The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-02-21
contented, patriotic, and happy citizen
ship, sin the making of happy home

little, and while his fellow workman
toillng by bis side from Monday MORN
ing until Saturday evening, may, per-
haps land it is often, unfortunately,
the. case) spends his earnings In gam
bling and riotous hilarity, ending BY
going to his home, where fellew cttl,
zens, follow me in imagination, anu
zee him in his drunken orgy enter MS
hovsl, with tottering steps anu olas-
phemy on his lips, and see bis poor,
emaciated wife, who knows too well
mat that tottering step, crouchiDg IN a
corner, and see the poor innoceDnt iit'
tie children, who only partly realize
their awful position, in fear and trem-
bling crouchipg in another, and the
money whichw g to have bought them
food and raiment spentin debauchery.
Whereas, the stockholder on the oth,
er hand, goes with resolute step anu
proud mien to the secretary's ONCE
and there with hands blackened with
soot Ta far more honorable covering
than the ploved hand of the spend
thrift and his tin bucket on his arm;
"a shield entitled to far more respec.
than the coat Of arms OF idle noDlllty,,
see him deposit his honestly earned
money on the desk, its metalllc tug
making sweet music to his ears, Tor
he knowsit has nailed another part
on what will soon be bis home. En-
terinp where his wife and little ones
meet him, and they like the other
family, may have bad to deprive
themselves of some pleasures and lux
uries. but he knows that the privatlons
in their case are but temporary; ana
then see him seated in q corner at MS
fireside, his wife by his side and his
little ones round about his knee, ana
see with what happy anticipation
thew count how near their home ls
paid for, and which will soon be their
own. Is there q word in the English
language 30 portentuous, that lias 80
deep hold on our affections le4cePt
it be that of mother] than the WORDS
of "Home, Sweet HomeW Now, my
fellow citizens, once again follow me
to the secretary's Office at the emo OF
The matured series and see the stocK-
holder Tas I have repeatedly seen him
in the knowledge that his home 1s all
paid for and is all his own, and See
him with proud and happy mlen car
rying the Cancelled mortgage tohis wife
with the, to them, ever memorDaie
sentence: "This is now our own
home.n and your hearts would swell
in unison as mine does swell ~ltn
pleasure at the sight. But this ls not
all the good accomplished by these
institutions.
The fire of patriotism burns ever
brightly in the breast of the man with
q home, and be is ever ready TO go
forth in the defence Of his home and
his land. AS the motto of the. Nation
al League of Building and Loan AS
sociations so aptly has 1t: "ln the
American home lies the safeguard OF
American liberty"
Home life is the center of all life.
and we shall be strong within ana
without if we have happy homes. we
shall have peace among ourselves ano
with the nations If we have happy
homes. The purpose OF every strug-
gle for liberty AMI constitutional gov
ernment ia found in the aim to f.
nally establish happy homes. The
Magma Charta, the Bill of Rights, the
of Independence, all have
their value in so far as they secure
for US happy homes. 80,
The home con serves the life OF Or
panized civil society and II there De
found in this great land whether he
be q native or foreign born, man
"With soul 30 dead,
Who never to himselfhas said;
L am proud Of my beloved land"
then such q one never held shares In
building and loan associations. And
there will be ample recompence to
those officers who conduct In the spir-
it of enlightened and practical homes
ty the affairs of this benehcent en-
terprise without money and without
price in the swelling thought that
The children Of these home-owners-
ave and their children's children shall
gather under the roof tree and tell
how the building and loan association
made it possible for their father to
establish home, around which clus.
ter sentiments forever hallowed and
sacred
Ave, and when the blood crimsoned
names of Alexander and Caesar, the
glory.encircled names of kings and
Queens, statesmen, orators and poets
have faded to a blur, that of John
Howard Payne will shine in undying
splendor in the temple of fame.
Hearts of millions in every cline and
in every age thrill with delicious love
at the sentiments and the melody of
his supreme triumph of the world OF
song: Home, Sweet Home."
And If at some grand review OF the
world of business activity and beneh-
cence those organizations should un-
fold their banners and splendid mot
toes to the gazing thousands, what
one would be or what one could be
more beautiful: what one conld touch
the heart 10 quickly as the banner of
our building and loan association, en-
blazoned with these magic words"
"Mid pleasures and palaces, though
we may soam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no
place like home"
Not long since, one of Americas
greatest politicians said: II stood in
the city of Paris by the bronze railing
that encloses the sarcophagus OF
black Egyptian marble that encloses
the ashes of that restless man Napo-
lean the First, In imagination could
see him at the head OF the army of
Italy. could hear the roar of bis
battle thunders from the shores of the
Baltic to the foot of the pyramids.
I could see him on the Russian re.