The record-union., 1897-07-03

George washington DlaZeQ IN StreakS
Of powder in the evening. That is not
the mettle that true patriotism is made
of, the kind that stirs the souls of men,
invokes the most magnificent impulses
and supplies the bulwarks that ma
ton needs to maintain its autonomy.
Civic pride more than martial ardor
is the demand of the time. All men
are not free and equal under the flag.
Millions of our countrymen are in jeo-
pardy of their right to live because
the apathy of patriotism has permit ed
perilous conditions to prevail. There
should be no justified discomfort, no
involuntary poverty, no needless idle
ness, no despair in any American heart,
no WretchednesS in any American
home. But the inalienable rights sane
titled to the people in the Declaration
have to no small extent passed from
those who received the precious gift
Of the fathers. In a. country where
every man is free there are yet slaves.
Usurpation has followed usurpation un-
til the people find themselves arraigned
in classes in dangerous resemblance to
the social conditions of foreign coun-
tries, whose institutions we cast off
more than a century ago. There were
no clamorous thousands pleading for
bread or opportunity to earn it when
Washington laid down the cares of Of
fee and admonished his countrymen Of
the sacred duties of American citizen
ship.
Should we not in these hours of glori-
fication ask-Has our citizenship dete-
riorated? Is our love of country less
slT.9n,
and powerful? Are we doing all that
we ought to do that time may justify
the splendid prophecy of our country?
It's destiny is in our hands, but what
are we doing to promote wise laws
and benificent conditions? What new
gods are those that have arisen to ha-
| raSs the career of the humble and ex-
alt the few at the expense of the
| many? Where is the exalted states
manship evoluted from the free air of
the colonies and grown to robust hard
ihood in the broad prairies of the
West?
Heaven forbid that should doubt the
destiny of the republic, but there are
signs that everyone may read portend-
ing peril, if not disaster, and it is the
highest quality as it is the highest duty
Of patriotism to read and heed them. l
have no doubht that American citizen
ship will rise superior to the sOrdidneSs
that is running riot throughout the
land, that the ravages of wealth upon
the opportunities of the people will be
stayed and that patriotism will again
exah the nation and demonstrate that
human right is the king with rights di-
vine. But it is impossible not to be
impressed with facts and conditions as
we find them, and it is neither patriotic
nor wise to ignore the danger to the
liberty of the individual from the in
creasing power of wealth and it's con-
centration into the hands of a few;
from the fact that money is the meas
ure of justice, dominates legislation and
becomes the goal towards which the
multitude strives in unending contest.
The conscience of the people is being
corrupted. When they see that money
alone makes men, that it controls
courts, shapes laws and is often the
only sesame to influence and society,
the process is very natural whereby
they reach the conclusion that the pur-
suit of wealth is the highest aim in
life, and the method of IT'S obtaining not
worth a passing thought. The influence
of such a sentiment cannot fail to be
degrading, demoraIizing and dangerous
to the existence of that loyal American
ism that inspired the authors of the
Declaration of Independence and the
builders of the Constitution. The pur-
suit of a competence, thrift, frugality,
economy without parsimony, are virtues
so commendable that they cannot be
| exploited beyond their merit or import
ance. But the inordinate accumulation
of wealth at the sacrifice of personal
| honor and the rights of others cannot
be to vividly held up to the condemna-
ton of every man Jealous for his coun-
try's prosperity.
It is not patriotism any more than it
is wisdom TO close the eyes to our ma
tionaI weakness. I know of no time
more opportune, of no place more fit
ting than this time and this place to
direct attention to the higher patriot
| ism that the country demands and is
entitled to. If the truth may not be told
| to the children soon to take the places
of those upon whom the duties of cit
| izenship now devolve to whom shall it
be told? If the lesson of genuine and
| ed in the schools provided by the State
| for her children, where shall it be learn
ed? The glorious memories of Bunker
Hill, Yorktown, Valley Forge, Brandy
wine, Germantown, Camden and Ticon-
deroga may consecrate the loved tradi-
| tions of our land, but they cannot take
| the place of personal rights subverted,
of national character and citizenship.
| Their highest usefulness is, I think, in
| inviting comparison between the first
and later days of our national exist
ence.
But the skies are Frightening in the
national horizon. Free schools, free
| speech, a free press and freedom of
| thought are expanding the national
spirit, and in the evolution of intelli-
gence the citizen is bound to know his
rights. demand and defend them The
moral sense of the people is growing
with their intellectual development and
patriotism must grow apace with both.
Teh Fourth Of July will ere long be In
| dependence Day ,as it was when Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert
r. Livingston drafted the illustrious
document that sounded the birth of
freedom in the new Western land 125
years ago. Freedom of conscience,
freedom Of thought and action and free
dom in the right to live a life of con-
tentment by earning 1.-THE most sacred
and inalienable of all rightS-wiQ be