merely to re-
I sist the payment of an obnoxious tax
and to thwart the tyrannical designs
of a headstrong king. But while they
were thus engaged they were uncon
sciously forging materials for the
mightiest achievements in the form
of civic inventions which the world
Had yet seen.
Involuntary Union.
The first great civic result of . the
revolution was the voluntary union
of the colonies. For nearly two cent
uries they had remained in a state of
dependence upon the mother coun
try , and of isolation from eaoli other ,
with scarcely the sign of a yearning
for nationality. But the guns of
Concord and Lexington roused them
to-a sense of common danger. Wash
iiigton , the Virginian , was placed in
command of a continental army , in
cluding men of all colonies , who for
got .they wore Now Yorkers or Carolinians
linians , and became for the first time
Americans , fighting a common foe and
enlisted in the common cause oJ
liberty. Thus in the fierce forgo. oJ
war the scattered colonies were welded
into a nation.
And the striking feature of this
union was its perfect spontaneity.
The world had seen political unions
before , but they had almost always
been accomplished through force.
The .union of the English kingdoms
was effected , not. freely , but through
the absorption of the weaker ones by
a powerful ovorlordship. The Roman
Empire included , mauy tribes and ter
ritories but all wore brought within
Rome.'s comprehensive sway by oon.-
quest. In America , however , politi-
oaljmion was. the voluntary act of
free men. The tiny colonies of Dela
ware and Rhode Island entered the
confederation upon equal terms with
the powerful commonwealths of New
York and Pennsylvania.
The Federal Idea.
The second great civic result of the
revolution followed from the first
and was its counterpart. It consisted
of the successful establishment of the
federal system , a system which pre
serves the autonomy of the individual
state , while providing a central
power supreme within its own sphere.
This , like the other , was a unique
achievement. The process by which
all former permanent political unions
had been reached was absorption or
amalgamation , never federation. And
all attempts to federate had failed
either because the central government
was too powerful and absorbed # ie
local , or because the local unit was
too strong and defied the central. Our
lathers first found the true center of
political gravity , and the federal idea
s one of America's original contribu
tions to the science of government.
And how widely has this idea been
iopied. Our Canadian kinsmen in
1867 , following in our footsteps and
imitating the work of the Philadelphia
: ouvention , succeeded at last in unit
ing alien races and widely separated
provinces into a federal union , the
Dominion of Canada , which bids
fair to duplicate our own history and
to achieve mighty results along mater
ial lines. In 1871 , the Germans , after
lenturies of division into petty king
doms , adopted our federal idea and
thereby solved the problem that had
baffled generations of German states
men , healed the wounds left by count
less religious and civil wars , and
created a new nation , which from the
first has taken its place among the
great powers of the world.
The twentieth century was ushered
in by the adoption of the federal idea
in the Antipodes , Australia , Britain's
youngest daughter , * followed almost
literally the American plan of federa
tion" , and thus launched upon its great
career the new commonwealth whiol
is a nation in all but name.
But the federal idea has not only
spread to the English colonies , it has
reacted upon England herself. - Today
the dream of the greatest and mos"
far-sighted English statesman is Imperial
porial Federation , the application q :
this American idea to all of the scattered
tored constituents of the British Em
pire. Truly , the federal idea hai
spread around the globe and all ua
tious have paid tribute to the civic
wisdom of our ancestors.
The Written Constitution.
Again , through the revolution it
first became possible to perfect the idea
of .the written constitution. This
idea had long been growing in the
world. It found expression in Magna
Oharta , in the English instrument of
government and the Bill of Rights ,
and in the colonial charters and com
pacts. But the full fruition of the
constitutional idea came with the
revolution and it was then that the
first complete constitutions were pro
duced. Disregarding the maxim that
"amid arms the laws are silent , " the
struggling colonies framed their in
dividual constitutions in the very
midst of the war , and within less than
four years from the conclusion of the
treaty of peace , the Philadelphia con
vention gave us that instrument which
Gladstone pronounced the most won
derful ever struck off at a given time
by the brain and purpose of man.
And this , too , like the federal idea
has been a model for the nations. To
day every civilized state has a written
constitution with the notable ex
ception of England , and her colonies
have borrowed what the mother coun
try lacks in this regard. The Austral
ians avowedly framed their new con
stitution on the model of ours. Even
; he Oriental nations , Turkey and Japan
iiave borrowed from us and pro
claimed written constitutions. In
this way the results of the American
revolution have contributed to the
civic progress of the whole world.
Sovereignty of the People.
Along with the written constitution ,
aiid springing from the spirit of the
revolution , came a recognition of the
sovereignty of the people. In Amer
ica , during the progress of the revoln- .
tion , occurs the first instance , at least
in modern times , of inviting the people
ple to pass directly upon the character
of their fundamental laws. Thereto
fore constitutions and laws had been
proclaimed by some authority above'
the people. But the first and only
constitution of Massachusetts , framed
in 1780 , was submitted to the electors
in their town meeting. This example
set by Massachusetts was gradually fol
lowed elsewhere , until today it has
become the rule in America , with rare
exceptions , to submit all constitutions
and all amendments to the people. In
this way the citizen becomes directly
a legislator and the movement thus'
inaugurated by the revolution has
succeeded in establishing the people
as the seat and source of power.
Other important civic achievements
followed in the wake of the revolu
tion. It freed us from the dangers of
international intrigue , taught us po'-
litical self-reliance and enabled us to
develop those institutions which havb
been at once our own pride and the
wonder of observing foreigners from
Do Tocqueville , early in the century )
Spencer , Bryce and Von Hoist into
our own day.
The Revolution was the crucible in
which the political ideas of all preced
ing ages wore cast and refined. Out
of the revolution came the Americap
Commonwealth. Out of the din of
battle , out of the smoke of cannon ,
there emerged a civic structure , whoso
foundations lie deeper , whose pro
portions are grander , whose frame
work is vaster and more enduring than
any that has yet been reared by the
cunning hand of man.
