The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-10-29
Congressman Connolly in His
Public Speeches Places
Himself on Record.
is THOROUGHLY AMERICAN
Candidate For High Position Shows
His Fitness For Same When He
Expresses His Ideal OF The Duties
Of The Individual.

From a recent address delivered by
Maurice Connolly, democratic candi-
date for United States Senator to
succeed Senator Cummins we clip the
following extracts which are models
of expression of the duties of an
American citizen.
"Some broad-minded republicans
have suggested that this country owes
much to Woodrow Wilson for his
wise and patient treatment of the
Japanese question, of the Mexican
situation, and his general foreign
policy, and indicate that this is a
time when patriotism should rise
above partisanship. Now patriotism
and love of country are confined TO
no particular class or section Of this
country Patriotism is largely the
result of early training. AS for my
self, the sentiment of love Of country
was inculcated into my youthful mind
at the knees of dear old mother
who came to Iowa in the pioneer
days of the State.
'Her hair is whitened by time and
she is walking sweetly and gently in
to the setting sun of life. Whatever
OF high principles or pure ideals |
may aspire to, emanate from her early
teachings and the inspiration of her
loving guidance. She was born in
Massachusetts upon soil consecrated
by the blood of the forefatners,-on
might say, in the shadow of Bunker
HILL l cannot conceive of more
fervid and intense love for the land
of her nativity than is hers.
"And so in the hours Of childhood
when l could first assimilate the mes
sage, when my ears were first attun-
ed to the sound and significance of
the human voice, l was taught to love
my country, to reverence and veneer
ate the stars and stripes, to appre-.
ciate the sacred duties of American
citizenship AS native of Iowa and
under such an influence, l am first,
last and all the time an American
with keen appreciation of the basic
principles of our country and fired I
with wholesome ambition to do all
in my power to maintain cur free
American institutions, and yield to
no man in readiness to preserve in
violate the fundamental and essential
liberties Of our country, and no man,
no one Of my opponents, will go farth-
err in defense of them than I will.
Gas an American, believe in our
free public school system. Just the
other day was invited to speak to
the high-schoo! students in city in
southern Iowa AS I gazed out at
their bright and enthusiastic faces,
they recalled my own high-school days
and the> thought impressed itself on
me that here is the American melt
ing pot where the children, of differ
ent nat ionalities, the sons and daugll.
ers of rich and poor alike are fused
and welded together into a homogen-
ecus whole. Here is the cradle and
crucib.e Of our citizenship From
this cruc;b,e will emerge the Ameri-
can;sm CT tomorrow. Therefore. I be-
leve in our free public school sys-
ter, IS an essential basic element in
the f:h':c Of our democracy. l am.
alterably opposed to any movement
at any time looking toward the union
of the United States Of America with
any sect. denomination or church.
"My friends, you can almost tell
by looking into mans face and OBJ
serving his department whether or
not he is genuine American and
really loves the flag Of our country.
And that flag is big and broad, kind
and liberal, Christian and civilized
only to the extent that our citizen
ship has these attributes Thus we
ourselves create the prestige and pow
er of the flag according to our own
worth and the standard OF our own
citizenship. And the power and glory
and strength of our flag today is not
its message of success in wars, but
that it floats over a people who gen
timely love peace and who are guided
by a President and Secretary OF State
who in turn find their guidance in the
principles Of the Prince of Peace
"At one time having in mind to
specialize in certain work, attended
as student the old English univers-
ity Of Oxford, and following up this
course / went later to the old German
University at Heidelberg. Some O.
these old student friends are mem
bers Of Parliament or the Reichstag.
many of them are now fighting under
King George or the Kaiser. Several
at this moment perhaps are lying On
blood-soaked battlefelds. AS the
nag of their country passes by they
rise to greet it. thrilled by national
pride and sentiment But above the
smoke Of battle, above their emblems.
above the flag Of every other nation.
! see and you see the Stars and
Stripes formed by the stars of the
night, the red Of the sun, the white
Of the clouds and the blue Of the sky.