Rome Free Academy - De O Wain Sta Yearbook (Rome, NY)

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THE SENIOR ANNUAL. “Cupid” Wallace and his mixture of dog and Germany in Miss Creeble’s room. This picture is taken from life. Ask Wallace how it happened. D. A. R. ORATION. The Shot Heard Round the W orld. Truly has it been said that it takes cen- turies for the growth of great constitutional principles, yet important constitutional chang- es are instilled in the minds of mankind by How plainly the happenings of the year seventeen hundred and thoughts, although we are removed four gen- erations from those who participated in its struggles. One hundred and thirty-one years the events of single days. seventy-five are registered in our have intervened since that little company of minute men stood upon the village green at Lexington, and, face to face with their op- pressors, inaugurated the great struggle which has brought about such beneficial results for all humanity. Let us go back of this and see for what reasons those men were gathered there. Let us study into the causes which brought on the conflict which followed, and forever de- cided that America should be the home of a free people and that a strong, arbitrary goy- ernment could not impose upon her seeming- ly weak colonies. Let us see what made the brave husbandmen so willing to lay down their lives before those British troops, when they knew that in that skirmish they must necessarily be beaten. It was because great principles were at stake that they so bravely stood their ground when ordered to lay down their arms. Years

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18 THE SENIOR ANNUAL. see also signs of victory. Else what meaneth that wreath upon his draped desk? But grief must triumph over victory and, in the language of the English Room, uni- tedly we say Go—Went—Go(w) ing— Gone. (Applause.) “Tis very sad. Alas! we must part but surely not before my hon- orable and esteemed friend has expressed heartfelt (Applause. ) (No response from Mr. Backus.) (Great applause and loud cries of Backus! Backus! Backus! ) to us his grief. PRIZE SPEAKING CONTEST. On the evening of March 30, 1906, was held the third Slingerland prize speaking contest for the prize of $35, which is pro- vided by the will of Mrs. M. M. Davis. Besides this prize there were two others, one of $15 and the other of $10 obtained by Prof. H. W. Harris, principal of the Academy, pre- sided and announced the speakers. charging admission to the contest. The first speaker of the evening was James William Wilson. His declamation was upon Japan or Russia; Which is the Civilized Power? He contrasted the two nations, both mentally and morally, compli- menting the Japanese much more than the Russians. Miss Jane Stevens Higham rendered a beautiful description of the Famine as found in Hiawatha, by Henry W. Longfellow. She gave it in a very pleasing manner. Then came a recitation entitled Cherokee Roses, given by Miss Anita Lillibridge. The selection was well portrayed and the ap- plause was very hearty. Daniel Schilling described ‘the American Soldier, motto is Henry whose ever, “For freedom, for freedom, for liberty our cry, On, on to the battle brave and strong to win or die!” Edward Thomas Gawkins declaimed “The Republic That Never Retreats” in a He said that it is impossible for our republic to retreat as itis very convincing manner. the highest form of civilization and there- fore must advance, not recede. Miss Abbie M. Fowler told ““How the Church was Built at Keahoe’s Bar.” Her subject was a character sketch and most en- tertaining. The last number on the program was a declamation by John Edgar Fitzsimmons, called “‘One Niche the Highest.” It was a very telling selection and he rendered it well. ‘The judges of award were Prof. E. C. Morris of Syracuse University, Mr. Avery M. Skinner of Oneida and Mr. Eugene W. Lyttle of the State Education Department. When the program was finished, they re- tired to consider the merits of the speakers. Upon their return the first prize was awarded to Edward Thomas Gawkins, the second to Henry Daniel Schilling, and the third to Miss Abbie M. Fowler. The. awards met with hearty applause. x

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20 THE SENIOR ANNUAL. before, England had passed laws restricting American trade by the Navigation Acts and otherwise, so as to compel the colonies to trade wholly with her. By forcing them to ship goods only in English vessels, she de- sired to coerce them into dealing with her alone, so British shippers and merchants would reap all the profits. Then the colonies had, during the French and Indian War, suffered great losses in They had their own troops and those were greatly su- perior to the British regulars. They had suffered untold misery by having their homes devasted by the savage tomahawk and torch, and to resist this they had risen in all the vigor of their youthful strength and by so money and men. maintained doing they had become acquainted with their own power. England although she had in this war lost many men and had spent a large sum of money, had humiliated her old enemy France as she had never been able to do before. She had not suffered the local misery and priva- tions owing to her remoteness from the seat of conflict. Yet she thought that the colo- nies should bear a part of her indebtedness and did not give them due credit for the glorious part they had taken in the war by donating men and money to the crown, or for their real value in a commercial sense to their mother country. This tax she desired to levy as she pleased without giving the colonies any voice in the matter. This raised the cry of, “no taxation without representation,”’ and still. later Pat- rick Henry’s sentiments of, “give me liberty or give me death.” The settlement of these colonies had much to do with the determined resistance which they showed the crown. New England was settled by Puritans, fleeing from Episcopalian oppression; New York by the sturdy, liberty- loving Hollanders tied in no way to Brit- ish rule; Pennsylvania by Quakers, a simple, peaceful, yet firm people; Maryland by Catholics, fleeing from unjust laws; Virginia greatly augmented in numbers by Cavaliers, exiled from England during the days of the commonwealth; Georgia by debtors, rescued from unjust imprisonment. ‘These elements, combined, had in the succeeding generations formed a homogeneous mass of liberty-loving people, peaceful, yet not to be trod upon, loyal, yet not blind. The Tory ministers of England apparently could not grasp the true situation. They seemed to think that the appearance of armed force would awe the colonists and force them into submission, thus effectually quelling all disturbances. But, no! the Americans were not thus to be silenced. Too long had they been left time to study the principles of civic right and wrong and to cherish a natural de- sire for liberty. They had conquered the savages, cleared the forests, and transformed what less than two centuries before was a howling wilderness into farms and gardens, villages and cities. The colonists had legislative bodies, com- posed mostly of popular representatives, which were perfectly competent to handle all legislation needed by the colonies. The light of after events plainly showed that it would have been a wise step for England to have recognized these bodies as legal, law making assemblies and granted them full sway in the exercise of their legislative functions. This she would not in most cases do, and conse- quently she alienated the more influential col- onists by this overt act of injustice, this enmity towards establishing those principles of popu- lar government for which she herself had suffered so much to attain. The actions taken by the government of England were not confirmed by all the peo- ple of the home government. Burke, Pitt and Fox with others opposed them as un- just; but the reins of power were in the hands of Tory chieftains, who delighted in meas- ures which tended to strengthen the power of the king, even at the expense of the people,