The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-24
ST. JOHNS R.C. PARISH GIVES MUSICALE TO COMMEMORATE
 BIRTHDAY OF WASHINGTON
National Concert Attracts Large Audience==Father Komara Ur- aes Patriotism And Good Citi-
 zenship On His Auditors


 battles to fight from without, but we have many and many battles 10 fight from within. And in these battles. we must be neither towards nor traitors. Our duty is to fight gaI1antly for our mutual welfare even as Washington has fought.
 SACRED DUTY no FIGHT.
 And what are the battles that we are to fght2 They are the battles of life It is not a mere figure of speech; it is reality that we daily face. Just look about you: The buying of legis- lature, the substituting of press and Of public officials, the corruption in high places, the divorce evil, the Iaxness of marriage relations and of home ties, the selling of virtue for bread-al1 these are our enemies whose forces are working against the welfare of our country and the happiness of it's citi- zens.
 TO fight these forces is sacred duty of every citizen and it requires I special moral courage to contend with these enemies. and, remember, every word that you utter to remedy these evils every act that you perform to spread good in their stead, every gesture that you make whereby you show your disapprova1 Of these evils, has marked influence for the good of the country and you are fighting thereby the battles from within as brave1y as they who fight in the open battle field.
 INTOLERANCE ANOTHER ENEMY.
 There is another enemy. though slight yet harmful to our Republic, and it is the spirit of those who would rather see religious strife, bigotry and. intolerance. They cannot and would not see that this country is large enough for all of Us for every creed. They are those who under the cloak of patriotism would trample under foot our constitutional rights, who would islander, malign and vilIify those who happen not to share their opinion: test Of patriotism. But any one who promotes religious bigotry thereby weakens the mutual good will and happiness of his fellow citizens, and thus proves himself anything but patriotic
 What a. travesty on the very name are these false principals and corrupt ideals whose operation is weakening the internal strength Of our republic and mar the happiness of its citizensi
 IDEAL PATRIOTISM
 My friends, we may disagree on the minor point of ideal patriotism, but on this all sane men must be agreed: namely, that he who would lay claim to the title of patriot must have re-
 
 the law. for on these two things are founded the stability and prosperity Of a nation. Where these two condi- tions are strong in a peoples heart the nation must be strong and enduring. Where these two conditions are weak the nation must soon fall. ! We are only individuals, it is true, but individuals form the nation, and as the individuals, such shall the na- ton be. If the ideals of the individual be base or mean. the ideal Of the nation must be same, and it is against these ideals, base and mean and founded on false principals that we must place our lofty ideals that make for Justice and right-ideaIs which. by the power of God will make America stand upon great and strong upon the earth.
 ITO attain these ideals we have only to remember those truths so early in 1s in the sight Of God by our action and by our example, contributes to the glory or to the snanae of the na- ton to which we belong. For each of us. no matter what our station or Hfe has God given his own special sphere his particular work to do The work of each individual we'll done. fits into the design of the whole plan and completes the whole.
 .sBut the moral strength that prompts our duties we'll done our lofty ideals to be nohrished and followed, our obedience to the law and the re- spectful authority and orders-these qualities of an ideal patriot: that nor al strength must come from our sense of individual responsibiIity to God from whom ultimately every lawful authority is derived.
 These. my friends. are the ideals and aims which each recurring Feb ruary z2nd brings before our minds. If in spite Of all contrary forces we prove faithful to our ideals, we win most assuredIy realize our aims and thus prove ourselves trus and worthy sons of him whose name tonight is echoed throughout our land-the name of George Washington