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Show l THE BULLETIN. BINGHAM, UTAH he "Mother Land" of Five States I 1 Celebrates Her 150th Birthday j By ELMO SCOTT WATSON I51 AID Daniel Webster in a speedh before the United States senate in 1830: "We are accustomed to 1 praise the law-give- rs of antiquity; we help to j perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus; but doubt whether one single law of any law-give- r, UIancient or modern, has produced effects of a distinct and marked and lasting character than this one." Vas not speaking of any of the great documents e commonly regarded as milestones in the progress nd toward an orderly government of its affairs. In-- was referring to the Ordinance of 1787, passed by Liental Congress just 150 years ago and often re-- SiiliS land claims of the thirteen MwMwWW ORIGINAL STATES in 1783 yAVvV- N.w Totk eUtaad iD ti. Uad. wt fVT fiiiWVvV j oNVWd ,A of lb Allaghaay MounUUi and aorta iiPsSS.-- f "'in ij ilif"5 Nations, Ol Iroquois Indians. dinance established hwest Territory out i later were to be ive new states and th their citizens are ng the one hundred eth birthday of the Land" of those five th pageantry and pil-- s to historical spots Jld Northwest." Dur- - celebration will be ; u ice more the names : cans who played im--X roles in establishing "liother Land" such Is Thomas Jefferson, ' ling, Arthur St Clair i Thomson and, last ho means least, that in man," Nathan ver heard of Nathan ell, you're not much dif--m other Americans in ct. For you will search ol histories in vain for If his name. All tell of ince of 1787, of course, foing the man who draft-f-y are strangely silent, j proceeding with the to found the Harvard law school. Even if his role as "Father of the Ordinance of 1787" had not been enough to guarantee his fame, his founding the school, out of which have come so many distinguished lawyers and public officials, would have done that. His long and useful career came to an end with his death in Beverly, Mass., on February 15, 1835. To understand fully the impor-tance of the document which won such a tribute from the lips of Daniel Webster, it is necessary to recall the conditions which exist-ed in America at the close of the Revolution. Although all the states had ratified the Articles of Confederation by 1781 and by these Articles had been formed in what purported to be " a firm league of friendship between the states," this was little more than an idle phrase. The Continental Congress, which provided what little central authority there was, could pass legislation but it had no power to enforce its decrees. While composed of representa-tives from all the states, as a body it was heartily disliked by most of them. Any attempt which it made to regulate the disordered affairs in any one state was certain to be met with fierce opposition of that state's provincial-minde- d citi-zenry. In an era of depreciated cur-rency, financial distress and com--' mercial disorder, each state sought to gain an advantage over its neighbors nd increase its commerce at their expense. Western Land Disputes. But most fruitful of the causes for dispute were the conflicting claims to western lands. Even before the end of the Revolution there had been such quarrels. Six of the states New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Penn-sylvania, Delaware and Mary-land with their boundaries strict-ly defined, could set up no valid claims to it. But the other seven asserted their sovereignty to lands stretching west to the Mississippi. South of the Ohio there was little ground for dispute. Each state might take possession of the ter-ritory lying directly to the west. But north of the river was a land not only rich in soil but also rich in cause for dfssension. Massa-chusetts and Connecticut based their titles to it on their old char-ters and each claimed a strip ex-tending through the Old North-west. New York, curiously enough, based her claims upon the activi-ties of those who had been the deadliest enemies of her citizens during the late conflict the Iro-quois Indians. These fierce warri-ors were accustomed to send their scalping parties far into the West and to force other tribes to ac-knowledge the sovereignty of the Six Nations. Because of her lands to the federal union and a short time later Virginia did the same. The other four states soon followed their lead, and this ac-tion had the happy result of giving the various commonwealths in the Confederation a common interest in a common property. It thus formed a strong bond of union when such ties were badly needed, if the new nation were to survive. Government Needed. In accepting these cessions, Congress declared that these lands should be settled and "formed into distinct republican states which shall become mem-bers of the Federal Union." So the next step was to devise a form of government for this territory, looking forward to the time when the new commonwealths would be knocking at the door of state-hood. In 1783 Congress appointed two committees to report upon the im-portant questions of land sales and government in the Northwest Territory. Thomas Jefferson, who had returned to congress after serving as governor of Virginia for two years, was made chair-man of both committees. The one on government made its report on March 1, 1784, the very day that the Virginia ces-sion was finally accepted. Al-though the report was adopted, it was never put into operation. The delay was due mainly to the fact that government could not be established in this terri-tory until there were enough set-tlers to justify such action. A land policy which would encour-age settlement was necessary. This was supplied by the other committee, headed by Jefferson, which drafted a Land Ordinance, adopted in 1785 and immediately put into effect. It has been de-scribed as "one of the great pieces of American legislation." Having provided for land sales, Congress made another effort to draft a satisfactory ordinance for the government of the Northwest. The stimulus for this activity was provided by a fellow-townsm- of Nathan Dane's Rev. Manasseh Cutler of Ipswich, who had served as a chaplain during the Revolution and who came to New York as agent for the Ohio Com-pany of Associates to bargain with Congress for western lands. A Bargain in Land. The established price for land was one dollar an acre but, since the company wished to purchase a million acres, Cutler demanded wholesale rates of two-thir-ds the usual price. Furthermore, he asked the privilege of paying at least a part of the purchase price I This resolution was never acted upon, but when. Dane drew up his ordinance, he included in it the resolution of his Bay State col-league. He added to it a pro-vision for the surrender of fugi-tive slaves, as a concession to gain support for the measure from Southern delegates. Except for this, sound doctrines of civil liberty were contained in the ordi-nance. No person was to be mo-lested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments. Each citizen was entitled to trial by jury and the right to invoke the writ of habeas corpus. Still another clause declared "That religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good govern-ment and the happiness of man-kind, schools and the means of education shall forever be en-couraged." As for the form of government the first officials were to be a governor, a secretary and three judges appointed by congress. As the population increased, the people were to be allowed rep-resentation in the national gov-ernment. Not less than three nor more than five states were to be formed from the territory and admitted to "a share in the Fed-eral councils" and to remain for-ever "a part of this Confederacy of the United States of America." The ordinance was passed on July 13, 1787, and signed by Gen. Arthur St. Clair, president of the Congress, and Charles Thomson, the secretary, who, eleven years earlier, had signed the first draft of another famous document, the Declaration of Independence. "The Ordinance of 1787 was passed by the dying congress of the Confederation," says one his-torian. "Its trials and its failures had been many, but the honor of this act rests with it." And an-other observes: "The importance of the Ordinance of 1787 was hardly overstated by Webster in his famous debate with Hayne." Settlers Pour In. Through the efforts of Manas-seh Cutler, who had found it politic to cease advocating the appointment of his own candidate for the post, General St. Clair was made governor of the newly-organiz- ed Northwest Territory. But even before he could arrive on the scene of his future labors, thousands of settlers were pour-ing into the Old Northwest. They came afoot and on horse-back and by covered wagon over roads that were little better than dim trails through the wilderness. They floated down the Ohio by flatboat in the first half of the year 1787 nearly 150 of these boats it e birthday party of the and of Five States," it sropriate to tell about fho made this possible. Dane was born at Ips-ss- ., on December. 29, was the descendant of 'ee brothers who were s first settlers of Glou-dov- er and Ipswich and a well-to-d- o farmer who other sons and six arvard Graduate. )ane worked on his fa-in until after he had age, then, having pre- - self for college in eight e entered Harvard. He ated in 1778 with a high for industry and schol-'e- xt he began teaching Beverly, Mass., and Marietta, Ohio, in the Earry Days. so studied law in the dgeWetmore of Salem, flhung out his shingle in 1(1 soon became promi-communi- ty as an able I" pleader. 1 as a representative to court of Massachu- -' ?;stinguished himself by ; m debate, his knowl-Publ- ic business and the s and directness of his ffio.llrewahsisonsltyatea question selected present it in the Conti-"gre- ss which was then with First chosen in 1785, in 1786 and id' and served on many committees. Chief I services was his draft-- i finance for the govern-- ;e territory northwest of fiver. Dane retired from the jena to become a tts senate e was in 1794, na again in 1797 and , tV" tired tempo-- iLPf'i.c service de--f his law practice, jew leu found him ;e public life with an s KfY136 and publish t been granted in &"dthe xt year i statutes. He was a lhe historic Hartford krVard Law Sch. ne hlear8 0fpublic er, been active in j "e gave $15,000 bearing more tnan j.uuu peopie had passed Fort Harmar, 'which had been built at the mouth of Muskingum to protect the sur-veyors and the daring Kentuck-ian- s who had ventured across the river to take up tomahawk claims in the Indian country. In 1788 the migration had grown to a flood nearly 1,000 boats and more than 18,000 people. Among them were the colonists who, led by Gen. Rufus Putnam of Massachusetts, established the first important settlement north of the Ohio Marietta, named for Marie Antoinette, queen of France. And it is in the mod-ern city of Marietta that one of the most important celebrations of the "Mother Land's" birthday will be held. There on July 13 will be enacted a pageant depict-ing the memorable scene in the Continental Congress on the same date 150 years ago when the Ordi-nance of 1787 was passed. And on December 3 of this ytar an ox-dra- covered wagon car-avan will leave Ipswich, Mass., for Marietta which it will reach on April 7 of next year, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Gen-eral Putnam and his colonists there. Then it will start a trek through the states of Ohio, Indi-ana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, presenting at various places in each state the same pageant that is being given at Marietta this month. For these states of today are the "children" of the "Mother Land" of 150 years ago the Northwest Territory which came into being through the Ordinance of 1787. 0 Western Newspaper Union. treaties with the Iroquois, New York now claimed ownership over most of the Northwest. Her chief rival was Virginia who based her title, first, on her early charter which described her dominion as running up into the land "west and northwest" and, second, on the conquest of this country by that intrepid Virginian, George Rogers Clark. Some of the six states, which were hemmed in by definite bound-aries, had hesitated to sign the Articles of Confederation because they feared the increased influ-ence of those who had a great po-tential dominion beyond the moun-tains. Maryland especially had refused to sign until she received definite assurance that the west-ern country would become he common property of the United States. In 1780 New York author-ized her representatives to cede her entire claim to the western in Revolutionary war certificates of indebtedness. Since most of these were worth about 12 cents on the dollar, the Reverend Ma-nasseh got a bargain for his com-pany indeed-ei- ght or nine cents an acre! Meanwhile a committee of which Dane was a member was working on an ordinance for gov-ernment of the Northwest. In 1785 Rufus King of Massachusetts had introduced a resolution that "there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 'in the states described in the resolution of Congress in April, 1784, other-wise than in the punishment of whereof the party shall Save been personally guilty ; that this regulation shall be made an article of compact, and remain a principle of the con-sSuti-between the original Sites and each of the states named in the said resolve. Lace Spread That Reflects Good Taste' When you dress up your bed for company, you seek distinction the purpose of this lacy spread. A true reflection of your own good taste is this stunning open-work design, one easily achieved by crocheting simple, single me-dallions of string. A stunning Pattern 1143 dresser or table scarf, or pep-chan-a cloth could also be your choice. It may be done in one or a combination of colors. 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The recognized and proper treatment b a diuretic medicine to help the kidney get rid of excess poisonous body waste. Use Doan't Pills. They have bad more than forty years of public approval. Ate endorsed the country ever. Insist OB Deaa'a. Sold at all drug store. ' recommendations reached congress would be time enough to make a fight They knew they had won when the test came in congress. By shrewd g they had woa enough votes to give the islands the independence act. So they thought the same g would be sure to work next time, which would be, they thought, when the recommen-dations are formally taken up in congress. Also, a considerable group ot those Interested actually knew noth-ing about the hearings. There was too much going on in Washington for the newspapers to get excited about hearings on something which would have no effect until 1946. But several things have happened to change all that. First, there is quite a movement to move forward the independence date. The same Interests affected by the tariff hear-ings were concerned in that, and this made any present hearings much more significant. Important Factor But much more important is an-other factor. The prospect now is that there is not going to be any re-peal of the reciprocal trade treaty powers of the President that this power will be extended Indefinitely. This will mean, if true, that if and when the report of this Joint com-mittee comes up, immediately after independence is achieved or imme-diately before, it may not be pos-sible to ignore its ideas simply by having enough votes In congress to prevent action on Capitol HiU. For It Is certain that any recom-mendations such a committee will make would have a great deal of ef-fect on the State department, and naturally on the Philippine govern-ment. So that, under the reciprocal treaty making power, it could easily be that a lot of tariff duties on Phil-ippine products coming into the United States might be sliced in half fifty per cent being the extent of the change in any duty which can, be made by the State department without further reference to con-gress. For Instance, if the duty on sugar should be two cents a pound, under the reciprocal treaty power the State department could make a treaty with the Philippines which would cut that duty to one cent, or boost it to three cents. Sugar is picked for an Illustra-tion chiefly because it is simple, and was one of the big reasons why the islands obtained the.. present prom-ise of independence. There are plen-ty of others, notably coconut oiL Future of G. O. P. Despite the "harmony" meeting of Democratic senators and repre-sentatives with President Roosevelt at the Jefferson Island club there are growing signs of cleavage as between what might be called the old line Democrats and the New Dealers. So much so that certain Impor-tant Republicans, more Interested in economic principles than in party organization, are quietly putting forth a new thought with respect to future G. O. P. activities. In short, they would have the na-tional Republican organization vol-untarily disband, shut up shop, and announce to the country that as a national party the Republicans were through. While most of those talking about It do not want their names used for the present, it is said that Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan, regarded by many as the outstand-ing Republican in the country since the last election, is not out of sym-pathy with the idea. The plan Is so far advanced that the effect on individual senators and members of he house now bear-ing the Republican label has been considered. There are still many districts which send Republicans to the house regardless of Democratic landslides and New Deal tendencies. At least two states, Vermont and Maine, still promise to send Repub-lican senators to Washington. The idea would not be to deprive the Republicans representing these districts and states of their label. They could run as "Republicans," just as Senator Robert M. La Fol-iett- e runs as a "Progressive" or Senator Henrik Shipstead runs as a "Farmer-Laborite.- " These gentle-men seem to have little difficulty getting elected, despite the fact that there is no real national organiza-tion of their parties to back them. Might Be Help Representative Bertrand H. Snell of New York comes down regularly SE&N HEM) anmnd the NATIONAL CAPITAL fo Carter Field ?) Washington. There Is no disposi-tion to laugh off Governor George H. Earle's opening gun in the fight to nominate Franklin D. Roosevelt for a third term among shrewd Washington politicians. Very pri-vately nine out of ten men on Capi-tol Hill will tell friends that they think the probability Is Roosevelt will break this precedent, as he has broken so many others. There are plenty of people who knew Calvin Coolldge fairly well who believe that he wanted to break that precedent. "Ike" Hoover In his memoirs leaves no doubt as to his own judgment on that point, and made a very interesting case to prove it. Coolidge, according to "Ike" Hoover's theory, expected too much. He wanted to keep on declining, In more and more forceful lan-guage, but to have the nomination forced on him. Rooseveit, observ-ers think now, is not going to make any such mistake. The two situations are interesting chiefly by contrast rather than by similarity. Right up to that day in the Black Hills of South Dakota when Coolidge said he did not "choose" to run, every one assumed he would be the candidate. There was not a hint of opposition. There was no prospect of a fight against his nomination. There was not even much discussion of the third term idea. Coolidge was popular, the country was prosperous. When the topic did come up In conversation most folks said the less than two years of President Harding's term which Coolidge had served before becoming President in his own right would not count as making another election a third term. As a matter of fact, Coolidge never mentioned any prejudice against the third term idea. He just made it partially clear that he did not want to run again. And the Republican convention took him at his word. Whereas in the present case Governor Earle and some of the union leaders have come out flatly for a third term for Roose-velt, more than two years earlier, comparably, than Coolidge an-nounced he would not be a candi-date. Coolidge's announcement was more than seven months after the 1926 election had returned majori-ties in both houses of congress to uphold his hands. Everybody knew the Democratic party was split so wide open by the religious battle which had come to its climax at Madison Square Garden, that there was virtually no hope of its being really formidable at the fol-lowing election. The national con-ventions were barely a year off. Time Inopportune The opening gun of the Roosevelt third term campaign is fired more than a year before the mid-ter-congressional election. It resounds when there is a revolt against the President on the part of conserva-tive Democrats so pronounced that a harmony conference between the President and the national legisla-tors was to begin two days later at the Jefferson Island club. It came at a time when nobody really knew whether the revolt on Capitol Hill had much popular back-ing or not. One point about it, however, was rather obvious. Gov-ernor Earle, whose declaration at-tracted the most attention, was in rather a hot spot. It was obvious that no matter what might happen later, the Pennsylvania governor had made plenty of enemies by his action in declaring martial law at Johnstown. He had acted openly when the President was aiding the same side without any such frank avowal. So lots of important folks figured they could shoot at Earle in safety, whereas they might not dare shoot at the President. Earle's action tended to make the President the target for all such shots at him, and for this reason his timing did not make such a hit at the White House as his subject matter might have on some other occasion. from the Potsdam district or tne Empire state, no matter if Demo-cratic national candidates do carry the state by more than a million. The same is true of Representative AUen T. Treadway and Representa-tive Edith Nourse Rogers of Massa-chusetts. Some of the advocates of the plan say that actually it would be a help to such Republicans not to have any national Republican organization cluttering up the situation. Of course, in Mr. Snell's case it would deprive him of the leadership of the .Republicans in the house perhaps and it might play hob with com-mittee assignments in both house and senate. But the real objective, of covrse, is to encourage the split in the Democratic party to permit the country to have two real parties again. Nor is it an answer, say those advocating it, to say that the Republican party polled more than 15,000,000 votes in the last election, and that anything as strong as that should be preserved. BU Syndicate. WNU Service. Tariff Hearings The same group of interests In thip country which so successfully obtained the independence act for the Philippines, long after the armed insurrection of Aguinaldo, the moral appeal of William Jen-nings Bryan and the shrewd lobby-ing of Manuel Quezon had failed, is now on the job to prevent being deprived of the fruits of their vic-tory. What has happened is that a joint committee, consisting of experts ap-pointed by both the United States and the Philippines governments, is conducting hearings with a view to determining the tariff policy which shall exist between the two coun-tries after independence is actually achieved. At first this independence date, being fixed in 1946, seemed far orT to the business interests affected. Moreover, at first there was a ten-dency among those who knew about it to discount its importance. They figured that there would be only recommendations that when the Idea for Tunnels Ancient Egyptians, observing streams enter one side of a hill and come out the other, got the idea for tunnels. They built them Into tombs. Builders after them bored tunnels to carry or drain water. One people, the Baby-lonians, more daring than the rest, tunneled beneath the Euphrates river. Thus began the story, ac-cording to a correspondent in the Washington Post, of the most fas-cinating and dangerous of all tun-neling operations, subaqueous-underw- ater. |