Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1895-07-04
THE FOURTH OF JULY
HOW 1T MAY BE CELEBRATED MORE
PERIODICALLY.
Opinions of Robert IL. Roosevelt, Colonel
Emmons Clark. Mrs. n. IL. Thurber and
Others. Contributed For Demorest's Mag
azine~-Is Patriotism Declining?

Others. Contributed For Demorest's Mag
azine--Is Patriotism Declining?
Arrap led by ellison willets in Demorests
Magazine
''Is Fourth of July celebrated patriotic
allyn" Decidedly and enormously. The
Sons Of the American Revolution are or.
ganized largely To stop any downward tend
ency in this respect They have done
much, but when they began they found
the feeling benumbed, If not dead. And
what are the causes and where is the evil
denceg Many people believe suffrage to be
a failure. They ask very pertinently.
Where is the proof that IL Is a successY'
Our free republic has, I'm its hundred years
of life, come very close TO tragic end
and seen the fercest, bloodiest rebellion
the world has ever known. Few people be-
lieve that cities can be governed success
fully by unlimited suffrage, and no one
can find any way TO limit suffrage, but
cities are becoming yearly more numerous
and populous. If they cannot be governed
free institutions cannot be maintained.
Now personally yet have faith in the
republic. l have twice seen the noble city
OF New York vindicate her honesty and
majesty. Nor do l fear that the foreign
element will long remain foreign or fail to
furnish good and patriotic citizens, but
am forced to recognize the decadence Of
patriotism and pride in being "a freeborn
American citizen, and the near peril to
American institutions from anarchy, So
cialism and populism on the one hand, yet
there Is "a longing for something firmer and
more exclusive on the other Robert B.
Roosevelt, Vice President of the Sons of
the American Revolution.
/ do not think the glorious Fourth is
celebrated as periodically rs it might be.
Yet, on the contrary. believe that the
spirit of patriotism among the American
people is higher now than it ever was be-
fore. There are no armed enemies now
threatening our national existence, and we
are reasonably free from domestic disturb
ance, so that the patriot of today is not
called upon 20 shoulder his gun and i'm
peril his life, as We're the minute men of
the Revolution or the soldiers of our civil
war, but there are influences at work to-
day perhaps quite as dangerous as the
British redcoats in 1875 or the army of Lee
in 1861. The socialist, the communist, the
anarchist, apostles of chaos, are at large.
1t Is not simply our constitution, but the
foundation of government itself is i'm dan
ger. 1t Is not alone our national inde-
pendence, but our very civilization is
threatened.
There Is certainly rs much need for pa
triotism now as there ever was and be.
lieve ii Is being displayed. We see the evil
dence of 1t on every hand Patriotic soci-
cites of every kind are being organized
everywhere, and men and women of stern
resolve and earnest purpose are giving
them their cordial support and co-opera-
ton. Civil virtue is found, whenever the
occasion calls it forth, in every class in the
community. A corrupt ring is overthrown
one year in Brooklyn and the next in New
York; u dangerous political organization
Is compelled to bite the dust Whenever
the issue Is fairly laid before the people TO
decide between what Is good and what is
bad, the response is never left i'm doubt.
Our national and state legislative bodies
are not as perfect as they should be, and
our Legislators are sometimes controlled by
unworthy motives; but, on the whole,
believe them to be animated by an earnest
and patriotic purpose To serve their coun
try well. Our statesmen and our thinkers
favorably with those of a genera
ton or two ago and the masses of the
pcopit Certainly SldHu upon II fnuCn nlgnCr
plane than they ever did before
You ask, "Do | think we exert enough
enthusiasm in celebrating Fourth Of Jul,
l answer mo" and | will
join heartily in every effort to make more
of our national Independence day But fire.
crackers and Fourth of July oratory do
not furnish the true test of patriotism
Our grandfathers perhaps made more of
Fourth of July than we do, but it was be-
cause it was about the only picnic day they
had In the course of the year. 1t was not
so much patriotic celebration as mid
Notification they were after Our
celebrations of the day may be quieter
than theirs, but l think they are none the
less earnest or II 1t Is insisted that they
were more patriotic one day In the year
answer then that we are more patriotic
the other 364-Walter 5. Logan, Lawyer
and Prominent Member OF the Sons of
the American Revolutions
No, Fourth of July is not celebrated
according to generally accept
ed ideas, but the manifestations and dem