So with most of the people in this room to-night. They were born here, went to school here, and they have worked here all their lives. Some followed one occupation, some another. This was a matter of their own choice. Their children are now growing up, as they once grew up. Soon they will be selecting their life work. Soon they will be voting and performing other duties of citizenship. Soon you and I, fathers and mothers, will pass off the stage of life. Soon we shall be forgotten by all except the few who compose the family circle, who love us notwithstanding our faults. For a few weeks I have been acting as teacher. I have been trying hard to bring into the minds and hearts of the pupils in this school something of the sacredness of human liberty, something of the cost of American liberty, the sacrifices, the struggles, the bloodshed, the heartaches, and heartbreaks which finally triumphed when our Constitution was adopted. I have endeavored to explain that the Constitution is not a mere skeleton or framework, defining the relation of the Nation and the States and providing for the election of officers to carry out the plans of the National government. I have repeatedly told the great truth that in America there is more freedom, justice, charity, and kindness than in any other Nation in the world. I have pointed out that in America we have in our Constitution written guaranties of life, liberty, and property rights such as no other Nation in the history of the world ever had. We have found that this is a government by the people, that the people rule, that the few cannot rule unless the many refuse to perform their duties as citizens of this great republic. Oh! if we can only put in the hearts of the American people a realization of the _power_ and the _duty_ of the people! To-night I wish to present briefly something of the manner in which the people express their power, the method by which the people disclose their wishes in public affairs. The Star Baseball Club, the Irving Literary Society, the City Teachers Association, the Woman’s Club, the Charity Guild, these are all mere organisations of people. _That is all that America is._ These organizations have written constitutions. _So has America._ These organizations must have laws or rules of conduct, aside from their constitutions. _So must America._ These societies must have a policy and transact business. _So must America._ In adopting laws or rules of conduct these societies secure an expression of the wishes of their members. These wishes are generally expressed by their votes, sometimes by ballot and sometimes orally in a meeting.