New Britain herald., 1916-06-15

of division of feeling has sprung up among us. You know that we are de- rived in our citizenship from every nation in the world. It is not Singu- l lar that sentiment should be, disturb { ed by what is going on on the other l side of the water, but while senti- ! ment may be disturbed, loyalty ought I not to be.
 T want to be scrupu1ously just, my fellow citizens, in assessing the circumstances of this day, and I am sure that you wish with me to deal out with an even hand the praise and the blame of this day of test.
 "I believe that the vast majority of those men whose lineage is di- rectly derived from the nations now at war are just as loyal to the flag of the United States as any native citizen of this beloved land, but there are some men of that extraction who are not, and they, not only in past months, but at the present time, are doing their best to undermine the in f1uence of the government of the United States in the interest of mat ters which are foreign to us and which are not derived from the ques- tions of our own politics.
 ''There is disloyalty active in the
  lutely crushed. It proceeds from a minority, @ very small minority, but a very active and subtle minority. It works underground. but it also shows it's ugly head where we can see it; and there are those at this moment who are trying to levy a species of poli- tica1 blacl<mail, saying Do what we wish in the interest of foreign senti- ment or we will wreak our ven geance at the polls
 That is the sort of thing against which the American nation will turn with a might and triumph of senti- ment which will teach these gentle men once for all that loyalty to this flag is the first test of tolerance in the United States.
 That is the lesson that have come to remind you of on this day-no mere sentiment. It runs into your daily life and conversation. Are you going yourselves, individually and collectively, to see to it that no man is tolerated who does not do honor to that flag? It is not a matter of force. It is not a matter, that is to say. of physical force. It is a mater of a greater force than that which is physical. It is a matter of spiritual  think, as we purpose, as we believe, and when the world finally learns that America is indivisible then the world will learn how truly and profoundly great and powerful America is.
 "I realize personally. my fellow cit izens, the peculiar significance of the flag of the United States at this time, because there was a day not many years ago when, although thought I knew what the flag stood for, it had not penetrated my whole consciousness as N has now.
 If you could have gone with me through the space of the last two years and could have felt the subtle impact of intrigue and sedition and have realized with me that those to whom you have intrusted authority are trustees not only of the power, 1 but of the very spirit and purpose of 1 the United States, you would realize l with me the solemnity with which I 1 look upon that sublime symbol of our | unity and power.
 "I want you to share that con- 1 sciousness with me. I want you to realize that in what I am saying am merely your spokesman, merely trying to put into inadequate words the purpose that is in your hearts. I regard this day as a day of rededica- tion to all the ideals of the United States
 TT took the liberty few weeks ago to ask our fellow citizens all over the United States to gather together in celebration of this day-the anniver- sary of the adoption of our present flag as the emblem of the nation. 1 had no legal right to declare it a hol- lday, had no legal right to ask for the cessation of business but when you read the papers tomorrow morning, I thlnk you Will see that authority was not necessary; that the people of the country were waiting for an opportun- ity to cease their ordinary business and gather together in united demon stration of their feeling as a nation.
 ''It was a very happy Thought that led the committee of gentlemen who had charge of the demonstration of the forenoon to choose June IA for the parade which most of us have wit messed. It is a tiresome thing. my fellow citizens to stand for hours and see a parade go by. but I want to take you into this secret: It was not half as tiresome as the inauguration par ade. The inauguration parade is a very interesting thing, but it is pain fully interesting. to the man who is being inaugurated, because there then lie ahead of him the four years of responsi bility whose horoscope can- not be cast by any man. But today was interesting because the inaugura- ton parade of the day of my inaugur- at1on is more than three years gone by. 1 have gone through deen waters