Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1910-07-27

Patriotism-in Times Of Peace.
have spoken in some previous pa
per concerning thousand patriotic
school compositions / had received
from young people in various parts of
the state upon topics related to patri-
otism and good citizenship. Some
of the thoughts of those boys and
girls are we'll worth the attention of
MS who are older The reading of
their papers has set me to thinking.
| will present here some of the points
presented.
Should Pay Taxes.
Many men who are blessed with
considerable property try to get rid
OF paying their share of taxes. They
and their property receive tae pro-
lection of the government, and they
ought to be not only willing but glad
to pay for what they get, yet they try
to fool the assessor by doing all they
can to conceal their wealth. In do
ing this they cheat the government and
help to place heavier burdens of tax
alton upon those who do not have so
much property as they. In doing
this they show a spirit of disloyalty
and selfishness. The good citizen
will not do this thing. He is loyal
supporter OF our government and a
true friend to his fellow men In no
way can man better show his 10y
atty than by his willingness to pay
his full share OF taxes.
Obey the Law.
The good citizen obeys cheerfully
the law of the land 1t is not with
him a question as to whether or not
law pleases him. 1t is enough for
him to know that it is law He
knows that our government is based
upon law, and that The disobedience
or contempt of one law is a manifest
contempt for all law. If men and wo-
men obey only the laws that please
them ali government is thus dishon-
ored. The patriotic citizen is law
abiding citizen.
Will Vote.
The true patriot is neither too good
nor too Indifferent nor too busy to
vote. He makes his ccuntry's good
his own good, and he is glad to ex-
ercise himself for its good. He con-
siders it great privilege to have a
voice in public affairs at the ballot
box, aud he makes this privilege a
religious dutya matter of con-
science. He will use the bullet if
there is no other way to settle the
questions of right and wrong, but he
would much rather use the ballot
Be Willing To Hold office.
No good citizen will make an un-
seemly scramble for office; yet if his
fellow citizens wish him to serve
them in any position for which ne is
fitted he will be willing to do so. The
NAN vino sacrifices principles to get
into Office is apt 70 be worse than
useless when he gets there. He
wants the place for what ne car get
out of It. But the man who thus serves
because the people really want him to
do so is very likely to be both hon
est and efficient; and he ought to be
" sA4AA1e5 ~ ~ Ahko 1CSt III SAC Psh1AGSs
Serve on Jury.
Many good men try to avoid serV-
ing on jury. They think they can
not afford the time. They are busy
men and industrious. But there are
often others who have nothing in par
ieular to do-lazy men-who are
glad to get on the jury 1t is an
easy job for them. They like to hang
around the court house, anyway, and
if they can be put upon the jury they
not only get pay for being there, but
thereby feed a sense of Importance
Surely they are not the kind of men
to have anything to do in the admin
istration of law. This should De
done by the best of men, and every
man who would be a good citizen
should be ready for such duty when
called upon.
Have knowledge of Public Affairs.
The best citizens have as good an
understanding of public affairs as
they can get. Even if they have not
had much opportunity to go to school
they read the papers and magazines
and have few books that give them
some knowledge of our government. !
The best citizen does not depend up
on some one else to tell him how to |
vote. He has practical knowledge. |
of the leading questions or the day
and knows something of the character
of public men, and so he judges for
himself how TO vote; and his vote is
never for sale. Not every man can
get clear knowledge OF questions of
public interest or know well the char |
acter of the men who are candidates
for Office. Yet every man who de-
sires to be a good citizen viii under
take to understand these things as
well as he can: and in our country in
these days there is a wonderful op-
portunity for nearly every one to be
fairly well informed-if he wishes to
he so.
Will Favor Public improvements.
The good citizen is in favor of all
practicable public improvements He
wants good roads, good school houses.
ard other public buildings. telephones.
ready and easy means of traasporta-
ton, etc. He is not willing to put
KINNEY