The Commonwealth. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1911-1914, 1913-06-26
SINCLAIR s DEFENSE.

of educational autocrat of Snohomish
county She hopes TO league with
her the state superintendent and then
my ruin and that of Socialist Educa-
tional Bureau will be complete
But Mrs. Jones has Mr. Marsh as n
sort of field marshal And right here
| have n job for Mr. Marsh as soon as
the parade Is over. I have criticised
this flag salute law and hereby criti-
else IL again. II Mr. Marsh has never
criticised any law let him cast the
first stone. If he has the right to
orlticise one law on the statute books
then have the right by the same rule
to criticse any law. If one law is
more sacred than another law | want
ed important citizens to sort out the
really sacred ones, have them duly
embossed, and place them under glass
in n public place in Arlington as n
warning to all school teachers that
they are not to be trifled with. A
nearby place | would suggest that we
have a typewriter list of all the ordi-
nary run of laws that we may be al
lowed to discuss and condemn at our
pleasure. While he is busy or while
they are busy sorting over these laws
| shall feel perfectly free to discuss
this particular law the criticism of
which is going to cost me my pro-
fessional life.
Let the good people of Arlington
understand at the beginning that at
no time either in spoken or in written
utterances have | ever said anything
against the flag of this or of any other
country | think and have always
thought such flag talk silly. We, OF
the Socialist party, are not attacking
symbols. We are not attacking flags,
and you, Editor Marsh, and you, Mrs.
Lizzie Jones, know this perfectly well.
We are sincerely trying to change a
system of production that has out
lived its usefulness. We are working
for the working class control of the
means whereby we get our food, our
clothing, and our shelter. We are
too busy with this great work to go
far out of our way to denounce any
body's flag in any country. 1t is not
a question of flags with us; it is a
question of rags to cover our naked
10 he do n
question of keeping the starving mil
lions of the world from perishing in
the very presence of their own monu-
mental food product. This problem is
elemental and it's solution is essential
to the preservation of this republic.
Besides this great problem all other
problems sink beneath the social sur
face of life. But this elemental prob
lem will not down.
There is no sincere man in America
today but considers it the highest of
ton of this problem of feeding and
clothing and housing the poor who do
the useful work of the world. 1t is
the essence of all patriotism that we
should strive to make this country a
fit and healthy place for happy we'll
fed race. To the accomplishment of
this giant task thousands of my com
rades and myself are willing to sacri-
flee all our golden opportunities for
professional advancement and finan-
cial gain. With a pity that is greater
in it's glory than the starry dome OF
Heaven and with a compassion that
reaches from the lonely exile hut on
the Siberian tundra back to the gar
den of Gethesemine the Socialist
movement stands today as the great
est patriotic and humanitarian out
pouring that the world has ever
known.
Dodging the food, clothing, and shell
ter issues, always lodging, our CAPT
talist enemies are always wanting us
to attack the flag A while ago it was
the supreme court Now that is worn
out. The constitution has also suf-
fered severely in capitalist literature.
So there is nothing left with which
to bait us now but the flag 1t never
occurs to these unthinking people that
this same flag batting is carried on in
Turkey, in Germany, in Russia, and in
every country where there is a work
ing class robbed and degraded by a
master class. In every country in the
world this mock patriotism is ever
the last refuge of the scoundrel. The
corrupt Turk in his filthy harem is
batting Socialists with the flag. The
bloody Car of Russia practices the
same mock piety, and the murderous
Mkado of Japan some time ago shot
nineteen Socialists for failing to be
patriotic according to his brutal
standards 1t is a worldwide game,
this game that you are playing. You
hope to some day to be classed with
the capitalists.
The emblem of international So
cialism is the red flag. So is the en-