THE
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
AN ADDRESS
BY
PRESIDENT OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT ASSOCIATION.
June 17, 1904.
ADDRESS.
Gentlemen of the Bunker Hill Monument Association:
It is a matter of regret to me that other engagements havecompelled my absence from your meetings the two years past,but your printed proceedings upon those occasions were fullof interest and contributed material of importance to thestudent of Revolutionary literature.
The Treasurer’s Report shows that the financial conditionof the Association is good, although the erection of the newLodge increases the expenses in much the same proportionthat it adds to the comfort of visitors. The most pressingneed of the Association is that of a larger permanent fundto improve the grounds and keep the buildings in properand attractive condition.
During the year ten members of our Association havepassed away, and one of our Directors, Mr. Richard Devens.They were earnest, active citizens, proud of their heritage,and in their respective fields of work added to the well-beingand moral strength of this community. We shall miss themfrom our membership, but to those who take their places weextend a cordial welcome, confident that the patriotic memoriesclustering round the 17th of June will inspire them tofollow closely in the footsteps of their predecessors.
The year’s panorama has unfolded a varied picture, withincidents both of encouragement and of warning. While ithas not been a year of marked prosperity, and while accidentsby flood and fire have caused terrible losses and suffering,[4]our country has pursued a peaceful and progressive course,and no complications of a dangerous nature have activelythreatened. The settlement by arbitration of the AlaskanQuestion and the Venezuelan troubles is a matter for congratulation,irrespective of the terms of settlement. Theassurance of the building of the Panama Canal is of thefirst importance, not only because it closes a vexed question,but for its effect in changing and opening up new avenuesof trade and in knitting together different parts of this Unionof States. The final step in its accomplishment will probablyalways be subject to criticism and discussion, but rightfulauthority having settled the fact that the Canal is to be built,no one will question its desirability and usefulness.
The most perplexing problems before the country are, asthey have long been, those connected with the continual strifebetween capital and labor, and it is singular and not altogetherencouraging that such conditions should exist andseemingly grow worse in a country affording boundlessopportunity for both laboring man and capitalist and wherethe chances for progress and improvement are so great.One would think that here, if anywhere, justification waswanting for class feeling, for jealousies, or for violent breachof the laws.
The constant succession of strikes retards progress, imperil