the order, but also, through the care and skill of Colonel John H. Cowles, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council 33° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and with the particular interest and encouragement of Director General Bloom of the Commission, a Masonic Tribute to the Constitution and the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States was issued. This took the form of a pamphlet of many illustrations and much historical letterpress commemorating the prominent share which Masons, led by George Washington himself, have had in the one hundred fifty years of our national existence, Masonic membership being claimed for various Signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, as well as Presidents, Justices, of the Supreme Court, Cabinet officers, and others who have been leaders in American history.

PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE CELEBRATION PERIOD ALTHOUGH many different historic events connected with the formation and establishment of the Constitution were celebrated, the observance period itself was divided into five major parts, commemorating the following principal events relating to the Constitution and the establishment of the three branches of our government under it: 1. The Signing of the Constitution.

2. Ratification of the Constitution by the States

3. Meeting of the First Congress under the Constitution (establishment of the legislative branch of the government)

4. Washington's Inauguration as First President of the United States (establishment of the executive branch of the government)

5. First meeting of the Supreme Court of the United States (establishment of the third branch of our government, the judiciary)

In the pages that follow, are given the principal addresses and the proceedings held in commemoration of these five major phases. The first event to be commemorated, that of the Signing of the Constitution, was observed on September 17, 1937, with ceremonies held at the tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon. Later that day services were held at the exact hour the Constitution was signed, at the Shrine of the Constitution in the Library of Congress in Washington. During the same evening, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered an address from the Sylvan Theater at the Washington

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Monument grounds in Washington. These addresses and ceremonies were broadcast over national radio networks. During the day, local committees placed wreathes upon all graves which could be located of deputies to the Philadelphia Convention of 1787.

The next principal event to be observed by the Commission was the ratification of the Constitution by New Hampshire, the ninth state to ratify and whose action established the Constitution as the basis of government for those states which had already accepted it.

Included in this report are the official proceedings of the Joint Session of the Congress held on March 4, 1939, in commemoration of the first meeting of the Congress under the Constitution, 150 years before.

The proceedings held at Mount Vernon, on April 14, 1939, in commemoration of George Washington's notification by Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress, of his election as first President of the United States, are also included. They are followed by an account of the ceremonies and the addresses delivered on April 30, 1939, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Washington's Inauguration. These ceremonies were held at the New York World's Fair, which had been dedicated to the observance of that anniversary.

The last phase of the celebration took place when the First Meeting of the Supreme Court of the United States was commemorated on February 1, 1940, That date was marked by simple but impressive ceremonies at the Supreme Court and by addresses delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives. Arrangements were also made to honor all deceased members of the Supreme Court by placing wreathes on their graves.

Commemoration of the Signing

of the Constitution

ADDRESS OF HONORABLE SOL BLOOM

DIRECTOR GENERAL, UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION SESQUICENTENNIAL COMMISSION, AT MOUNT VERNON, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1937, IN LAYING A WREATH UPON THE SARCOPHAGUS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

HERE, upon the mortal remains of God's great servant, we deposit a wreath as a token of the gratitude and love of the American people on the 150th anniversary of the day when Washington signed the Constitution of the United States.

On September 17, 1787, the Victor of the Revolution affixed his signature to the ordinance by which We the People of the United States enjoy our liberty.

The Constitution which bears the signature of Washington confirmed and made perpetual the liberty which we had won by the sword. Until that Constitution was established, the outcome of his toils and dangers was uncertain. Upon its establishment, the independence of the United States and the liberty of the American people became secure forever.

We may be sure that Washington looked upon the signing of the Constitution as the crowning act of his life. He was giving to his countrymen, if they would ratify and preserve it, a government destined to flourish for all time-a government established by the people themselves, uniting them in an indestructible union to preserve the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity.

At this hour, in many states, grateful citizens are laying wreaths upon the graves of those patriots who shared with Washington the labor of forming the Constitution. Happy the memory of these founders of the American Union! Happy their fortune to have been associated in immortal toil with one of God's immortals! Here, at America's holiest spot, from the tomb of Washington, we send salutations in his behalf to his fellow deputies of the constitutional

SERVICES AT THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON

Ceremonies at Tomb of Washington, Mount Vernon, Va., September 17, 1937. The Rt. Rev. James E. Freeman, Bishop of Washington, Hon. Sol Bloom, Gen. S. Gardner Waller, Adjutant General of Virginia, and Col. Joseph Dutton, of Virginia Sons of the Revolution

convention, wherever they may lie. The flag of our country waves over them. Their bones are a part of the land they loved--a free land, a grateful and loyal land. Their souls, as part and parcel of the Constitution, can never die.

We stand near the body of George Washington. We feel the presence of his spirit. From this marble no voice comes to our earthly ear, but we have his parting words, his counsel and farewell. On the eve of his retirement to Mount Vernon he told his countrymen that their constant support was the prop of his efforts and the guarantee of the success of his plans. And then he added this blessing, which comes to us now like a benediction:

Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence that your union & brotherly affection may be perpetual-that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained-that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue-that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection-and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it.

In these words we hear the voice of our country's father, admonishing us to maintain sacredly the free Constitution. And we hear him counsel us to preserve the Union as the pillar of liberty itself. These sentiments, he says,

. . will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, . . . Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. The Unity of Government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you.-—It is justly so;—for it is a main Pillar in the Edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home; your peace abroad; of your safety;-of your prosperity; of that very Liberty which you so highly prize. . . . it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective & individual happiness;-that you should cherish a cordial, habitual & immoveable attachment to it; . . . The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.

Let us cherish these counsels from him who lies before us; and let us trust that 150 years from now, and for all future time, Americans may come as we do and lay the wreath of gratitude and affection upon the tomb of Washington.