The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1908-03-27

manly editor scoulds prove his aaser-
tion az 10 the meaning Of ! Red flag
and then to link the writer's name
with defending it az he endeavored
to do, his soul would soar to the
heights of bliss before undreamed
of.
The gentleman's. charge, If true.
would be sufficient to ALLEVIATE the
respect aud association of all men
of honor from such a character.
We are fortunate in having few
friends of sterling worth whose
good qualities from the standpoint
OF true citizenship, IA generally &C
copied, can not be truthful!y ques-
toned, hence, we consider it our
duty, as citizen of these United
States. as lover of home with all
it implies, as believer in Christian
churches, as consistent member
of numerous fraternal organiza-
tons, to prove to these people be-
yond the shadow of a doubt that
the gentleman's charge is untrue
in general, in detail, or even under
microscopic examination. We
quote here, from page thirteen, of a
few remarks made by us on July
4th, 1907, on the public platform in
Sparta just about the time the
gentleman states we were defend
ing the flag of anarchy:
1.-THE Revolutionary War was
fought and a glorious victory
achieved by Washington and his
heroic men, thus making good the
Declaration of Independence in the
presence of the world, the most
wonderfully and mastery worded
instrument we know of on record
in the history of the ages in free.
dom's cause. The Civil War cost
this country seas of blood, drawn
from the bodies of 10000 men, and
a mountain of gold, to demonstrate
this great TRUTH" that no man has
any right to hold another in bond
age, to completely abolish chattel
slavery, to cement the Union of the
States, making them practically in.
dependent, grand, and free, the
whole human family strobe onward
and upward at the end of those
four terrible years of slaughter, the
glorious stars and stripes we fixed
1--WE hope for evermore," where it
floats today the proudest emblem
of honor and freedom in all this
wide world. The stripe of white
might be considered mathematical
of the purity of the motives that
actuated Americas heroes in '76
and in the Civil War. The stripe of
blue could rightly be indicative of
the honesty and fidelity of the off,
Gals in what the immoralized Lin
coin termed a government of the
people, by the people, and for the
people, and any man who desires to
violate the sacred oath of public
office under such government is
a traitor for the best interest of
humanity. Beautiful stripe of red,
ali! the fearful cost of the privilege
of placing it there should be sym
bolical of the brotherhood of the
peoples of the world az demonstrat.
ed by the various nationalities with.
their different languages, modes of
thought, and diversified religions,
to America with the Oh.
awaiting them to labor
together and proving, if they 80 de-
sire, that it is possible for them to
dwell together in comparative
peace and harmony. The aggre.
cation of STARS on the field of blue
as continual reminder of
The harmonious relations that
should exist between the states, en-
Dlematic of their namesakes in the
sideral heavens. And if, perchance,
in the strenuous race for existence
some stains have appeared upon
hat beautiful emblem of liberty
there, it should be our duty
70 wipe out the marks, remove the
cause, for eternal vigilance only is
the price of continued success and
liberty"
The gentlemanly editor sneering-
~ remarks that our friends come
from Sparta. We are proud of this
one item that has at least some
in fact. The men and
of Sparta are part of the
noblest and most heroic characters
that our country has every pro.
duced. We can prove this by some
of Eveleth's most prominent men,
who witnessed acts of daring and
heroism performed by Spartans in
the gas and smoke cursed hole in the
ground near Sparta on the day and
night of Sept. 21st, 1907. Noulder
of public opinion, go and parallel
the feats accomplished by men who
never labored beneath the earth's
for one day previous to
that fearful time, and by 80 doing
win the right to criticise a whole
Notwithstanding the
political differences that exist in