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-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.

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.

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 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.

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; W