El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-06-14

~ NE hundred and thirty-fOur years
ago today, on June IA, 1777, the
American Continental congress
adopted the following resolution pro-
posed by John Adams: Resolved. that
the flag of the United States. be Is
stripes alternate red and white and
that the union be represented by IL
stars. white on a blue field. represent
ing a new constellation"
OF the subsequent making of the
first "Old Glory by Betsy Ross, every
school child knows the story, and
Weisgarver's picture showing the
young Quakeress presenting her handi-
work to the congressional committee
has been made familiar to all by the
activities Of the Betsy Ross society.
which is. represented III almost every
city and village Of the country
The Story of Betsy Ross.
The story Of Betsy Ross and the
flag, like that Of Washington and the
cherry tree, has been questioned but,
since even the department of state rec
ognizes it, most teachers in the public
schools are having II brought forward
in the Flag day exercises today The
story of the first display Of the flag
at Fort Schuyler. New York. where the
town of Rome now stands. will also re-
ceive consideration. This flag, raised
bastion of the fort on August 3, 1777,
was made in the fort. 1t was manu-
featured from white shirt of SOL
dier, a woman's red flannel petticoat,
and blue cloth from cloak belonging
to Capt Abraham Swartwort- The
captain afterwards presented petition
to his colonel to replace the cloth
taken for this flag.
The American Flag association. or
f-scr Of frf0
! individuals as well as the flag commit
| tees of several patriotic societies. has
| for its object "the fostering of public
sentiment in favor of honoring the flag
| of our country and preserving it from
dissertation and of initiating and for
warding legal measures TO prevent
dissertation" This association holds
| its annual meeting in New York today.
Just following the birth of this organ
| fzation came the Spanish American
war, another event calculated to bring
the flag into prominent notice, and
| now, there is no nation in the world
| quite so enthusiastically Gemonstra-
tive over its country's banner as Amer
lea Every school child is taught TO
salute the flag and bringing forward
| ''Old Glory in any gathering will cause
] the most sedate audience to burst into
| applause.
|
| numerous other affiliated bodies are
working hard to secure laws prevent
| ing the American flag from being used
| for Advertising purposes 1t is only
/ question of time before some national
! action will be taken regulating this
matter Several congressman have pre-
| pared bills restricting the use Of the
! flag and the passage of one is only
| a question Of time
| Flags at CensuIates.
There has been considera BILE differ
| ence of opinion about the attitude OF
| the department of state as to furnish
| ing flags to foreign legations and con-
sulates The statement made frequent
| ly that wherever a United States con-
! sulate exists a flag will be SEEN al
ways on display. is not true. although
| many Americans desire to have ii so.
! The department of state is regulated
| in its relations 10 foreign nations by
I their local customs or rules regarding
! flag display. In Russia and several
other countries a consul is not per-
| mitted to display his country's flag ex-
I cepting upon national holidays and
! other special occasions.
In cities where there is a legation
or embassy 1t sometimes happens that
a consul is not permitted to display
! his flag at any time. In Berlin, for
example, the American consulate be-
/ cause Of certain treaties and police re-
! strictions. displays no flag at all But
there are lavish displays of the Ameri-
| can flag in Berlin over shoe stores.
haberdasheries and various other bust
ness places handling American pro-
| ducts or appealing to American trade
| Diplomatic posts are regulated. howev-
| er, by laws and treaties and private
business Is not So there seems no way
| TO avoid the flag being used in this
way until the American government
takes the matter up.
An amusing incident in connection
with flag display took place at Colon
on the Panama canal zone a few
months ago. The United States consul
| at Colon is a conservative who believes
in treating the flag with great defer
| ence. He only permits ii TO be raised
over the consulate upon certain holi-
days. and the raising and lowering OF
the consulate flag are real ceremo-
MES to his official family. Some of the
Americans now living in Panama are
ultra patriotic and a number of wo-
men belonging to the ChristobaI Wo-
mems club sent a message to this con-
sui stating that the women of the
canal zone loved their flag and desired
| to see 1t always on display; If the de-
partment sof state would not furnish
sufficient flags to keep one always
| floating over the consulate at Colon.
these American women would be glad
to raise money for that purpose. The
consul received the message rather in
| dignantly He informed the. women
/ that the department of state honored
/ the flag too much to treat 1t with
! the familiarity which breeds contempt,