The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-10-23
GROWTH OF PATRIOTIC SENTIMENT.

Within the last half dozen years close
in the general love and veneration for
the flag of the Union. 1t is hung out
on more occasions, it waves continuous
~ on many public buildings where once
it was only seen on holidays; it is draped
In the interior of Offices and private res
licences; it is seen in miniature in dec
orative designs Of all sorts; it seems a
greater object of affection than ever be-
fore. Several causes help to account
for this increased regard. Out of
the multitude of people who travel
abroad but few are AnglOmaniacs;
the majority return with a new interest
in and respect for the stars and stripes.
Something is due to the Republican
party which. four years ago, took the
flag for its emblem, not because it
wished to claim special right to it, but
because the banner best represented the
American people, for whose welfare the
party fought, and because the Democ-
racy, ignoring the flag, had previously
CcpOuSCu EuBliSA pllHClplCS Va pOilIlCdi
economy and had chosen bandanna
handkerchief as its badge The flag,
that year, represented Americanism
and true patriotism as never before
since the war. The Grand Army of the
Republic. which originated the plan of
placing the flag on every public school
house, has kept the interest alive
and the teachers have helped
the growth of the patriotic idea
No influence, however has been greater
in this direction than that exerted by
President Harrison. His affection for
the flag has manifested itself in so many
of his public speeches that illusions to
it are one of their noticeable features.
Whatever the character of the audience
he ia addressiDg-and a eulogy of the
flag is appropriate before any Amer
lean audience-he misses no oppor-
tunity to offer a tribute to the
banner under which he fought and
which is the standard of proud and
prosperous nation. Sometimes it is but
a word, a mere passing reference to the
flag; sometimes it is an elo-
quent tribute. To delegation
of veterans who visited him four
years ago he said: Comrades. you
love the flag for which we fought. We
are preserved in Gods providence to
SEQ the wOndrous results of that strug-
gle in which you were engaged-a re-
united country, Constitution whose
authority is no longer disputed, flag
to which all men bow. 1t has won re-
spect at home; it should be respected by
all nations of the earth as an emblem and
representative of a people desiring peace
with all men, but resolute in the deter
mination that the rights of all our citi-
zens the world round shall be faithfully
respected"
Since that time, by his official acts as
President, he has done much to prove
those words true. Never before his ad-
ministration was the United States flag
respected as it isnow by foreign nations.
In a speech before the George III. Thomas
Post in this city, Jan. I. 1889. he.said:
among the honors which may be placed
on me in future there will be none, /
can assure you, that will esteem more
highly than my membership in this
order. instituted by those who sustained
the flag of Washington, the flag of
Perry. the flag that Was baptized in the
blood of the revolution. and again in
the second conflict with the mother
country; that floated over the walls OF
the Montezumas. and was sustained in
other wars, and which you made posi-
BILE over every foot of our beloved coun-
try"
AT the George Washington centennial
celebration in New York he said. after
speaking of the bunting upon the walls:
"Have we not learned that no stocks
and bonds nor land is our countryf IL
is spiritual thought that is in our
minds-it is the flag and what it stands
for; il is the fireside and the home; it is
the thoughts that are in our hearts. born