Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-12-22
DISSERTATION OF THE FLAG.


we had occasion to lament the abuses |
to which the American flag was put by |
| light-hearted and light headed people,
and especially by the advertising fra
| ternity, who saw a chance to make
money out of the patriotic feeling then
rampant We are glad to observe that
there is an organization working to
secure prohibitive legislation on this
subject. The Illinois Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution has
taken up the matter in earnest At its
recent banquet in Chicago, Mr.. Charles
Kingsbury Miller delivered an address
on this subject which has been pub
lished and ought to have q wide circu-
lation. We intend to contribute such
influence as we may to accomplish the
ends which Mr.. Miller and his col
leagues seek. We will say at the out
set, however, that we have more hope
of securing the reform aimed at by
healthful agitation and by improving
the public taste, than by acts Of Con-
gress or of State Legislatures. 1t is
not possible to enforce laws against flag
Dissertation until the public sense is
aroused and trained. Dissertation does.
not mean the same thing to all men.
One man may think that he is doing
honor to the flag by attaching ii to the
saddle of his bicycle and habitually
sitting on ii, and at the same time he
may look with adherence on the rrac
tice of wrapping hams or tobacco in 1t,
and thus exposing them for sale. The
packer OF hams or of tobacco may tako
the opposite view, holding that he is
doing honor to the flag by putting it
to such useful purposes, while the man
who goes 'scooting" through the coun-
try with the stars and stripes dangling
in the dust under his wheel is dis
honoring it unintentionally yet shame
fully. There must be some general
consensus of opinion and feeling before
any legislation can be secured or put
in force. This the Sons of the Ameri-
can Revolution, and the Daughters like
wise, may easily promote while aiming
to secure the intervention Of the law.
/ Mr.. Miller begins at the beginning
!, by calling political parties to account
! for using the Stars and Stripes as a
! floating signboard bearing the names
| of candidates, hanging across streets,
, pasted on the fronts of liquor saloons.
, borne in endless professions through
| the streets, thrust in the ears Of horses
!. and applied in every possible way to
I make a showing of patriotism. As all
4 parties do this, no one gains any ad.
/ vantage from it. The net result is that
: the flag becomes common and ceases to
q have any special Significance. But
another result often follows. When
/, two opposing parties or factions use
the flag with the names of their candi.
: dates on it, they frequently come into
i collision with each other, pull down
: each others flags. tear them in pieces,
4 trample them in the dirt, or drag them
: through the mire. Mr.. Miller cites
II several instances of this kind, in one
i of which, at GAINESVILLE, Wis, the fiag
= was actually rotten-egged. Probabl,
!, | nobody, not even those who threw the
i eggs, considered that the national EN-
:, blem was despitefully used in this case
: They were thinking only of the OPP
y posing candidates. The flag had be
" come so common that it was, in theil
eyes, like any common rag. If the,
had been arrested and fined for thei
act, they would not have understood
IN what they were punished for. Ii
( another case, in Missouri, the flag
J. which bore the nominations of politi
q cal party, was thrown upon bonfr
E and consumed, amid the plaudits of tn
/ onlookers. In another case, in Iowa
N a man, moved by political rage, fire.
~ on the flag with shotgun. AT tn
headquarters of a political committe
>. in Chicago, year ago, q number @
es American flags having the portraits Q
u candidates printed upon them wer
ie spread over the floor. Visitors Of a
u opposing political party. entered tn
3, room, wiped their muddy boots, an
10 expectorated tobacco juice upon thes
hurt the flag, but they tend to bree
: | contempt for it, and they offend th
h. sense of all people whose love of cour
G, try is associated with love of orde
Il, and neatness.
9, The use of the flag for advertiser
IT. purposes is even moro offensive than il
It, use for political purposes. The way
OF in which it is so used are endless, an
4 new ones are coming out all the tim,
he The Stars and Stripes arc printed Q
OF towels, neckties, hosiery, awning
en- posters, and cakes of soap. Somebod
le. conceived the idea OF printing it o
by letter envelopes. An odd result hal
in pened in foreign country in cons
'ss quence. One Of these envelopes MALE
ng from city in the State Of Massachl
he sets, arrived at point in Swedei
wn addressed to an American student at
manual training school. 1t was deemt
by the local authorities, because Of Il
print of the American flag upon it,
las be a communication from the Unit
I'VE States government. Immediately
90, special train was made up and CARR,
hey that letter to its destination, 40 mil
ler distant. A very common use of Il
wnt flag now is as an advertisement
whisky. 1t finds employment in Il
coats Of negro minstrols, in the Skin
Of ballet dancers, in the trunks
ON prize-hghters, in the caps of circu
his clowns, in fancy dog blankets, and
the covers of footstools. There is nothil
lest too common or unclean for its use
the abuse.
'er- Well, "what are you going to
about it?" we are asked. We q
going to cry out against it as speci
'R. of barbarism, q breach Of good ma
,g-4l ners, an outrage upon decency. We
not believe much in correcting pub
day taste by law, but we do believe In t
.rry kind of agitation which the Sons
Of the American Revolution have start
TIE in this behalf. We have sometin
ski been at loss to know what ends Il
hen and similar organizations are intend
ate to serve beyond that of eating GO
pre- dinner at Delmonico's once year,
XIV. we see here rational and truly /
oni- tional occupation for such a socie
and and we commend them heartily
oIse their endeavor to uplift the taste a
Q is better the manners of their fello
few countrymen.
on Our New Citizens.
sing The recent atrocities perpetrated
5 OF the inhabitants of our prospective p,
his sessions, the Philippine Islands, do /