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diff --git a/28191-h/28191-h.htm b/28191-h/28191-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5dc77d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/28191-h/28191-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2817 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Opening Ceremonies of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883, by Various. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 2em; +} + +hr { + width: 65%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.med { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.short { + width: 15%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.shortn { + width: 15%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; + font-size: 75%; text-indent: 0em; + border-top: solid gray 1px; border-bottom: solid gray 1px; + background-color: inherit; font-weight: normal; + font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; + text-decoration: none;} + + +/* Formatting */ +.blockquot {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} + +.noindent {text-indent: 0;} + + +/* Fonts */ +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.sm {font-size: 75%;} +.lg {font-size: 125%;} + + +/* Images */ +.border img {border: 5px solid silver;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Opening Ceremonies of the New York and +Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883, by William C. Kingsley and Seth Low and Franklin Edson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Opening Ceremonies of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883 + +Author: William C. Kingsley + Seth Low + Franklin Edson + +Contributor: A.N. Littlejohn + Abram S. Hewitt + +Release Date: February 25, 2009 [EBook #28191] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROOKLYN BRIDGE *** + + + + +Produced by Linda Cantoni and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<hr /> +<p class="border" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0em"> +<a href="images/bridge_lg.png"><img src="images/bridge_sm.png" width="600" height="170" alt="Brooklyn Bridge" title="Brooklyn Bridge" /></a><br /> +</p> + +<p> </p> + + +<h1>OPENING CEREMONIES</h1> + +<h4>OF THE</h4> + +<h1>NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN BRIDGE</h1> + +<h2>MAY 24, 1883.</h2> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="center"><b>BROOKLYN, N.Y.</b></p> + +<hr class="shortn" /> + +<p class="center"><b>1883.</b></p> + +<hr class="med" /> + +<p class="center"><span class="sm">PRESS OF<br /> +THE BROOKLYN EAGLE JOB PRINTING DEPARTMENT.</span></p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2>TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS</h2> + +<h4>OF THE</h4> + +<h1><span class="smcap">New York and Brooklyn Bridge.</span></h1> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<h3>TRUSTEES.</h3> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="15" cellspacing="0" summary="trustees"> +<tr> +<td style="border-right: solid black 2px"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b>NEW YORK.</b></span><br /> +<br /> +JOHN T. AGNEW,<br /> +JOHN G. DAVIS,<br /> +J. ADRIANCE BUSH,<br /> +HENRY CLAUSEN,<br /> +THOMAS C. CLARKE,<br /> +CHARLES MACDONALD,<br /> +H.K. THURBER,<br /> +JENKINS VAN SCHAICK,<br /> +FRANKLIN EDSON, Mayor,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;"><i>Ex-officio</i>.</span><br /> +ALLAN CAMPBELL, Comp.,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;"><i>Ex-officio</i>.</span><br /> +</td> +<td> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b>BROOKLYN.</b></span><br /> +<br /> +WILLIAM C. KINGSLEY,<br /> +WILLIAM MARSHALL,<br /> +HENRY W. SLOCUM,<br /> +JAMES S.T. STRANAHAN,<br /> +ALFRED C. BARNES,<br /> +ALDEN S. SWAN,<br /> +OTTO WITTE,<br /> +JAMES HOWELL,<br /> +SETH LOW, Mayor,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;"><i>Ex-officio</i>.</span><br /> +AARON BRINKERHOFF, Comp.,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;"><i>Ex-officio</i>.</span><br /> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="center">JOHN T. AGNEW, Chairman Executive Committee.</p> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<h3>OFFICERS.</h3> + +<p class="center">WILLIAM C. KINGSLEY, President.<br /> +J. ADRIANCE BUSH, Vice-Pres. <span style="margin-left: 2em;">OTTO WITTE, Treasurer.</span><br /> +ORESTES P. QUINTARD, Secretary. +</p> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<h3>CHIEF ENGINEER.</h3> + +<p class="center">WASHINGTON A. ROEBLING.</p> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<h3>ASSISTANT ENGINEERS.</h3> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary="assistants"> +<tr> +<td>CHARLES C. MARTIN,<br /> +FRANCIS COLLINGWOOD,<br /> +SAMUEL R. PROBASCO,</td> +<td>WILLIAM H. PAINE,<br /> +GEORGE W. McNULTY,<br /> +WILHELM HILDENBRAND. +</td> +</tr> +</table> + + + +<hr /> +<h2>PROGRAMME OF EXERCISES.</h2> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="lg">1. MUSIC—</p> + +<p class="center"><b>23d REGIMENT BAND.</b></p> + +<p class="lg">2. <a href="#Order_of_Religious_Services">PRAYER</a>—</p> + +<p class="center"><b>Rt. Rev. BISHOP LITTLEJOHN.</b></p> + +<p class="lg">3. <a href="#Address_of_Wm_C_Kingsley">PRESENTATION ADDRESS</a>—</p> + +<p class="center"><b>On behalf of Trustees,<br /> +WILLIAM C. KINGSLEY, Vice-President.</b></p> + +<p class="lg">4. <a href="#Address_of_Hon_Seth_Low">ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS</a>—</p> + +<p class="center"><b>On behalf of the City of Brooklyn,<br /> +Hon. SETH LOW, Mayor.</b></p> + +<p class="lg">5. <a href="#Address_of_Hon_Franklin_Edson">ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS</a>—</p> + +<p class="center"><b>On behalf of the City of New York,<br /> +Hon. FRANKLIN EDSON, Mayor.</b></p> + +<p class="lg"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">CORNET SOLO—</span></p> + +<p class="center"><b>Mr. J. LEVY.</b></p> + +<p class="lg">6. <a href="#Address_of_Hon_Abram_S_Hewitt">ORATION</a>—</p> + +<p class="center"><b>Hon. ABRAM S. HEWITT.</b></p> + +<p class="lg">7. <a href="#ORATION">ORATION</a>—</p> + +<p class="center"><b>Rev. RICHARD S. STORRS, D.D.</b></p> + +<p class="lg">8. MUSIC—</p> + +<p class="center"><b>7th REGIMENT BAND.</b></p> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p class="center"><b>Hon. JAMES S.T. STRANAHAN will preside.</b></p> +</div> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span></p> +<h2>INTRODUCTORY.</h2> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p>The New York and Brooklyn Bridge was formally opened on Thursday, May +24th, 1883, with befitting pomp and ceremonial, in the presence of the +largest multitude that ever gathered in the two cities. From the +announcement by the Trustees of the date which was to mark the +turning-over of the work to the public, it was evident that the +popular demonstration would be upon a scale commensurate with the +magnificence of the structure and its importance to the people of the +United States. The evidences of widespread and profound interest in +the event were early and unmistakable. They were not confined to the +metropolis and its sister city on the Long Island shore, nor yet to +the majestic Empire State. The occurrence was recognized as one of +National importance; and throughout<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> the Union, from the rocky +headlands of Maine to the golden shores of the Pacific, and from the +gleaming waters of the St. Lawrence to the vast expanse of the Mexican +Gulf, the opening ceremonies were regarded with intelligent concern +and approval. Nearly every State contributed its representatives to +the swelling throng that attended, while those who were unable to be +present contemplated with pride and satisfaction the completion and +consecration to its purpose of the greatest engineering work of modern +times.</p> + +<p>In the communities most directly benefited by the Bridge the +demonstration was confined to no class or body of the populace. It was +a holiday for high and low, rich and poor; it was, in fact, the +People's Day. More delightful weather never dawned upon a festal +morning. The heavens were radiant with the celestial blue of +approaching summer; silvery fragments of cloud sailed gracefully +across the firmament like winged messengers, bearing greetings of work +well done; the clearest of spring sunshine tinged everything with a +touch of gold, and a brisk, bracing breeze blown up from the Atlantic +cooled the atmosphere<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> to a healthful and invigorating temperature. +The incoming dawn revealed the twin cities gorgeous in gala attire. +From towering steeple and lofty façade, from the fronts of business +houses and the cornices and walls of private dwellings, from the +forests of shipping along the wharves and the vessels in the dimpled +bay, floated bunting fashioned in every conceivable design, while high +above all, from the massive and enduring granite towers of the Bridge +the Stars and Stripes signaled to the world from the gateway of the +continent the arrival of the auspicious day.</p> + +<p>Almost before the sun was up the thoroughfares of both cities put on a +festival appearance. Business was generally suspended. The mercantile +and professional communities vied with one another in the extent and +splendor of their decorations, while from the hearty voice of Labor +arose a chorus of ringing acclamation. Tens of thousands of men, women +and children crowded into the streets, and, after gazing admiringly +upon the decorations, wended their way in the direction of the mighty +river span. From neighboring cities and from the adjacent country for +many miles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> around the incoming trains brought multitudes of +excursionists and sight-seers. It seemed marvelous that they could all +find accommodation, but the generous hospitality of the cities was +cordially extended, and all were adequately provided for. The scenes +presented during the day upon the streets and avenues of New York and +Brooklyn will never be forgotten by those who witnessed them. +Notwithstanding the enormous massing of people, the best of order was +everywhere observable, and the day happily was free from any accident +of a serious nature. The arrangements for the celebration were of a +sensible and becoming character, and beside insuring an unobstructed +and speedy course for the ceremonies, contributed beyond measure to +the popular enjoyment.</p> + +<p>Early in the afternoon the President of the United States, Gen. +Chester A. Arthur, and the Hon. Grover Cleveland, Governor of the +State of New York, the former accompanied by the members of his +Cabinet and the latter by the officers of his Staff, were escorted +from the Fifth Avenue Hotel to the New York City<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> Hall, where they +were joined by his Honor Mayor Franklin Edson and the New York +officials. From the City Hall the procession proceeded to the New York +Approach to the Bridge. The Seventh Regiment, N.G., S.N.Y., Col. +Emmons Clark, commanding, acted as escort to the Presidential and +Gubernatorial party. The regimental band, of 75 pieces, headed the +column and played popular airs as the procession moved along the +crowded and gaily decorated thoroughfares. At the New York Tower a +battalion of the Fifth United States Artillery, under command of Major +Jackson, joined the escort, and between the lines of brilliantly +uniformed troops the distinguished guests passed upon the roadway. +They were formally received by a Committee of the Bridge Trustees, +headed by Mr. William C. Kingsley, Vice-President and acting President +of the Board.</p> + +<p>The arrival at the New York Tower was proclaimed to the multitudes on +shore by the thundering of many cannon. Salutes were fired from the +forts in the harbor, from the United States Navy Yard, and from the +summit of Fort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> Greene. The United States fleet, consisting of the +"Tennessee," the "Yantic," the "Kearsarge," the "Vandalia," and the +"Minnesota," Rear-Admiral George H. Cooper, commanding, was anchored +in the river below the Bridge and joined in the salute. As the +procession moved across the roadway the yards of the men-of-war were +manned, and from the docks and factories arose a tremendous babel of +sounds, caused by the clanging of bells, the roaring of steam +whistles, and the cheers of enthusiastic people, while sounding from +afar, in delightful contrast with the clamorous discord, the silver +chimes of Trinity rang out upon the river.</p> + +<p>In the ornate iron railway depot at the Brooklyn terminus, where the +exercises were to take place, the arrival of the approaching +procession was anxiously awaited. The interior was bright with +tasteful decorations, the prevailing feature being the sky-blue +hangings of satin bordered with silver, and the coats-of-arms of the +States appropriately interspersed amid a forest of flags. On the +Brooklyn side the duties of escort were transferred to the 23d +Regiment, N.G., S.N.Y.,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> Colonel Rodney C. Ward commanding. The +regiment appeared upon this occasion for the first time in their new +State service uniform, and performed their duties most efficiently. +The arrangements for the procession and exercises were under the +direction of Major-General James Jourdan, commanding the Second +Division, N.G., S.N.Y., who was ably assisted by the members of the +Division Staff. The building was thronged in every part. In the throng +were many of the most conspicuous citizens of New York and other +States, including representatives of the bench, the bar, the pulpit, +the press, and all other professions. Beside the President and his +Cabinet, consisting of the Hon. Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the +Treasury; the Hon. William E. Chandler, Secretary of the Navy; the +Hon. Henry M. Teller, Secretary of the Interior; the Hon. Walter Q. +Gresham, Postmaster-General, and the Hon. Benjamin Harris Brewster, +Attorney-General; and Governor Cleveland and Staff, there were present +the Governors of several States and the Mayors of nearly all the +cities in the vicinity of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> metropolis. In the vast assemblage +none were more conspicuous than the officers of the Army and Navy, who +occupied an entire section and attracted general attention.</p> + +<p>When the Presidential party and their escort entered the hall they +were greeted with enthusiastic cheers. They occupied seats directly +opposite the stand erected for the orators of the day. The exercises +proceeded without delay in an orderly manner, and were appropriate and +impressive throughout. Music was furnished during the ceremonies by +the bands of the Seventh and Twenty-third regiments. The Hon. James +S.T. Stranahan presided with the skill and dignity gained during his +long experience in public life. Near him were the speakers, Mr. +William C. Kingsley, Rev. Richard S. Storrs, D.D., the Hon. Abram S. +Hewitt, Mayor Franklin Edson, of New York, and Mayor Seth Low, of +Brooklyn, together with the members of the Board of Bridge Trustees. +Mr. Stranahan opened the ceremonies by introducing Bishop Littlejohn, +who wore the Episcopal robes. The Bishop fervently and impressively +made the opening prayer, the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> assemblage bowing their heads +reverentially during its delivery. Vice-President Kingsley was next +introduced, and was received with hearty applause. Mr. Kingsley, in +clear and distinct tones, and in comprehensive and business-like +terms, proceeded to make the formal speech presenting the Bridge to +the cities of New York and Brooklyn. The address was heard with +careful attention, and upon its conclusion a round of enthusiastic +applause swept through the building. His Honor Mayor Low followed Mr. +Kingsley with a concise and appropriate speech, receiving the +structure on behalf of the City of Brooklyn. His address elicited +several demonstrations of approval from the audience. The Hon. +Franklin Edson, Mayor of New York, who was the next speaker, was +heartily applauded as he aptly accepted the Bridge in behalf of the +authorities of the great metropolis. When Mr. Hewitt was introduced as +the orator on the part of New York City, he was warmly cheered. His +eloquent address riveted the attention of his hearers from beginning +to end, and his pointed and conclusive vindication of the bridge +manage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span>ment from the outset aroused the enthusiasm of his hearers to +the utmost pitch. Following Mr. Hewitt came the Rev. Richard S. +Storrs, D.D., who delivered the oration on behalf of Brooklyn. Never +did the distinguished preacher appear to better advantage, and his +oration, which was punctuated with applause, was characterized as a +masterpiece by all who heard it. Upon the conclusion of his address +the presiding officer declared the exercises at an end, and the +company in the building dispersed.</p> + +<p>The festivities, however, did not end with the conclusion of the +formal ceremonies. The celebration was continued in both cities +throughout the day and far into the night. Thousands upon thousands of +enthusiastic people crowded the streets. After the ceremonies, the +President, the Governor, the speakers of the day, and the Trustees +were driven to the residence of Col. Washington A. Roebling, on +Columbia Heights, where a reception was held. As they passed through +the streets the people cheered as people only can who cheer in the +atmosphere of a free government. From Col.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> Roebling's house the +company proceeded to the residence of Mayor Low, where they were +entertained at a banquet. In the evening, under the auspices of the +Municipal authorities, a grand reception to President Arthur and +Governor Cleveland was given by the citizens of Brooklyn at the +Academy of Music, and was attended by a great multitude. Another +striking feature of the celebration at night was the display of +fireworks on the Bridge given under the direction of the Board of +Trustees. The pyrotechnic exhibition was viewed by almost the entire +populace of the two cities, and a vast concourse of visitors from +abroad. The East River was fairly blocked with craft of every +description bearing legions of delighted spectators, and the streets +and housetops were packed with people. The display was generally +characterized as one of the grandest ever witnessed in America. The +people of both cities evinced their public spirit in the decorations +by day and the illuminations by night. The illuminations in Brooklyn, +particularly, were on a magnificent scale, and excited the admiration +of multitudes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> of visitors to the city. In addition to the special +features of the celebration there were many entertainments in honor of +the event, including concerts in the various city parks. Throughout +the afternoon and evening the best of order was preserved; the +casualties that occurred were few and unimportant, and the auspicious +day ended without the intrusion of anything that would carry with it +other than pleasant memories of the significant event which it +commemorated.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span></p> +<h1><a name="Order_of_Religious_Services" id="Order_of_Religious_Services"></a><span class="smcap">Order of Religious Services</span>,</h1> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Conducted by Rt. Rev. A.N. Littlejohn, D.D.</span></h2> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p>The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting +arms. Deut. xxxiii.: 27.</p> + +<p>Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, +which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His +commandments to a thousand generations. Deut. vii.: 9.</p> + +<p>Remember the marvelous works that He hath done: His wonders, and the +judgments of his mouth. Psalm cv.: 5.</p> + +<p>Marvelous things did He in the sight of our forefathers, in the land +of Egypt, even in the field of Zoan.</p> + +<p>He divided the sea, and let them go through: He made the waters to +stand on an heap.</p> + +<p>In the day time also He led them with a cloud, and all the night +through with a light of fire. Psalm lxxviii.: 13, 14, 15.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span></p> + +<p>Oh, that men would therefore praise the Lord for His goodness and +declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of men. Psalm +cvii.: 21.</p> + +<p>The Lord hath been mindful of us, and He shall bless us; He shall +bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. Psalm cxv.: 12, +13.</p> + +<p>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost:</p> + +<p>As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without +end.</p> + +<p>Praise ye the Lord:</p> + +<p>The Lord's name be praised.</p> + +<hr class="med" /> + +<h3>PRAYER.</h3> + +<p>Almighty God, who hast in all ages showed forth Thy power and mercy in +the preservation and advancement of the race redeemed by the precious +blood of Thy dear Son: we yield Thee our unfeigned thanks and praise +as for all Thy public mercies, so especially for the signal +manifestation of Thy Providence which we commemorate this day. All +things—wealth, industry, energy, skill, genius—come of Thee; and +when we consecrate their triumphs unto Thee,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> we give Thee but Thine +own. Enable us to see in the strength and grandeur of this structure +the evident tokens of Thy power, bringing mighty things to pass +through the weakness of Thy creatures. Give us grace and wisdom to +discern in all this work the nobler uses it was ordained by Thee to +subserve. Teach us to know that all this mighty fabric is but vanity, +save as it shall promote Thy sovereign purpose toward the sons of men. +O Lord God, clothed with majesty and honor, decking Thyself with light +as with a garment, and spreading out the heavens like a curtain, with +the beams of Thy chambers in the waters, and the clouds for Thy +chariot, walking upon the wings of the wind, Thy messengers spirits +and Thy ministers a flaming fire, accept, we beseech Thee, this last +and chiefest fruit of human toil and genius as a tribute to Thy glory, +and a new power making for righteousness and peace amid all conflicts +of earthly interests, and all the stir and pomp of worldly +aggrandizement. Our life is a thing of nought, and our purposes vanish +away; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> Thy years shall not fail, and with Thee the beginning and +the end are the same. Therefore we implore Thee to bless and direct +this work, that it shall be more than a highway for the things that +perish, even a path of Thy eternal Spirit lifting by His own infinite +grace, more and more, as the years roll on, the people of these cities +toward the plane of Thine own life—the life of endless peace, of +absolute unity, and perfect love, through Jesus Christ, the one +Redeemer and Mediator between God and man. Amen.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span></p> +<h1><a name="Address_of_Wm_C_Kingsley" id="Address_of_Wm_C_Kingsley"></a><span class="smcap">Address of Wm. C. Kingsley</span>,</h1> + +<h2><span class="smcap">President of the Board of Trustees.</span></h2> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p>In the presence of this great assemblage, and of the chosen +representatives of the people of these two great cities, of the +Governor of the State of New York and of the President of the United +States, the pleasing duty devolves upon me, as the official agent of +the Board of Trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, to announce +formally to the chief magistrates of these two municipalities that +this Bridge is now ready to be opened for public use, and is subject +in its control and management only to such restrictions as the people, +to whom it belongs, may choose to impose upon themselves. If I were at +liberty to consult my own wishes I should not attempt to occupy your +attention any further. I am not here as the spokesman of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> my +associates in the Board of Bridge Trustees. They are well content to +let this great structure speak for them, and to speak more fittingly +and more eloquently yet for the skillful, faithful and daring men who +have given so many years of their lives—and in several instances even +their lives—to the end that the natural barrier to the union, growth +and greatness of this great commercial centre should be removed, and +that a vast scientific conception should be matched in the skill, and +courage, and endurance upon which it depended for its realization. +With one name, in an especial sense, this Bridge will always be +associated—that of Roebling. At the outset of this enterprise we were +so fortunate as to be able to secure the services of the late John A. +Roebling, who had built the chief suspension bridges in this country, +and who had just then completed the largest suspension bridge ever +constructed up to that time. His name and achievements were of +invaluable service to this enterprise in its infancy. They secured for +it a confidence not otherwise obtainable. He entered promptly and with +more than professional zeal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> into the work of erecting a bridge over +the East River. As is universally known, while testing and perfecting +his surveys his foot was crushed between the planks of one of our +piers; lockjaw supervened, and the man who designed this Bridge lost +his life in its service. The main designs were, however, completed by +the elder Roebling before he met his sad and untimely death. He was +succeeded at once by his son, Colonel Washington A. Roebling, who had +for years before shared in his father's professional confidences and +labors. Here the son did not succeed the father by inheritance merely. +The elder Roebling, according to his own statements, would not have +undertaken the conduct of this work at his age—and he was independent +of mere professional gain—if it were not for the fact, as he +frequently stated, that he had a son who was entirely capable of +building this Bridge. Indeed, the elder Roebling advised that the son, +who was destined to carry on and complete the work, should be placed +in chief authority at the beginning. The turning point—as determining +the feasibility of this enterprise—was reached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> down in the earth, +and under the bed of the East River. During the anxious days and +nights while work was going on within the caissons, Colonel Roebling +seemed to be always on hand, at the head of his men, to direct their +efforts, and to guard against a mishap or a mistake which, at this +stage of the work, might have proved to be disastrous. The foundations +of the towers were successfully laid, and the problem of the +feasibility of the Bridge was solved. Colonel Roebling contracted the +mysterious disease in the caissons which had proved fatal to several +of the workmen in our employ. For many long and weary years this man, +who entered our service young and full of life, and hope, and daring, +has been an invalid and confined to his home. He has never seen this +structure as it now stands, save from a distance. But the disease, +which has shattered his nervous system for the time, seemed not to +have enfeebled his mind. It appeared even to quicken his intellect. +His physical infirmities shut him out, so to speak, from the world, +and left him dependent largely on the society of his family, but it +gave him for a com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span>panion day and night this darling child of his +genius—every step of whose progress he has directed and watched over +with paternal solicitude. Colonel Roebling may never walk across this +Bridge, as so many of his fellow-men have done to-day, but while this +structure stands he will make all who use it his debtor. His +infirmities are still such that he who would be the centre of interest +on this occasion, and even in this greatly distinguished company, is +conspicuous by his absence. This enterprise was only less fortunate in +securing an executive head than in obtaining scientific direction. For +sixteen years together the late Hon. Henry C. Murphy stood for this +work wherever it challenged the enmity of an opponent or needed an +advocate, a supporter and a friend. He devised the legislation under +which it was commenced. He staked in its inception a large portion of +his private fortune on its success. He upheld its feasibility and +utility before committees, and legislatures, and law courts, and in +every forum of public discussion. For years he looked forward to this +day to fittingly close the activities of a long, useful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> and, in many +respects, an illustrious career. It was not permitted him to see it, +but he saw very near the end, and he lived long enough to realize, +what is now admitted, that he was to the end of his days engaged in a +work from which the name of the city he loved so well will never be +disassociated, for it is a work the history of which will for all time +be embraced in the records of the achievements of American enterprise +and of American genius. I am sure I speak for the Board of Trustees in +returning their thanks to all the professional gentlemen who have been +in our employ—and especially to Messrs. Martin, Paine, Farrington, +McNulty and Probasco. For the most part these men have been engaged on +the Bridge from its commencement to its completion. It has always +seemed to the Trustees as if the highest and the humblest workmen +engaged on this work were alike influenced by the spirit of enterprise +in which the Bridge had its origin. Men whose daily compensation was +not more than sufficient to provide them and their families with their +daily bread were at all times ready to take their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> lives in their +hands in the performance of the imperative and perilous duties +assigned them. In the direct prosecution of the work twenty men lost +their lives. Peace hath its victories, and it has its victims and its +martyrs, too. Of the seven consulting engineers to whom the matured +plans of the elder Roebling were submitted—all men of the highest +eminence in their profession—three have passed away, and four are +living to witness, in the assured success of this structure, the one +ratification of their judgment which cannot be questioned.</p> + +<p>It remains for me to say, in conclusion, that the two cities rose at +all times to the level of the spirit of our time and country. Their +citizens staked millions on what seemed to many to be an experiment—a +structure, it was often said, that at its best would not be of any +actual use. How solid it is; how far removed it is from all sense of +apprehension; how severely practical it is in all its relations, and +how great a factor in the corporate lives of these cities it is +destined to be, we all now realize. This Bridge has cost many millions +of dollars, and it has taken many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> years to build it. May I say on +this occasion that the people whom you represent (turning to where the +Mayors of the two cities stood together) would not part with the +Bridge to-day for even twice or thrice its cost? And may I remind +those who, not unnaturally, perhaps, have been disappointed and +irritated by delays in the past, that those who enter a race with Time +for a competitor have an antagonist that makes no mistakes, is subject +to no interference and liable to no accident.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span></p> + +<h1><a name="Address_of_Hon_Seth_Low" id="Address_of_Hon_Seth_Low"></a><span class="smcap">Address of Hon. Seth Low</span>,</h1> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Mayor of the City of Brooklyn.</span></h2> + +<hr class="short" /> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Gentlemen of the Trustees</span>—With profound satisfaction, on behalf of +the City of Brooklyn, I accept the completed Bridge. Fourteen times +the earth has made its great march through the heavens since the work +began. The vicissitudes of fourteen years have tried the courage and +the faith of engineers and of people. At last we all rejoice in the +signal triumph. The beautiful and stately structure fulfills the +fondest hope. It will be a source of pleasure to-day to every citizen +that no other name is associated with the end than that which has +directed the work from the beginning—the name of Roebling. With all +my heart I give to him who bears it now the city's acknowledgment and +thanks.</p> + +<p>Fourteen years ago a city of 400,000 people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> on this side of the river +heard of a projected suspension bridge with incredulity. The span was +so long, the height so great, and the enterprise likely to be so +costly, that few thought of it as something begun in earnest. The +irresistible demands of commerce enforced these hard conditions. But +Science said, "It is possible," and Courage said, "It shall be!" +To-day a city of 600,000 people welcomes with enthusiasm the wonderful +creation of genius. Graceful, and yet majestic, it clings to the land +like a thing that has taken root. Beautiful as a vision of fairyland +it salutes our sight. The impression it makes upon the visitor is one +of astonishment, an astonishment that grows with every visit. No one +who has been upon it can ever forget it. This great structure cannot +be confined to the limits of local pride. The glory of it belongs to +the race. Not one shall see it and not feel prouder to be a man.</p> + +<p>And yet it is distinctly an American triumph. American genius designed +it, American skill built it, and American workshops made it. About +1837 the Screw Dock across the river, then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> known as the Hydrostatic +Lifting Dock, was built. In order to construct it the Americans of +that day were obliged to have the cylinders cast in England. What a +stride from 1837 to 1883—from the Hydrostatic Dock to the New York +and Brooklyn Bridge!</p> + +<p>And so this Bridge is a wonder of science. But in no less degree it is +a triumph of faith. I speak not now of the courage of those who +projected it. Except for the faith which removes mountains yonder +river could not have been spanned by this Bridge. It is true that the +material which has gone into it has been paid for; the labor which has +been spent upon it has received its hire. But the money which did +these things was not the money of those who own the Bridge. The money +was lent to them on the faith that these two great cities would redeem +their bond. So have the Alps been tunneled in our day; while the +ancient prophecy has been fulfilled that faith should remove +mountains. We justify this faith in us as we pay for the Bridge by +redeeming the bond.</p> + +<p>In the course of the construction of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> Bridge a number of lives +have been lost. Does it not sometimes seem as though every work of +enduring value, in the material as in the moral world, must needs be +purchased at the cost of human life? Let us recall with kindness at +this hour the work of those who labored here faithfully unto the +death, no less than of that great army of men who have wrought, year +in and year out, to execute the great design. Let us give our meed of +praise to-day to the humblest workman who has here done his duty well, +no less than to the great engineer who told him what to do.</p> + +<p>The importance of this Bridge in its far-reaching effects at once +entices and baffles the imagination. At either end of the Bridge lies +a great city—cities full of vigorous life. The activities and the +energies of each flow over into the other. The electric current has +conveyed unchecked between the two the interchanging thoughts, but the +rapid river has ever bidden halt to the foot of man. It is as though +the population of these cities had been brought down to the +river-side, year after year, there to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> be taught patience; and as +though, in this Bridge, after these many years, patience had had her +perfect work. The ardent merchant, the busy lawyer, the impatient +traveler—all, without distinction and without exception—at the river +have been told to wait. No one can compute the loss of time ensuing +daily from delays at the ferries to the multitudes crossing the +stream. And time is not only money—it is opportunity. Brooklyn +becomes available, henceforth, as a place of residence to thousands, +to whom the ability to reach their places of business without +interruption from fog and ice is of paramount importance. To all +Brooklyn's present citizens a distinct boon is given. The certainty of +communication with New York afforded by the Bridge is the fundamental +benefit it confers. Incident to this is the opportunity it gives for +rapid communication.</p> + +<p>As the water of the lakes found the salt sea when the Erie Canal was +opened, so surely will quick communication seek and find this noble +Bridge, and as the ships have carried hither and thither the products +of the mighty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> West, so shall diverging railroads transport the people +swiftly to their homes in the hospitable city of Brooklyn. The Erie +Canal is a waterway through the land connecting the great West with +the older East. This Bridge is a landway over the water, connecting +two cities bearing to each other relations in some respects similar. +It is the function of such works to bless "both him that gives and him +that takes." The development of the West has not belittled, but has +enlarged New York, and Brooklyn will grow by reason of this Bridge, +not at New York's expense, but to her permanent advantage. The +Brooklyn of 1900 can hardly be guessed at from the city of to-day. The +hand of Time is a mighty hand. To those who are privileged to live in +sight of this noble structure every line of it should be eloquent with +inspiration. Courage, enterprise, skill, faith, endurance—these are +the qualities which have made the great Bridge, and these are the +qualities which will make our city great and our people great. God +grant they never may be lacking in our midst. Gentlemen of the +Trus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span>tees, in accepting the Bridge at your hands, I thank you warmly +in Brooklyn's name for your manifold and arduous labors.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span></p> + +<h1><a name="Address_of_Hon_Franklin_Edson" id="Address_of_Hon_Franklin_Edson"></a><span class="smcap">Address of Hon. Franklin Edson</span>,</h1> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Mayor of the City of New York.</span></h2> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. President</span>—On behalf of the City of New York, I accept the great +work which you now tender as ready for the public use of the two +cities which it so substantially and, at the same time, so gracefully +joins together.</p> + +<p>The City of New York joyfully unites with the City of Brooklyn in +extending to you, sir, and to those who have been associated with you, +sincere congratulations upon the successful completion of this grand +highway, establishing, as it does, an enduring alliance between these +two great cities. Through the wisdom, energy, zeal and patience of +yourself and your co-laborers in this vast enterprise, we are enabled +this day to recognize the fact that a common and unbroken current +flows through the veins of these two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> cities, which must add in no +small degree to the strength, healthful growth and prosperity of both, +and we believe that what has thus been joined together shall never be +put asunder.</p> + +<p>When, more than fifteen years ago, you, Mr. President, foresaw the +advantages that would surely accrue to these cities from the +establishment of such a means of communication between them, few could +be found to look upon such advantages as other than, at best, +problematical. To-day, however, they are recognized, and so fully, +that before this Bridge was completed the building of another not far +distant had begun to be seriously considered.</p> + +<p>It was forty years after the vast advantages of water communication +between the Hudson and the great lakes had dawned upon the mind of +Washington, in the course of a tour through the valley of the Mohawk, +that such a work came to be appreciated by the people, and resulted in +that grand artery of wealth to our State, the Erie Canal. So I believe +it has ever been in the past with the initiation and construction of +great public works, and with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> introduction of agencies and methods +which have been of the greatest benefit to mankind throughout the +world, and so perhaps it will ever be. Yet, for the welfare of these +two cities, let us venture the hope that the tide of improvement and +of active preparation is setting in, for it behooves us more than most +are aware to be forecasting our future necessities, and to recognize +the fact that</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="verse"> +<tr> +<td> +There is a tide in the affairs of <i>cities</i>,<br /> +Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>It is not difficult for most of us to look back twenty-five years and +see clearly the wonderful strides which have been made in population, +commerce, manufacturing and financial interests, and in all the +industries which help to make great and prosperous communities; nor is +it difficult to trace the wonders that have been wrought through the +agencies of steam and electricity within those years. But to look +forward twenty-five years and attempt to discern the condition of +things in this metropolis, if they shall continue to move forward on +the same scale of progress, is an undertaking that few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> can grasp. No +one dares accept the possibilities that are forced upon the mind in +the course of its contemplation. Will these two cities ere then have +been consolidated into one great municipality, numbering within its +limits more than five millions of people? Will the right of +self-government have been accorded to the great city, thus united, and +will her people have learned how best to exercise that right? Will the +progress of improvement and the preparation for commerce, +manufactories and trade, and for the comforts of home for poor and +rich, have kept pace with the demand in the great and growing city? +Will the establishment of life-giving parks, embellished with +appropriate fountains and statues and with the numberless graces of +art, which at once gladden the eye and raise the standard of +civilization, have kept abreast with its growth in wealth and numbers?</p> + +<p>These are but few of the pertinent questions which must be answered by +the zealous and honest acts of the generation of men already in active +life. Here are the possibilities; all the elements and conditions are +here; but the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> results must depend upon the wisdom and patriotism and +energy of those who shall lead in public affairs. May they be clothed +with a spirit of wisdom and knowledge akin to that which inspired +those who conceived and executed the great work which we receive at +your hands and dedicate to-day.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span></p> + +<h1><a name="Address_of_Hon_Abram_S_Hewitt" id="Address_of_Hon_Abram_S_Hewitt"></a><span class="smcap">Address of Hon. Abram S. Hewitt.</span></h1> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p>Two hundred and seventy years ago the good ship "Tiger," commanded by +Captain Adraien Block, was burned to the water's edge, as she lay at +anchor, just off the southern end of Manhattan Island. Her crew, thus +forced into winter quarters, were the first white men who built and +occupied a house on the land where New York now stands; "then," to +quote the graphic language of Mrs. Lamb, in her history of the City, +"in primeval solitude, waiting till commerce should come and claim its +own. Nature wore a hardy countenance, as wild and as untamed as the +savage landholders. Manhattan's twenty-two thousand acres of rock, +lake and rolling table land, rising at places to a height of one +hundred and thirty-eight feet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> were covered with sombre forests, +grassy knolls and dismal swamps. The trees were lofty; and old, +decayed and withered limbs contrasted with the younger growth of +branches; and wild flowers wasted their sweetness among the dead +leaves and uncut herbage at their roots. The wanton grapevine swung +carelessly from the topmost boughs of the oak and the sycamore; and +blackberry and raspberry bushes, like a picket guard, presented a bold +front in all possible avenues of approach. The entire surface of the +island was bold and granitic, and in profile resembled the +cartilaginous back of the sturgeon."</p> + +<p>This primeval scene was the product of natural forces working through +uncounted periods of time; the continent slowly rising and falling in +the sea like the heaving breast of a world asleep; glaciers carving +patiently through ages the deep estuaries; seasons innumerable +clothing the hills with alternate bloom and decay.</p> + +<p>The same sun shines to-day upon the same earth; yet how transformed! +Could there be a more astounding exhibition of the power of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> man to +change the face of nature than the panoramic view which presents +itself to the spectator standing upon the crowning arch of the Bridge, +whose completion we are here to-day to celebrate in the honored +presence of the President of the United States, with their fifty +millions; of the Governor of the State of New York, with its five +millions; and of the Mayors of the two cities, aggregating over two +millions of inhabitants? In the place of stillness and solitude, the +footsteps of these millions of human beings; instead of the smooth +waters "unvexed by any keel," highways of commerce ablaze with the +flags of all the nations; and where once was the green monotony of +forested hills, the piled and towering splendors of a vast metropolis, +the countless homes of industry, the echoing marts of trade, the +gorgeous palaces of luxury, the silent and steadfast spires of +worship!</p> + +<p>To crown all, the work of separation wrought so surely, yet so slowly, +by the hand of Time, is now reversed in our own day, and "Manahatta" +and "Seawanhaka" are joined again, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> once they were before the dawn +of life in the far azoic ages.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="verse"> +<tr> +<td> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">"It is done!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Clang of bell and roar of gun</span><br /> +Send the tidings up and down.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How the belfries rock and reel!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How the great guns, peal on peal,</span><br /> +Fling the joy from town to town!"<br /> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>"What hath God wrought!" were the words of wonder, which ushered into +being the magnetic telegraph, the greatest marvel of the many +marvelous inventions of the present century. It was the natural +impulse of the pious maiden who chose this first message of reverence +and awe, to look to the Divine Power as the author of a new gospel. +For it was the invisible, and not the visible agency, which addressed +itself to her perceptions. Neither the bare poles, nor the slender +wire, nor the silent battery, could suggest an adequate explanation of +the extinction of time and space which was manifest to her senses, and +she could only say, "What hath God wrought!"</p> + +<p>But when we turn from the unsightly telegraph to the graceful +structure at whose portal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> we stand, and when the airy outline of its +curves of beauty, pendant between massive towers suggestive of art +alone, is contrasted with the over-reaching vault of heaven above and +the ever-moving flood of waters beneath, the work of omnipotent power, +we are irresistibly moved to exclaim, "What hath <i>man</i> wrought!"</p> + +<p>Man hath, indeed, wrought far more than strikes the eye in this daring +undertaking, by the general judgment of engineers, without a rival +among the wonders of human skill. It is not the work of any one man or +of any one age. It is the result of the study, of the experience, and +of the knowledge of many men in many ages. It is not merely a +creation—it is a growth. It stands before us to-day as the sum and +epitome of human knowledge; as the very heir of the ages; as the +latest glory of centuries of patient observation, profound study and +accumulated skill, gained, step by step, in the never-ending struggle +of man to subdue the forces of nature to his control and use.</p> + +<p>In no previous period of the world's history could this Bridge have +been built. Within the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> last hundred years the greater part of the +knowledge necessary for its erection has been gained. Chemistry was +not born until 1776, the year when political economy was ushered into +the world by Adam Smith, and the Declaration of Independence was +proclaimed by the Continental Congress, to be maintained at the point +of the sword by George Washington. In the same year Watt produced his +successful steam engine, and a century has not elapsed since the first +specimen of his skill was erected on this continent. The law of +gravitation was indeed known a hundred years ago, but the intricate +laws of force, which now control the domain of industry, had not been +developed by the study of physical science, and their practical +applications have only been effectually accomplished within our own +day, and, indeed, some of the most important of them during the +building of the Bridge. For use in the caissons, the perfecting of the +electric light came too late, though, happily, in season for the +illumination of the finished work.</p> + +<p>This construction has not only employed every abstract conclusion and +formula of mathematics,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> whether derived from the study of the earth +or the heavens, but the whole structure may be said to rest upon a +mathematical foundation. The great discoveries of chemistry, showing +the composition of water, the nature of gases, the properties of +metals; the laws and processes of physics, from the strains and +pressures of mighty masses to the delicate vibrations of molecules, +are all recorded here. Every department of human industry is +represented, from the quarrying and the cutting of the stones, the +mining and smelting of the ores, the conversion of iron into steel by +the pneumatic process, to the final shaping of the masses of metal +into useful forms, and its reduction into wire, so as to develop in +the highest degree the tensile strength which fits it for the work of +suspension. Every tool which the ingenuity of man has invented has +somewhere, in some special detail, contributed its share in the +accomplishment of the final result.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="verse"> +<tr> +<td> +"Ah! what a wondrous thing it is<br /> +To note how many wheels of toil<br /> +One word, one thought can set in motion." +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span></p> + +<p>But without the most recent discoveries of science, which have enabled +steel to be substituted for iron—applications made since the original +plans of the Bridge were devised—we should have had a structure fit, +indeed, for use, but of such moderate capacity that we could not have +justified the claim which we are now able to make, that the cities of +New York and Brooklyn have constructed, and to-day rejoice in the +possession of, the crowning glory of an age memorable for great +industrial achievements.</p> + +<p>This is not the proper occasion for describing the details of this +undertaking. This grateful task will be performed by the engineer in +the final report, with which every great work is properly committed to +the judgment of posterity. But there are some lessons to be drawn from +the line of thought I have followed which may encourage and comfort us +as to the destiny of man and the outcome of human progress.</p> + +<p>What message, then, of hope and cheer does this achievement convey to +those who would fain believe that love travels hand in hand with light +along the rugged pathway of time? Have the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> discoveries of science, +the triumphs of art and the progress of civilization, which have made +its accomplishment a possibility and a reality, promoted the welfare +of mankind, and raised the great mass of the people to a higher plane +of life?</p> + +<p>This question can best be answered by comparing the compensation of +the labor employed in the building of this Bridge with the earnings of +labor upon works of equal magnitude in ages gone by. The money +expended for the work of construction proper on the Bridge, exclusive +of land damages and other outlays, such as interest, not entering into +actual cost, is nine million ($9,000,000) dollars. This money has been +distributed in numberless channels—for quarrying, for mining, for +smelting, for fabricating the metals, for shaping the materials, and +erecting the work, employing every kind and form of human labor. The +wages paid at the Bridge itself may be taken as the fair standard of +the wages paid for the work done elsewhere. These wages are:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="wages"> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2" class="center"><b>Average.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td>Laborers,</td><td>$1 75</td><td class="center">per day.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Blacksmiths,</td><td><span style="margin-left: .5em;">3 50 to $4 00</span></td><td class="center">do.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Carpenters,</td><td><span style="margin-left: .5em;">3</span> 00 to <span style="margin-left: .5em;">3</span> 50</td><td class="center">do.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Masons and Stonecutters,</td><td><span style="margin-left: .5em;">3</span> 50 to <span style="margin-left: .5em;">4</span> 00</td><td class="center">do.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Riggers,</td><td><span style="margin-left: .5em;">2</span> 00 to <span style="margin-left: .5em;">2</span> 50</td><td class="center">do.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Painters,</td><td><span style="margin-left: .5em;">2</span> 00 to <span style="margin-left: .5em;">3</span> 50</td><td class="center">do.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Taking all these kinds of labor into account, the wages paid for work +on the Bridge will thus average $2.50 per day.</p> + +<p>Now, if this work had been done at the time when the Pyramids were +built, with the skill, appliances and tools then in use, and if the +money available for its execution had been limited to nine million +($9,000,000) dollars, the laborers employed would have received an +average of not more than two cents per day, in money of the same +purchasing power as the coin of the present era. In other words, the +effect of the discoveries of new methods, tools and laws of force, has +been to raise the wages of labor more than an hundred fold, in the +interval which has elapsed since the Pyramids were built. I shall not +weaken the suggestive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> force of this statement by any comments upon +its astounding evidence of progress, beyond the obvious corollary that +such a state of civilization as gave birth to the Pyramids would now +be the signal for universal bloodshed, revolution and anarchy. I do +not underestimate the hardships borne by the labor of our time. They +are, indeed, grievous, and to lighten them is, as it should be, the +chief concern of statesmanship. But this comparison proves that +through forty centuries these hardships have been steadily diminished; +that all the achievements of science, all the discoveries of art, all +the inventions of genius, all the progress of civilization, tend by a +higher and immutable law to the steady and certain amelioration of the +condition of society. It shows that, notwithstanding the apparent +growth of great fortunes, due to an era of unparalleled development, +the distribution of the fruits of labor is approaching from age to age +to more equitable conditions, and must, at last, reach the plane of +absolute justice between man and man.</p> + +<p>But this is not the only lesson to be drawn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> from such a comparison. +The Pyramids were built by the sacrifices of the living for the dead. +They served no useful purpose, except to make odious to future +generations the tyranny which degrades humanity to the level of the +brute. In this age of the world such a waste of effort would not be +tolerated. To-day the expenditures of communities are directed to +useful purposes. Except upon works designed for defence in time of +war, the wealth of society is now mainly expended in opening channels +of communication for the free play of commerce, and the communion of +the human race. An analysis of the distribution of the surplus +earnings of man after providing food, shelter and raiment, shows that +they are chiefly absorbed by railways, canals, ships, bridges and +telegraphs. In ancient times these objects of expenditure were +scarcely known. Our Bridge is one of the most conspicuous examples of +this change in the social condition of the world, and of the feeling +of men. In the Middle Ages cities walled each other out, and the +fetters of prejudice and tyranny held the energies of man in hopeless +bondage. To-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span>day men and nations seek free intercourse with each +other, and much of the force of the intellect and energy of the world +is expended in breaking down the barriers established by nature, or +created by man, to the solidarity of the human race.</p> + +<p>And yet, in view of this tendency, the most striking and +characteristic feature of the nineteenth century, there still are +those who believe and teach that obstruction is the creator of wealth; +that the peoples can be made great and free by the erection of +artificial barriers to the beneficent action of commerce, and the +unrestricted intercourse of men and nations with each other. If they +are right, then this Bridge is a colossal blunder, and the doctrine +which bids us to love our neighbors as ourselves is founded upon a +misconception of the divine purpose.</p> + +<p>But the Bridge is more than an embodiment of the scientific knowledge +of physical laws, or a symbol of social tendencies. It is equally a +monument to the moral qualities of the human soul. It could never have +been built by mere<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> knowledge and scientific skill alone. It +required, in addition, the infinite patience and unwearied courage by +which great results are achieved. It demanded the endurance of heat, +and cold, and physical distress. Its constructors have had to face +death in its most repulsive form. Death, indeed, was the fate of its +great projector, and dread disease the heritage of the greater +engineer who has brought it to completion. The faith of the saint and +the courage of the hero have been combined in the conception, the +design and the execution of this work.</p> + +<p>Let us, then, record the names of the engineers and foremen who have +thus made humanity itself their debtor for a successful achievement, +not the result of accident or of chance, but the fruit of design, and +of the consecration of all personal interest to the public weal. They +are: John A. Roebling, who conceived the project and formulated the +plan of the Bridge; Washington A. Roebling, who, inheriting his +father's genius, and more than his father's knowledge and skill, has +directed the execution of this great work from its inception to its +completion; aided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> in the several departments by Charles C. Martin, +Francis Collingwood, William H. Paine, George W. McNulty, Wilhelm +Hildenbrand and Samuel R. Probasco as assistant engineers; and as +foremen by E.F. Farrington, Arthur V. Abbott, William Van der Bosch, +Charles Young and Harry Tupple, who, in apparently subordinate +positions, have shown themselves peculiarly fitted to command, because +they have known how to serve. But the record would not be complete +without reference to the unnamed men by whose unflinching courage, in +the depths of the caissons, and upon the suspended wires, the work was +carried on amid storms, and accidents, and dangers, sufficient to +appall the stoutest heart. To them we can only render the tribute +which history accords to those who fight as privates in the battles of +freedom, with all the more devotion and patriotism because their names +will never be known by the world whose benefactors they are. One name, +however, which may find no place in the official records, cannot be +passed over here in silence. In ancient times when great works were +constructed, a goddess was chosen, to whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> tender care they were +dedicated. Thus the ruins of the Acropolis to-day recall the name of +Pallas Athene to an admiring world. In the Middle Ages, the blessing +of some saint was invoked to protect from the rude attacks of the +barbarians, and the destructive hand of time, the building erected by +man's devotion to the worship of God. So, with this Bridge will ever +be coupled the thought of one, through the subtle alembic of whose +brain, and by whose facile fingers, communication was maintained +between the directing power of its construction, and the obedient +agencies of its execution. It is thus an everlasting monument to the +self-sacrificing devotion of woman, and of her capacity for that +higher education from which she has been too long debarred. The name +of Mrs. Emily Warren Roebling will thus be inseparably associated with +all that is admirable in human nature, and with all that is wonderful +in the constructive world of art.</p> + +<p>This tribute to the engineers, however, would not be deserved, if +there is to be found any evidence of deception on their part in the +origin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> of the work, or any complicity with fraud in its execution +and completion. It is this consideration which induced me to accept +the unexpected invitation of the trustees to speak for the city of New +York on the present occasion. When they thus honored me, they did not +know that John A. Roebling addressed to me the letter in which he +first suggested (and, so far as I am aware, he was the first engineer +to suggest), the feasibility of a bridge between the two cities, so +constructed as to preserve unimpaired the freedom of navigation. This +letter, dated June 19, 1857, I caused to be printed in the <i>New York +Journal of Commerce</i>, where it attracted great attention because it +came from an engineer who had already demonstrated, by successfully +building suspension bridges over the Schuylkill, the Ohio and the +Niagara rivers, that he spoke with the voice of experience and +authority. This letter was the first step towards the construction of +the work, which, however, came about in a manner different from his +expectations, and was finally completed on a plan more extensive than +he had ventured to describe. It has been charged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> that the original +estimates of cost have been far exceeded by the actual outlay. If this +were true, the words of praise which I have uttered for the engineers, +who designed and executed this work, ought rather to have been a +sentence of censure and condemnation. Hence, the invitation which came +to me unsought, seemed rather to be an appeal from the grave for such +vindication as it was within my power to make, and which could not +come with equal force from any other quarter.</p> + +<p>Engineers are of two kinds: the creative and the constructive. The +power to conceive great works demands imagination and faith. The +creative engineer, like the poet, is born, not made. If to the power +to conceive, is added the ability to execute, then have we one of +those rare geniuses who not only give a decided impulse to +civilization, but add new glory to humanity. Such men were Michael +Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Watt, Wedgwood, Brunel, Stephenson and +Bessemer; and such a man was John A. Roebling. It was his striking +peculiarity, that while his conceptions were bold and original, his +execution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> was always exact, and within the limits of cost which he +assigned to the work of his brain. He had made bridges a study, and +had declared in favor of the suspension principle for heavy traffic, +when the greatest living authorities had condemned it as costly and +unsafe. When he undertook to build a suspension bridge for railway +use, he did so in the face of the deliberate judgment of the +profession, that success would be impossible. Stephenson had condemned +the suspension principle and approved the tubular girder for railway +traffic. But it was the Nemesis of his fate, that when he came out to +approve the location of the great tubular bridge at Montreal, he +should pass over the Niagara River in a railway train, on a suspension +bridge, which he had declared to be an impracticable undertaking.</p> + +<p>When Roebling suggested the Bridge over the East River, his ideas were +limited to the demands of the time, and controlled by the necessity +for a profitable investment. He had no expectation that the two cities +would embark in the enterprise. Indeed, in one of his letters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> so late +as April 14, 1860, he says, "As to the corporations of New York and +Brooklyn undertaking the job, no such hope may be entertained in our +time." In eight years thereafter, these cities had undertaken the task +upon a scale of expense far exceeding his original ideas of a +structure, to be built exclusively by private capital for the sake of +profit.</p> + +<p>How came this miracle to pass? The war of the rebellion occurred, +delaying for a time the further consideration of Roebling's ideas. +This war accustomed the nation to expenditures on a scale of which it +had no previous conception. It did more than expend large sums of +money. Officials became corrupt and organized themselves for plunder. +In the city of New York, especially, the government fell into the +hands of a band of thieves, who engaged in a series of great and +beneficial public works, not for the good they might do, but for the +opportunity which they would afford to rob the public treasury. They +erected court-houses and armories; they opened roads, boulevards and +parks; and they organized two of the grandest devices for +trans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span>portation which the genius of man has ever conceived; a rapid +transit railway for New York, and a great highway between New York and +Brooklyn. The Bridge was commenced, but the Ring was driven into exile +by the force of public indignation, before the rapid transit scheme, +since executed on a different route by private capital, was +undertaken. The collapse of the Ring brought the work on the Bridge to +a stand-still.</p> + +<p>It was a timely event. The patriotic New Yorker might well have +exclaimed, just before this great deliverance, in the words of the +Consul of ancient Rome, in Macaulay's stirring poem,</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="verse"> +<tr> +<td> +"And if they once may win the bridge,<br /> +What hope to save the town?" +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>Meanwhile, the elder Roebling had died, leaving behind him his +estimates and the general plans of the structure, to cost, independent +of land damages and interest, about $7,000,000. This great work which, +if not "conceived in sin," was "brought forth in iniquity," thus +became the object of great suspicion, and of a prejudice which has not +been removed to this day. I know that to many I make a startling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +announcement, when I state the incontrovertible fact, that no money +was ever stolen by the Ring from the funds of the Bridge; that the +whole money raised has been honestly expended; that the estimates for +construction have not been materially exceeded; and that the excess of +cost over the estimates is due to purchases of land which were never +included in the estimates; to interest paid on the city subscriptions; +to the cost of additional height and breadth of the Bridge; and the +increase in strength rendered necessary by a better comprehension of +the volume of traffic between the two cities. The items covered by the +original estimate of $7,000,000 have thus been raised to $9,000,000, +so that $2,000,000 represents the addition to the original estimates.</p> + +<p>For this excess, amounting to less than thirty per cent., there is +actual value in the Bridge in dimension and strength, whereby its +working capacity has been greatly increased. The carriage-ways, as +originally designed, would have permitted only a single line of +vehicles in each direction. The speed of the entire procession,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> more +than a mile long, would, therefore, have been limited by the rate of +the slowest; and every accident causing stoppage to a single cart +would have stopped everything behind it for an indefinite period. It +is not too much to say that the removal of this objection, by widening +the carriage-ways, has multiplied manifold the practical usefulness of +the Bridge.</p> + +<p>The statement I have made is due to the memory not only of John A. +Roebling, but also of Henry C. Murphy, that great man who devoted his +last years to this enterprise; and who, having, like Moses, led the +people through the toilsome way, was permitted only to look, but not +to enter upon the promised land.</p> + +<p>This testimony is due also to the living trustees and to the engineers +who have controlled and directed this large expenditure in the public +service, the latter, in the conscientious discharge of professional +duty; and the former, with no other object than the welfare of the +public, and without any other possible reward than the good opinion of +their fellow-citizens.</p> + +<p>I do not make this statement without a full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> sense of the +responsibility which it involves, and I realize that its accuracy will +shortly be tested by the report of experts who are now examining the +accounts. But it will be found that I have spoken the words of truth +and soberness. When the Ring absconded I was asked by William C. +Havemeyer, then the Mayor of New York, to become a trustee, in order +to investigate the expenditures, and to report as to the propriety of +going on with the work. This duty was performed without fear or favor. +The methods by which the Ring proposed to benefit themselves were +clear enough, but its members fled before they succeeded in +reimbursing themselves for the preliminary expenses which they had +defrayed. With their flight a new era commenced, and during the three +years when I acted as a trustee, I am sure that no fraud was +committed, and that none was possible. Since that time the Board has +been controlled by trustees, some of whom are thorough experts in +bridge building, and the others men of such high character that the +suggestion of malpractice is improbable to absurdity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span></p> + +<p>The Bridge has not only been honestly built, but it may be safely +asserted that it could not now be duplicated at the same cost. Much +money might, however, have been saved if the work had not been delayed +through want of means, and unnecessary obstacles interposed by +mistaken public officials. Moreover, measured by its capacity, and the +limitations imposed on its construction by its relation to the +interests of traffic and navigation, it is the cheapest structure ever +erected by the genius of man. This will be made evident by a single +comparison with the Britannia Tubular Bridge erected by Stephenson +over the Menai Straits. He adopted the tubular principle, because he +believed that the suspension principle could not be made practical for +railway traffic, although he had to deal with spans not greater than +470 feet. He built a structure that contained 10,540 tons of iron, and +cost 601,000 pounds sterling, or about $3,000,000. Fortunately he has +left a calculation on record as to the possible extension of the +tubular girder, showing that it would reach the limits in which it +could bear only its own weight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> (62,000 tons), at 1,570 feet. Now, +for a span of 1,595½ feet, the Brooklyn Bridge contains but 6,740 +tons of material, and will sustain seven times its own weight. Its +cost is $9,000,000, whereas a tubular bridge for the same span would +contain ten times the weight of metal, and though costing twice as +much money, would be without the ability to do any useful work.</p> + +<p>Roebling, therefore, solved the problem which had defied Stephenson; +and upon his design has been built a successful structure, at half the +cost of a tubular bridge that would have fallen when loaded in actual +use. It is impossible to furnish any more striking proof of the genius +which originated, and of the economy which constructed this triumph of +American engineering.</p> + +<p>We have thus a monument to the public spirit of the two cities, +created by an expenditure as honest and as economical as the +management which gave us the Erie Canal, the Croton Aqueduct, and the +Central Park. Otherwise, it would have been a monument to the eternal +infamy of the trustees and of the engineers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> under whose supervision +it has been erected, and this brings me to the final consideration +which I feel constrained to offer on this point.</p> + +<p>During all these years of trial, and false report, a great soul lay in +the shadow of death, praying only to stay long enough for the +completion of the work to which he had devoted his life. I say a great +soul, for in the spring-time of youth, with friends and fortune at his +command, he gave himself to his country, and for her sake braved death +on many a well-fought battle-field. When restored to civil life, his +health was sacrificed to the duties which had devolved upon him, as +the inheritor of his father's fame, and the executor of his father's +plans. Living only for honor, and freed from the temptations of narrow +means, how is it conceivable that such a man—whose approval was +necessary to every expenditure—should, by conniving with jobbers, +throw away more than the life which was dear to him, that he might +fulfill his destiny, and leave to his children the heritage of a good +name and the glory of a grand achievement? Well may this suffering +hero quote the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> words of Hyperion: "Oh, I have looked with wonder +upon those, who, in sorrow and privation, and bodily discomfort, and +sickness, which is the shadow of death, have worked right on to the +accomplishment of their great purposes; toiling much, enduring much, +fulfilling much; and then, with shattered nerves, and sinews all +unstrung, have laid themselves down in the grave, and slept the sleep +of death, and the world talks of them while they sleep! And as in the +sun's eclipse we can behold the great stars shining in the heavens, so +in this life-eclipse have these men beheld the lights of the great +eternity, burning solemnly and forever!"</p> + +<p>And now what is to be the outcome of this great expenditure upon the +highway which unites the two cities, for which Dr. Storrs and I have +the honor to speak to-day? That Brooklyn will gain in numbers and in +wealth with accelerated speed is a foregone conclusion. Whether this +gain shall in any wise be at the expense of New York, is a matter in +regard to which the great metropolis does not concern herself. Her +citizens are content with the knowl<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span>edge that she exists and grows +with the growth of the whole country, of whose progress and prosperity +she is but the exponent and the index. Will the Bridge lead, as has +been forcibly suggested, and in some quarters hopefully anticipated, +to the further union of the two cities under one name and one +government? This suggestion is in part sentimental and in part +practical. So far as the union in name is concerned, it is scarcely +worth consideration, for in any comparison which our national or local +pride may institute between this metropolis and the other great cities +of the world, its environment, whether in Long Island, Staten Island, +or New Jersey, will always be included. In considering the population +of London, no one ever separates the city proper from the surrounding +parts. They are properly regarded as one homogeneous aggregation of +human beings.</p> + +<p>It is only when we come to consider the problem of governing great +masses that the serious elements of the question present themselves, +and must be determined before a satisfactory answer can be given. The +tendency of modern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> civilization is towards the concentration of +population in dense masses. This is due to the higher and more +diversified life, which can be secured by association and co-operation +on a large scale, affording not merely greater comfort and often +luxury, but actually distributing the fruits of labor on a more +equitable basis than is possible in sparsely settled regions and among +feeble communities. The great improvements of our day in labor-saving +machinery, and its application to agriculture, enable the nation to be +fed with a less percentage of its total force thus applied, and leave +a larger margin of population free to engage in such other pursuits as +are best carried on in large cities.</p> + +<p>The disclosures of the last census prove the truth of this statement. +At the first census in 1790 the population resident in cities was 3.3 +per cent. of the total population. This percentage slowly gained at +each successive census, until in 1840 it had reached 8.5 per cent. In +fifty years it had thus gained a little over five per cent. But in +1850 it rose to 12.5 per cent.; in 1860 it was 16.1 per cent.; in 1870 +it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> was 20.9 per cent., having in this one decade gained as much as in +the first fifty years of our political existence. In 1880 the +population resident in cities was 22.5 per cent. of the whole +population.</p> + +<p>With this rapid growth of urban population, have grown the +contemporaneous complaints of corrupt administration and bad municipal +government. The outcry may be said to be universal, for it comes from +both sides of the Atlantic; and the complaints appear to be in direct +proportion to the size of cities. It is obvious, therefore, that the +knowledge of the art of local government has not kept pace with the +growth of population. I am here by your favor to speak for the city of +New York, and I should be the last person to throw any discredit on +its fair fame; but I think I only give voice to the general feeling, +when I say that the citizens of New York are satisfied neither with +the structure of its government, nor with its actual administration, +even when it is in the hands of intelligent and honest officials. +Dissatisfied as we are, no man has been able to devise a system<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> which +commends itself to the general approval, and it may be asserted that +the remedy is not to be found in devices for any special machinery of +government. Experiments without number have been tried, and +suggestions in infinite variety have been offered, but to-day no man +can say that we have approached any nearer to the idea of good +government, which is demanded by the intelligence and the wants of the +community.</p> + +<p>If, therefore, New York has not yet learned to govern itself, how can +it be expected to be better governed by adding half a million to its +population, and a great territory to its area, unless it be with the +idea that a "little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Is Brooklyn that +leaven? If not, and if possibly "the salt has lost its savor, +wherewith shall it be salted?" Brooklyn is now struggling with this +problem, it remains to be seen with what success; but meanwhile it is +idle to consider the idea of getting rid of our common evils by adding +them together.</p> + +<p>Besides it is a fundamental axiom in politics,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> approved by the +experience of older countries, as well as of our own, that the sources +of power should never be far removed from those who are to feel its +exercise. It is the violation of this principle which produces chronic +revolution in France, and makes the British rule so obnoxious to the +Irish people. This evil is happily avoided when a natural boundary +circumscribes administration within narrow limits. While, therefore, +we rejoice together at the new bond between New York and Brooklyn, we +ought to rejoice the more, that it destroys none of the conditions +which permit each city to govern itself, but rather urges them to a +generous rivalry in perfecting each its own government, recognizing +the truth, that there is no true liberty without law, and that eternal +vigilance, which is the only safeguard of liberty, can best be +exercised within limited areas.</p> + +<p>It would be a most fortunate conclusion, if the completion of this +Bridge should arouse public attention to the absolute necessity of +good municipal government, and recall the only principle upon which it +can ever be successfully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> founded. There is reason to hope that this +result will follow, because the erection of this structure shows how a +problem, analogous to that which confronts us in regard to the city +government, has been met and solved in the domain of physical science.</p> + +<p>The men who controlled this enterprise at the outset were not all of +the best type; some of them, as we have seen, were public jobbers. But +they knew that they could not build a bridge, although they had no +doubt of their ability to govern a city. They thereupon proceeded to +organize the knowledge which existed as to the construction of +bridges; and they held the organization thus created responsible for +results. Now, we know that it is at least as difficult to govern a +city as to build a bridge, and yet, as citizens, we have deliberately +allowed the ignorance of the community to be organized for its +government, and we then complain that it is a failure. Until we +imitate the example of the Ring, and organize the intelligence of the +community for its government, our complaint is childish and +unreasonable. But we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> shall be told that there is no analogy between +building a bridge and governing a city. Let us examine this objection. +A city is made up of infinite interests. They vary from hour to hour, +and conflict is the law of their being. Many of the elements of social +life are what mathematicians term "variables of the independent +order." The problem is, to reconcile these conflicting interests and +variable elements into one organization which shall work without jar, +and allow each citizen to pursue his calling, if it be an honest one, +in peace and quiet.</p> + +<p>Now, turn to the Bridge. It looks like a motionless mass of masonry +and metal; but, as a matter of fact, it is instinct with motion. There +is not a particle of matter in it which is at rest even for the +minutest portion of time. It is an aggregation of unstable elements, +changing with every change in the temperature, and every movement of +the heavenly bodies. The problem was, out of these unstable elements, +to produce absolute stability; and it was this problem which the +engineers, the organized intelligence, had to solve, or confess to +inglorious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> failure. The problem has been solved. In the first +construction of suspension bridges it was attempted to check, repress +and overcome their motion, and failure resulted. It was then seen that +motion is the law of existence for suspension bridges, and provision +was made for its free play. Then they became a success. The Bridge +before us elongates and contracts between the extremes of temperature +from 14 to 16 inches; the vertical rise and fall in the centre of the +main span ranges between 2 ft. 3 in. and 2 ft. 9 in.; and before the +suspenders were attached to the cable it actually revolved on its own +axis through an arc of thirty degrees, when exposed to the sun shining +upon it on one side. You do not perceive this motion, and you would +know nothing about it unless you watched the gauges which record its +movement.</p> + +<p>Now if our political system were guided by organized intelligence, it +would not seek to repress the free play of human interests and +emotions, of human hopes and fears, but would make provision for their +development and exercise, in accordance with the higher law of +liberty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> and morality. A large portion of our vices and crimes are +created either by law, or its maladministration. These laws exist +because organized ignorance, like a highwayman with a club, is +permitted to stand in the way of wise legislation and honest +administration, and to demand satisfaction from the spoils of office, +and the profits of contracts. Of this state of affairs we complain, +and on great occasions the community arises in its wrath, and visits +summary punishment on the offenders of the hour, and then relapses +into chronic grumbling until grievances sufficiently accumulate to +stir it again to action.</p> + +<p>What is the remedy for this state of affairs? Shall there be no more +political parties, and shall we shatter the political machinery which, +bad as it is, is far better than no machinery at all? Shall we embrace +nihilism as our creed, because we have practical communism forced upon +us as the consequence of jobbery, and the imposition of unjust taxes?</p> + +<p>No, let us rather learn the lesson of the Bridge. Instead of +attempting to restrict suffrage, let us try to educate the voters; +instead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> of disbanding parties, let each citizen within the party +always vote, but never for a man who is unfit to hold office. Thus +parties, as well as voters, will be organized on the basis of +intelligence.</p> + +<p>But what man is fit to hold office? Only he who regards political +office as a public trust, and not as a private perquisite to be used +for the pecuniary advantage of himself or his family, or even his +party. Is there intelligence enough in these cities, if thus organized +within the parties, to produce the result which we desire? Why, the +overthrow of the Tweed Ring was conclusive evidence of the +preponderance of public virtue in the city of New York. In no other +country in the world, and in no other political system than one which +provides for and secures universal suffrage, would such a sudden and +peaceful revolution have been possible. The demonstration of this fact +was richly worth the twenty-five or thirty millions of dollars which +the thieves had stolen. Thereafter, and thenceforth, there could be no +doubt whether our city population, heterogeneous as it is, contains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +within itself sufficient virtue for its own preservation. Let it never +be forgotten that the remedy is complete; that it is ever present; +that no man ought to be deprived of the opportunity of its exercise; +and that, if it be exercised, the will of the community can never be +paralyzed. Our safety and our success rest on the ballot in the hands +of freemen at the polls, deliberately deposited, never for an unworthy +man, but always with a profound sense of the responsibility which +should govern every citizen in the exercise of this fundamental right.</p> + +<p>If the lesson of the Bridge, which I have thus sought to enforce, +shall revive the confidence of the people in their own power, and +induce them to use it practically for the election to office of good +men, clothed, as were the engineers, with sufficient authority, and +held, as they were, to corresponding responsibility for results, then, +indeed, will its completion be a public blessing, worthy of the new +era of industrial development in which it is our fortunate lot to +live.</p> + +<p>Great, indeed, has been our national progress. Perhaps we, who belong +to a commercial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> community, do not fully realize its significance and +promise. We buy and sell stocks, without stopping to think that they +represent the most astonishing achievements of enterprise and skill in +the magical extension of our vast railway system; we speculate in +wheat, without reflecting on the stupendous fact that the plains of +Dakota and California are feeding hungry mouths in Europe; we hear +that the Treasury has made a call for bonds, and forget that the rapid +extinction of our national debt is a proof of our prosperity and +patriotism, as wonderful to the world as was the power we exhibited in +the struggle which left that apparently crushing burden upon us. If, +then, we deal successfully with the evils which threaten our political +life, who can venture to predict the limits of our future wealth and +glory—wealth that shall enrich all; glory that shall be no selfish +heritage, but the blessing of mankind? Beyond all legends of oriental +treasure, beyond all dreams of the golden age, will be the splendor, +and majesty, and happiness of the free people dwelling upon this fair +domain, when fulfilling the promise of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> the ages and the hopes of +humanity they shall have learned how to make equitable distribution +among themselves of the fruits of their common labor. Then, indeed, +will be realized by a waiting world the youthful vision of our own +Bryant:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="verse"> +<tr> +<td> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Here the free spirit of mankind at length</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Throws its last fetters off; and who shall place</span><br /> +A limit to the giant's untamed strength,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or curb its swiftness in the forward race?</span><br /> +Far, like the comet's way through infinite space,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Stretches the long untraveled path of light</span><br /> +Into the depths of ages; we may trace<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Distant, the brightening glory of its flight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till the receding rays are lost to human sight."</span> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>At the ocean gateway of such a nation well may stand the stately +figure of "Liberty enlightening the World;" and, in hope and faith, as +well as gratitude, we write upon the towers of our beautiful Bridge, +to be illuminated by her electric ray, the words of exultation, +"<i>Finis coronat opus</i>."</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="ORATION" id="ORATION"></a>ORATION</h2> + +<h3>OF</h3> + +<h1><span class="smcap">Richard S. Storrs, D.D., LL.D.</span></h1> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman—Fellow-Citizens</span>: It can surprise no one that we +celebrate the completion of this great work, in which lines of +delicate and aerial grace are combined with a strength more enduring +than of marbles, and the woven wires prolong to these heights the +metropolitan avenues. After delays which have often disturbed the +popular patience, and have oftener disappointed the hopes of the +builders, we gratefully welcome this superb consummation: rejoicing to +know that "the silver streak" which so long has divided this city from +the continent, is conquered, henceforth, by the silver band stretching +above it, careless alike of wind and tide, of ice and fog, of current +and of calm.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span></p> + +<p>To the mind which, for fourteen years, has watched, guided, and +governed the work, looking out upon it through physical organs almost +fatally smitten in its prosecution, we bring our eager and unanimous +tribute of honor and applause. He who took up, elaborated, and has +brought to fulfillment the plans of the father whose own life had been +sacrificed in their furtherance, has builded to both the noblest +memorial. He may with truth have said, heretofore, as the furnaces +have glowed from which this welded network has come, in the words of +Schiller's "Lay of the Bell:"</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="verse"> +<tr> +<td> +"Deep hid within the nether cell<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">What Force with Fire is moulding thus,</span><br /> +In yonder airy towers shall dwell,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And witness wide and far of us."</span> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="noindent">He may, at this hour, add for himself the lines which the poet hears +from the lips of his House-Master:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="verse"> +<tr> +<td> +"My house is built upon a rock,<br /> +And sees unmoved the stormy shock<br /> +Of waves that fret below."<br /> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>It must be a superlative moment in life when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> one stands on a +structure as majestic as this which was at first a mere thought in the +brain, which was afterward a plan on the paper, and which has been +transported hither, from quarry and mine, from wood-yard and workshop, +on the point of his pencil.</p> + +<p>He would be the first to acknowledge also, if he were speaking, the +intelligent, faithful, indefatigable service rendered in execution of +his plans by those who have been associated with him, as assistant +engineers, as master mechanics, or as trained, trusted, and +experienced workmen. On their knowledge and vigilance, their practiced +skill and patient fidelity, the work has of necessity largely depended +for its completed grace and strength. They have wrought the zealous +labor of years into all parts of it; and it will bear to them +hereafter, as it does to-day, most honorable witness.</p> + +<p>Some of our honored fellow-citizens, who have borne a distinguished +part in this enterprise, are no more here to share our festivities. +Mr. John H. Prentice, for years the Treasurer of the Board, wise in +counsel, of a liberal yet a watchful econ<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span>omy, of incorruptible +integrity, passed from the earth two years ago; but to those who knew +him his memory is as fresh as the verdure above his grave at +Greenwood. More lately, one who had been from the outset associated +with what to many appeared this visionary plan, to whose capacity and +experience, his legal skill, his legislative influence, his social +distinction, the work has been always largely indebted, and who was +for years the President of the Board, has followed into the silent +land. It is a grief to all who knew him that he is not here to see the +consummation of labors and plans which for years had occupied his +life. But his face and figure are before us, almost as distinctly as +if he were present; and it will be only the dullest forgetfulness +which can ever cease to connect with this Bridge the name of the +accomplished scholar, the experienced diplomatist, the untiring +worker, the cordial and ever-helpful friend, Mr. Henry C. Murphy.</p> + +<p>But others remain to whom the work has brought its burdens, of labor, +care, and long solicitude, sometimes, no doubt, of a public criticism +whose imperious sharpness they may have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> felt, but who have followed +their plans to completion, without wavering or pause; who have, +indeed, expanded those plans as the progress of the work has suggested +enlargement; and who, to-day, enter the reward which belongs to those +who, after promoting a magnificent enterprise, see it accomplished. +Among them are two who were associated with it at the beginning, and +who have continued so associated from that day to this—Mr. William C. +Kingsley, Mr. James S.T. Stranahan. The judgment cannot be mistaken +which affirms that to these men, more than to any other citizens +remaining among us, the prosecution of this work to its crowning +success is properly ascribed. They are the true orators of the hour. +We may praise, but they have builded. On the tenacity of their +purpose, of which that of these combining wires only presents the +physical image,—on the lift of their wills, stronger than of these +consenting cables,—the immense structure has risen to its place. No +grander work has it been given to men to do for the city, which will +feel the unfailing impulse of their foresight and courage, their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +wisdom in counsel, and their resolute service, to the end of its +history!</p> + +<p>Mr. William Marshall, Gen. Henry W. Slocum, were also connected with +the work at the outset, and, with intervals in the period of their +service, have given it important assistance to the end; while others +are with us who have joined with intelligence, enthusiasm, and +helpfulness in the councils of the Board at different times. We +rejoice in the presence of all those who, earlier or later, have taken +part in the plans, at once vast and minute, which now are realized. We +offer them the tribute of our admiring and grateful esteem. We trust +that their remembrance of the work they have accomplished, and their +personal experience of its manifold benefits, may continue through +many happy years. And we congratulate ourselves, as well as them, that +the city will keep the memorial of them, not in yonder tablets alone, +but in the great fabric above which those stand, while stone and steel +retain their strength.</p> + +<p>But, after all, the real builder of this surpassing and significant +structure has been the people:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> whose watchfulness of its progress has +been constant, whose desire for its benefits has been the incentive +behind its plans, by whom its treasury has been supplied, whose +exultant gladness now welcomes its success. The people of New York +have illustrated anew their magnanimous spirit in cheerfully supplying +their share of the cost, though not anticipating from such large +outlay direct reliefs and signal advantages. The people of Brooklyn +have shown at least an intelligent, intrepid, and far-sighted +sagacity, in readily accepting the immediate burdens in expectation of +future returns.</p> + +<p>Such a popular achievement is one to be proud of. St. Petersburg could +be commenced 180 years ago—almost to a day, on May 27th, 1703—and +could afterward be built, by the will of an autocrat, to give him a +new centre of empire, with a nearer outlook over Europe; its palaces +rising on artificial foundations, which it cost, it is said, 100,000 +lives in the first year to lay. Paris could be reconstructed, +twenty-five years ago, by the mandate of an emperor, determined to +make it more beautiful than before, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> open new avenues for guns and +troops, to give to its laborers, who might become troublesome, desired +occupation. But not only have these cities of ours been founded, +built, reconstructed by the people, but this charming and mighty +avenue in the air, by which they are henceforth rebuilt into one, is +to the people's honor and praise. It shows what multitudes, +democratically organized, can do if they will. It will show, to those +who shall succeed us, to what largeness of enterprise, what patience +of purpose, what liberal wisdom, the populations now ruling these +associated cities were competent in their time. It takes the aspect, +as so regarded, of a durable monument to Democracy itself.</p> + +<p>We congratulate the Mayors of both the cities, with their associates +in the government of them, on the public spirit manifested by both, on +the ampler opportunities offered to each, and on those intimate +alliances between them which are a source of happiness to both, and +which are almost certainly prophetic of an organic union to be +realized hereafter. And we trust that the crosses, encircled by the +laurel wreath, on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> original seal of New Amsterdam, with the Dutch +legend of this city, "Union makes Strength," may continue to describe +them, whether or not stamped upon parchments and blazoned on banners, +as long as human eyes shall see them.</p> + +<p>The work now completed is of interest to both cities, and its enduring +and multiplying benefits will be found, we are confident, to be +common, not local.</p> + +<p>We who have made and steadfastly kept our homes in Brooklyn, and who +are fond and proud of the city—for its fresh, bracing, and healthful +air, and the brilliant outstretch of sea and land which opens from its +Heights; for its scores of thousands of prosperous homes; for its +unsurpassed schools, its co-operating churches, the social temper +which pervades it, the independence and enterprise of its journals, +and the local enthusiasms which they fruitfully foster; for its +general liberality, and the occasional splendid examples of individual +munificence which have given it fame; for its recent but energetic +institutions, of literature, art, and a noble philanthropy; and for +the stimulating enterprise and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> culture of the young life which is +coming to command in it—we have obvious reason to rejoice in the work +which brings us into nearer connection with all that is delightful and +all that is enriching in the metropolis, and with that diverging +system of railways, overspreading the continent, which has in the +commercial capital its natural centre of radiation.</p> + +<p>We have no word of criticism to speak, only words of most hearty +admiration, for the safe and speedy water-service on the lines of the +ferries which has given us heretofore such easy transportation from +city to city, without delays that were not unavoidable, and with +remarkable exemption from disaster. So far as human carefulness and +skill could assure safety and speed, in the midst of conditions +unfriendly to both, the management of these ferries has been peerless, +their success unsurpassed. To them is due, in largest measure, the +rapid growth already here realized. They have formed the indispensable +arteries, of supply and transmission, through which the circulating +life-blood has flowed, and their ministry to this city has been +constant and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> vital. But we confess ourselves glad to reach, with +surer certainty and a greater rapidity, the libraries and galleries, +the churches and the homes, as well as the resorts of business and of +pleasure, with which we are now in instant connection; and the horizon +widens around us as we touch with more immediate contact the lines of +travel which open hence to the edges of the continent.</p> + +<p>If we have not as much to offer in immediate return, we have, at +least, a broad expanse of uncovered acres within the city, for the +easy occupation of those who wish homes, either modest or splendid, or +who shall wish such as the growth of the metropolis multiplies its +population into the millions, crowds its roofs higher toward the +stars, and makes a productive silver mine of each several house-lot. +And to those who visit us but at intervals we can open not only yonder +park, set like an emerald in the great circular sweep of our +boundaries from the waters of the Narrows to the waters of the Sound, +but also their readiest approach to the ocean. The capital and the sea +are henceforth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> brought to nearer neighborhood. Long Island bays, and +brooks, and beaches, are within readier reach of the town. The winds +that have touched no other land this side of Cuba are more accessible +to those who seek their tonic breath. The long roll of the surf on the +shore breaks closer than before to office and mansion, and to tenement +chamber.</p> + +<p>The benefits will, therefore, be reciprocal, which pass back and forth +across this solid and stately frame-work; and both cities will +rejoice, we gladly hope, in the patience and labor, the disciplined +skill, the large expenditure, of which it is the trophy and fruit. New +York has now the unique opportunity to widen its boundaries to the +sea, and around its brilliant civic shield, more stately and manifold +than that of Achilles, by the aid of those who have wrought already +these twisted bracelets and clasping cables, to set the glowing margin +of the Ocean-stream.</p> + +<p>This work is important, too, we cannot but feel, in wider relations; +for what it signifies, as for what it secures, and for all that it +promises. Itself a representative product and part of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> new +civilization, one standing on it finds an outlook from it of larger +circumference than that of these cities.</p> + +<p>Every enterprise like this, successfully accomplished, becomes an +incentive to others like it. It leads on to such, and supplies +incessant encouragement to them. We may not know, or probably +conjecture, what these are to be, in the city or the State, in the +years that shall come. But, whatever they may be, for the more +complete equipment of either with conditions of happiness and the +instruments of progress, they will all take an impulse from that which +here has been accomplished. Such a trophy of triumph over an original +obstacle of Nature will not contribute to sleep in others; and +whatever is needed of material improvement, throughout the State of +which it is our pride to be citizens, will be only more surely and +speedily supplied because of this impressive success.</p> + +<p>It is, therefore, most fitting to our festival that we are permitted +to welcome to it the Chief Magistrate of the State, with those +representing its different regions in the legislative councils.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> We +rejoice to remember that the work before us has been assisted by the +favoring action of those heretofore in authority in the State; and we +trust that to those now holding high offices in it, who are present +to-day, the occasion will be one of pleasant experience, and of +enlarged and reinforced expectation.</p> + +<p>Indeed, it is not extravagant to say that the future of the country +opens before us, as we see what skill and will can do to overleap +obstacles, and make nature subservient to human designs. So we gladly +welcome these eminent men from other States; while the presence of the +Executive Head of the Nation, and of some of the members of his +Cabinet, is appropriate to the time, as it is an occasion of sincere +and profound gratification to us all. Without the concurrence of the +National Government, this structure, though primarily of local +relations, as reaching across these navigable waters, could not have +been built. We feel assured that those honorably representing that +Government, who favor its completion with their attendance, and in +whose presence political differences are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> forgotten, will share with +us in the joyful pride with which we regard it, and in the inspiring +anticipation that the physical apparatus of civilization in the land +is to take fresh impulse, not impediment or hindrance, from that which +here has been effected. The day seems brought distinctly nearer when +the Nation, equipped with the latest implements furnished by science, +shall master and use as never before its rich domain.</p> + +<p>Not only the modern spirit is here, even in eminence, which dares +great effort for great advantage; but the chiefest of modern +instruments is here, which is the ancient untractable iron, +transfigured into steel.</p> + +<p>It was a sign, and even a measure, of ancient degeneracy, when the age +of Gold was followed if not forgotten by one of Iron. Decadence of +arts, of learning and laws, of society itself, was implied in the +fact. The more intrepid intelligence, the more versatile energy, amid +which we live, have achieved the success of combining the two: so that +while it is true now, as of old, that "no mattock plunges a golden +edge into the ground, and no nail drives a silver point<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> into the +plank," it is also true that, under the stimulus of the larger +expenditure which the added supplies of gold make possible, the duller +metal has taken a fineness, a brightness and hardness, with a tensile +strength, before unfamiliar.</p> + +<p>The iron, as of old, quarries the gold, and cuts it out from river-bed +and from rock. But, under the alchemy which gold applies, the iron +takes nobler properties upon it. Converted into steel, in masses that +would lately have staggered men's thoughts, it becomes the kingliest +instrument of peoples for subduing the earth. Things dainty and things +mighty are fashioned from it in equal abundance:—gun-carriage and +cannon, with the solid platforms on which they rest; the largest +castings, and heaviest plates, as well as wheel, axle, and rail, as +well as screw or file or saw. It is shaped into the hulls of ships. It +is built alike into column and truss, balcony, roof, and springing +dome. To the loom and the press, and the boiler from whose fierce and +untiring heart their force is supplied, it is equally apt; while, as +drawn into delicate wires, it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> coiled into springs, woven into +gauze, sharpened into needles, twisted into ropes; it is made to yield +music in all our homes; electric currents are sent upon it, along our +streets, around the world; it enables us to talk with correspondents +afar, or it is knit, as before our eyes, into the new and noble +causeways of pleasure and of commerce.</p> + +<p>I hardly think that we yet appreciate the significance of this change +which has passed upon iron. It is the industrial victory of the +century, not to have heaped the extracted gold in higher piles, or to +have crowded the bursting vaults with accumulated silver, but to have +conferred, by the sovereign touch of scientific invention, +flexibility, grace, variety of use, an almost ethereal and spiritual +virtue, on the stubbornest of common metals. The indications of +physical achievement in the future, thus inaugurated, outrun the +compass of human thought.</p> + +<p>Two bridges lie near each other, across the historical stream of the +Moldau, under the shadow of the ancient and haughty palace at +Prague—the one the picturesque bridge of St. Nepomuk,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> patron of +bridges throughout Bohemia, of massive stone, which occupied a century +and a half in its erection, and was finished almost four centuries +ago, with stately statues along its sides, with a superb monument at +its end, sustaining symbolic and portrait figures; the other an iron +suspension-bridge, built and finished in three years, a half century +since, and singularly contrasting, in its lightness and grace, the +sombre solidity of the first. It is impossible to look upon the two +without feeling how distinctly the different ages to which they belong +are indicated by them, and how the ceremonial and military character +of the centuries that are past has been superseded by the rapid and +practical spirit of commerce.</p> + +<p>But the modern bridge is there a small one, and rests at the centre on +an island and a pier. The structure before us, the largest of its +class as yet in the world, in its swifter, more graceful, and more +daring leap from bank to bank, across the tides of this arm of the +sea, not only illustrates the bolder temper which is natural here, the +readiness to attempt unparalleled works,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> the disdain of difficulties +in unfaltering reliance on exact calculation, but, in the material out +of which it is wrought, it shows the new supremacy of man over the +metal which, in former time, he scarcely could use save for rude and +coarse implements. The steel of the blades of Damascus or Toledo is +not here needed; nor that of the chisel, the knife-blade, the +watch-spring, or the surgical instrument. But the steel of the +mediæval lance-head or sabre was hardly finer than that which is here +built into a Castle, which the sea cannot shake, whose binding cement +the rains cannot loosen, and before whose undecaying parapets open +fairer visions of island and town, of earth, water, and sky, than from +any fortress along the Rhine. There is inexhaustible promise in the +fact.</p> + +<p>Of course, too, there is impressively before us—installed as on this +fair and brilliant civic throne—that desire for swiftest +intercommunication between towns and districts divided from each +other, which belongs to our times, and which is to be an energetic, +enduring, and salutary force in moulding the nation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span></p> + +<p>The years are not distant in which separated communities regarded each +other with aversion and distrust, and the effort was mutual to raise +barriers between them, not to unite them in closer alliance. Now, the +traffic of one is vitally dependent on the industries of the other; +the counting-room in the one has the factory or the warehouse +tributary to it established in the other; and the demand is imperative +that the two be linked, by all possible mechanisms, in a union as +complete as if no chasm had opened between them. So these cities are +henceforth united; and so all cities, which may minister to each +other, are bound more and more in intimate combinations. Santa Fé, +which soon celebrates the third of a millenium since its foundation, +reaches out its connections toward the newest log-city in Washington +Territory; and the oldest towns upon our seaboard find allies in those +that have risen, like exhalations, along the Western lakes and rivers.</p> + +<p>This mighty and symmetrical band before us seems to stand as the type +of all that immeasurable communicating system which is more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +completely with every year to interlink cities, to confederate States, +to make one country of our distributed imperial domain, and to weave +its history into a vast, harmonious contexture, as messages fly +instantaneously across it, and the rapid trains rush back and forth, +like shuttles upon a mighty loom.</p> + +<p>It is not fanciful, either, to feel that in all its history, and in +what is peculiar in its constitution, it becomes a noble, visible +symbol of that benign Peace amid which its towers and roadway have +risen, and which, we trust, it may long continue to signalize and to +share.</p> + +<p>We may look at this moment on the site of the ship-yard from which, in +March, 1862, twenty-one years ago, went forth the unmasted and +raft-like "Monitor," with its flat decks, its low bulwarks, its +guarded mechanism, its heavy armament, and its impenetrable revolving +turret, to that near battle with the "Merrimac," on which, as it +seemed to us at the time, the destiny of the nation was perilously +poised. The material of which the ship was wrought was largely that +which is built in beauty into this luxurious lofty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> fabric. But no +contrast could be greater among the works of human genius than between +the compact and rigid solidity into which the iron had there been +forged and wedged and rammed, and these waving and graceful curves, +swinging downward and up, almost like blossoming festooned vines along +the perfumed Italian lanes; this alluring roadway, resting on towers +which rise like those of ancient cathedrals; this lace-work of +threads, interweaving their separate delicate strengths into the +complex solidity of the whole.</p> + +<p>The ship was for war, and the Bridge is for peace:—the product of it; +almost, one might say, its express palpable emblem, in its harmony of +proportions, its dainty elegance, its advantages for all, and its +ample convenience. The deadly raft, floating level with waves, was +related to this ethereal structure, whose finest curves are wrought in +the strength of toughest steel. We could not have had this except for +that unsightly craft, which at first refused to be steered, which +bumped headlong against our piers, which almost sank while being towed +to the field of its fame,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> and which, at last, when its mission was +fulfilled, found its grave in the deep over whose waters, and near +their line, its shattering lightnings had been shot. This structure +will stand, we fondly trust, for generations to come, even for +centuries, while metal and granite retain their coherence; not only +emitting, when the wind surges or plays through its network, that +aerial music of which it is the mighty harp, but representing to every +eye the manifold bonds of interest and affection, of sympathy and +purpose, of common political faith and hope, over and from whose +mightier chords shall rise the living and unmatched harmonies of +continental gladness and praise.</p> + +<p>While no man, therefore, can measure in thought the vast +processions—40,000,000 a year, it already is computed—which shall +pass back and forth across this pathway, or shall pause on its summit +to survey the vast and bright panorama, to greet the break of +summer-morning, or watch the pageant of closing day, we may hope that +the one use to which it never will need to be put is that of war; that +the one tramp not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> to be heard on it is that of soldiers marching to +battle; that the only wheels whose roll it shall not be called to echo +are the wheels of the tumbrils of troops and artillery. Born of peace, +and signifying peace, may its mission of peace be uninterrupted, till +its strong towers and cables fall!</p> + +<p>If such expectations shall be fulfilled, of mechanical invention ever +advancing, of cities and States linked more closely, of beneficent +peace assured to all, it is impossible to assign any limit to the +coming expansion and opulence of these cities, or to the influence +which they shall exert on the developing life of the country.</p> + +<p>Cities have often, in other times, been created by war; as men were +crowded together in them the better to escape the whirls of strife by +which the unwalled districts were ravaged, or the more effectively to +combine their force against threatening foes. And it is a striking +suggestion of history that to the frightful ravages of the +Huns—swarthy, ill-shaped, ferocious, destroying—may have been due +the Great Wall of China, for the protection of its remote towns,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> as +to them, on the other hand, was certainly due the foundation of +Venice. The first inhabitants of what has been since that queenly +city—along whose liquid and level streets the traveler passes, +between palaces, churches, and fascinating squares, in constant +delight—its first inhabitants fled before Attila, to the flooded +lagoons which were afterward to blossom into the beauty of a +consummate art. The fearful crash of blood and fire in which Aquileia +and Padua fell smote Venice into existence.</p> + +<p>But even the city thus born of war must afterward be built up by +peace, when the strifes which had pushed it to its sudden beginning +had died into the distant silence. The fishing industry, the +manufacture of salt, the timid commerce, gradually expanding till it +left the rivers and sought the sea, these, with other related +industries, had made Venetian galleys known on the eastern +Mediterranean before the immense rush of the crusades crowded +tumultuously over its quays and many bridges. Its variety of industry, +and its commercial connections, turned that vast movement into another +source<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> of wealth. It rose rapidly to that naval supremacy which +enabled it to capture piratical vessels and wealthy galleons, to seize +or sack Ionian cities, to storm Byzantium, and make the south of +Greece its suburb. Its manufactures were multiplied. Its dockyards +were thronged with busy workmen. Its palaces were crowded with +precious and famous works of art, while themselves marvels of beauty. +St. Mark's unfolded its magnificent loveliness above the great square. +In the palace adjoining was the seat of a dominion at the time +unsurpassed, and still brilliant in history; and it was in no fanciful +or exaggerated pride that the Doge was wont yearly, on Ascension Day, +to wed the Adriatic with a ring, as the bridegroom weds the bride.</p> + +<p>Dreamlike as it seems, equally with Amsterdam, the larger and richer +"Venice of the North," it was erected by hardy hands. The various +works and arts of peace, with a prosperous commerce, were the real +piles, sunken beneath the flashing surface, on which church and +palace, piazza and arsenal, all arose. It was only when these unseen +supports secretly failed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> that advancement ceased, and the horses of +St. Mark at last were bridled. Not all the wars, with Genoa, Hungary, +with Western Europe, the Greek Empire, or the Ottoman—not earthquake, +plague, or conflagration, though by all it was smitten—overwhelmed +the city whose place in Europe had been so distinguished. The +decadence of enterprise, the growing discredit put upon industry, the +final discovery by Vasco da Gama of the passage around the Cape of +Good Hope, diverting traffic into new channels—these laid their +silent and tightening grasp on the power of Venice, till</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="verse"> +<tr> +<td> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">"the salt sea-weed</span><br /> +Clung to the marble of her palaces," +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="noindent">and the glory of the past was merged in a gloom which later centuries +have not lightened. There is a lesson and a promise in the fact.</p> + +<p>New York itself may almost be said to have sprung from war; as the +vast excitements of the forty years' wrestle between Spain and its +revolted provinces gave incentive, at least, to the settlement of New +Netherland. But the city, since its real development was begun, has +been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> almost wholly built up by peace; and the swiftness of its +progress in our own time, which challenges parallel, shows what, if +the ministry of this peace shall continue, may be looked for in the +future.</p> + +<p>When the Dutch traders raised their storehouse of logs on yonder +untamed and desolate strand, perhaps as early as 1615; when the +Walloons established their settlement on this side of the river, in +1624, at that "Walloons' Bay" which we still call the Wallabout; or +when, later, in 1626, Manhattan Island, estimated to contain 22,000 +acres, was purchased from the Indians for $24, paid in beads, buttons +and trinkets, and the Block House was built, with cedar palisades, on +the site of the Battery, it is, of course, commonplace to say that +they who had come hither could scarcely have had the least conception +of what a career they thus were commencing for two great cities. But +it is not so wholly commonplace to say that those who saw this now +wealthy and splendid New York a hundred years since, less conspicuous +than Boston, far smaller than Philadelphia, with its first bank +established<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> in 1784, and not fully chartered till seven years later; +with its first daily paper in 1785; its first ship in the Eastern +trade returning in May of the same year; its first Directory published +in 1786, and containing only 900 names; its Broadway extending only to +St. Paul's; with the grounds about Reade street grazing-fields for +cattle, and with ducks still shot in that Beekman's Swamp which the +traffic in leather has since made famous: or those who saw it even +fifty years ago, when its population was little more than one-third of +the present population of this younger city; when its first Mayor had +not been chosen by popular election; when gas had but lately been +introduced, and the superseding of the primitive pumps by Croton water +had not yet been projected—they, all, could hardly have imagined what +already the city should have become: the recognized centre of the +commerce of the Continent; one of the principal cities of the world.</p> + +<p>So those who have lived in this city from childhood, and who hardly +yet claim the dignities of age, could scarcely have conjectured,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> when +looking on what Mr. Murphy recalled as the village of his youth, "a +hamlet of a hundred houses," that it should have become, in our time, +a city of nearly 70,000 dwelling houses, occupied by twice as many +families; with a population, by the census rates, of little less than +700,000; with more than 150,000 children in its public and private +schools; with 330 miles of paved streets, as many as last year in New +York, and with more than 200 additional miles impatiently waiting to +be paved; with 130 miles of street railway track, over which last year +88,000,000 of passengers were carried; with nearly 2,500 miles of +telegraph and telephone wire knitting it together; with 35,000,000 of +gallons of water, the best on the continent, to which 20,000,000 more +are soon to be added, daily distributed in its houses, through 360 +miles of pipe; with an aggregate value of real property exceeding +certainly $400,000,000; with an annual tax levy of $6,500,000; with +manufactures in it whose reported product in 1880 was $103,000,000; +with a water-front, of pier, dock, basin, canal, already exceeding 25 +miles, and not as yet half developed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> at which lies shipping from all +the world, more largely than at the piers of New York; and, finally, +with what to most modern communities appears to flash as a costly but +brilliant diamond necklace, a public debt, beginning now to diminish, +it is true, but still approaching, in net amount, $37,500,000!</p> + +<p>The child watches, in happy wonder, the swelling film of soapy water +into whose iridescent globe he has blown the speck from the bowl of +the pipe. But this amazing development around us is not of airy and +vanishing films. It is solidly constructed, in marble and brick, in +stone and iron, while the proportions to which it has swelled surpass +precedent, and rebuke the timidity of the boldest prediction. But that +which has built it has been simply the industry, manifold, constant, +going on in these cities, to which peace offers incentive and room.</p> + +<p>Their future advancement is to come in like manner: not through a +prestige derived from their history; not by the gradual increments of +their wealth, already collected; not by the riches which they invite +to themselves from other cities<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> and distant coasts; not even from +their beautiful fortune of location; but by prosperous manufactures +prosecuted in them; by the traffic which radiates over the country; by +the foreign commerce which, in values increasing every year, seeks +this harbor. Each railway whose rapid wheels roll hither, from East or +West, from North or South, from the rocks of Newfoundland or the +copper-deposits of Lake Superior, from the orange groves of Florida, +the Louisiana bayous, the silver ridges of the West, the Golden Gate, +gives its guaranty of growth to the still young metropolis. On the +cotton fields of the South, and its sugar plantations; on coal mines, +and iron mines; on the lakes which winter roofs with ice, and from +which drips refreshing coolness through our summer; on fisheries, +factories, wheat fields, pine forests; on meadows wealthy with grains +or grass, and orchards bending beneath their burdens, this enlarging +prosperity must be maintained; and on the steamships, and the +telegraph lines, which interweave us with all the world. The swart +miner must do his part for it; the ingenious workman, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> whatever +department; the ploughman in the field, and the fisherman on the +banks; the man of science, putting Nature to the question; the +laborer, with no other capital than his muscle; the sailor on the sea, +wherever commerce opens its wings.</p> + +<p>Our Arch of Triumph is, therefore, fitly this Bridge of Peace. Our +Brandenburg Gate, bearing on its summit no car of military victory, is +this great work of industrial skill. It stands, not, like the Arch +famous at Milan, outside the city, but in the midst of these united +and busy populations. And if the tranquil public order which it +celebrates and prefigures shall continue as years proceed, not London +itself, a century hence, will surpass the compass of this united city +by the sea, in which all civilized nations of mankind have already +their many representatives, and to which the world shall pay an +increasing annual tribute.</p> + +<p>And so the last suggestion comes, which the hour presents, and of +which the time allows the expression.</p> + +<p>It was not to an American mind alone that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> we owed the "Monitor," of +which I have spoken, but also to one trained in Swedish schools, the +Swedish army, and representing that brave nationality. It is not to a +native American mind that the scheme of construction carried out in +this Bridge is to be ascribed, but to one representing the German +peoples, who, in such enriching and fruitful multitudes, have found +here their home. American enterprise, American money, built them both. +But the skill which devised, and much, no doubt, of the labor which +wrought them, came from afar.</p> + +<p>Local and particular as is the work, therefore, it represents that +fellowship of the Nations which is more and more prominently a fact of +our times, and which gives to these cities incessant augmentation. +When, by and by, on yonder island the majestic French statue of +Liberty shall stand, holding in its hand the radiant crown of electric +flames, and answering by them to those as brilliant along this +causeway, our beautiful bay will have taken what specially illuminates +and adorns it from Central and from Western Europe. The distant lands +from which oceans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> divide us, though we touch them each moment with +the fingers of the telegraph, will have set this conspicuous double +crown on the head of our harbor. The alliances of nations, the peace +of the world, will seem to find illustrious prediction in such superb +and novel regalia.</p> + +<p>Friends, and Fellow-Citizens: Let us not forget that, in the growth of +these cities, henceforth united, and destined ere long to be formally +one, lies either a threat, or one of the conspicuous promises of the +time.</p> + +<p>Cities have always been powers in history. Athens educated Greece, as +well as adorned it, while Corinth filled the throbbing and thirsty +Hellenic veins with poisoned blood. The weight of Constantinople broke +the Roman Empire asunder. The capture of the same magnificent city +gave to the Turks their establishment in Europe for the following +centuries. Even where they have not had such a commanding pre-eminence +of location, the social, political, moral force proceeding from cities +has been vigorous in impression, immense in extent. The passion of +Paris, for a hundred years, has created or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> directed the sentiment of +France. Berlin is more than the legislative or administrative centre +of the German Empire. Even a government as autocratic as that of the +Czar, in a country as undeveloped as Russia, has to consult the +popular feeling of St. Petersburg or of Moscow.</p> + +<p>In our nation, political power is widely distributed, and the largest +or wealthiest commercial centre can have but its share. Great as is +the weight of the aggregate vote in these henceforth compacted cities, +the vote of the State will always overbear it. Amid the suffrages of +the nation at large, it can only be reckoned as one of many consenting +or conflicting factors. But the influence which constantly proceeds +from these cities—on their journalism, not only, or on the issues of +their book-presses, or on the multitudes going forth from them, but on +the example presented by them of intellectual, social, religious +life—this, for shadow and check, or for fine inspiration, is already +of unlimited extent, of incalculable force. It must increase as they +expand, and are lifted before the country to a new elevation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span></p> + +<p>A larger and a smaller sun are sometimes associated, astronomers tell +us, to form a binary centre in the heavens, for what is, doubtless, an +unseen system receiving from them impulse and light. On a scale not +utterly insignificant, a parallel may be hereafter suggested in the +relation of these combined cities to a part, at least, of our national +system. Their attitude and action during the war—successfully closed +under the gallant military leadership of men whom we gladly welcome +and honor—were of vast advantage to the national cause. The moral, +political, intellectual temper, which dominates in them, as years go +on, will touch with beauty, or scar with scorching and baleful heats, +extended regions. Their religious life, as it glows in intensity, or +with a faint and failing lustre, will be repeated in answering image +from the widening frontier. The beneficence which gives them grace and +consecration, and which, as lately, they follow to the grave with +universal benediction, or, on the other hand, the selfish ambitions +which crowd and crush along their streets, intent only on accumulated +wealth and its sumptuous display,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> or the glittering vices which they +accept and set on high—these will make their impression on those who +never cross the continent to our homes, to whom our journals are but +names.</p> + +<p>Surely, we should not go from this hour, which marks a new era in the +history of these cities, and which points to their future indefinite +expansion, without the purpose in each of us, that, so far forth as in +us lies, with their increase in numbers, wealth, equipment, shall also +proceed, with equal step, their progress in whatever is noblest and +best in private and in public life; that all which sets humanity +forward shall come in them to ampler endowment, more renowned +exhibition: so that, linked together, as hereafter they must be, and +seeing "the purple deepening in their robes of power," they may be +always increasingly conscious of fulfilled obligation to the Nation +and to God; may make the land, at whose magnificent gateway they +stand, their constant debtor; and may contribute their mighty part +toward that ultimate perfect Human Society for which the seer could +find no image so meet or so majestic as that of a City, coming down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +from above, its stones laid with fair colors, its foundations with +sapphires, its windows of agates, its gates of carbuncles, and all its +borders of pleasant stones, with the sovereign promise resplendent +above it,—</p> + +<p class="center">"And great shall be the Peace of thy children!"</p> + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Opening Ceremonies of the New York and +Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883, by William C. 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