Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-06-08

for the land Of their nativity when 1t
Is involved in life and death struggle
ike that which saturates Europe with
the blood of their kinsmen- Search
your hearts deeply, my countrymen.
One must be human to be an Ameri-
can, but he must have human sympa-
thies and human loves, and / should
pity the foreign born and the sons of
foreign born whose very souls are not
wrung by the cataclysmal sorrow Of
the old world. But sorrow is the test
of soul and the very altar of recon-
secration. This is the momentous hour
for the blazing soul Of American ale
glance. The spirit Of the fathers is
calling, and the safety Of unborn
Americans is demanding and the Sc
curity Of the republic Is requiring that
now and here and everywhere, under
the stars and stripes, we proclaim a
plain, simple, glad and unalterabc
Americanism. 1t must be the Offering
of loyalty and devotion and love and
trust, and life. if need be. to these
United States, now and evcrlastingly.
The Americansm which indexes
these United States must be more than
the conservation Of the individual. In
the great fulfillment we must have a
citizenship less concerned about what
the government can do for it and more
anxious about what 1t can for the
nation. There must be the submersion
Of local and sectional views and the
standards Of nationality reared In their
stead. Holding to the ideals of just
American rights, the government must
protect those rights at home, on our
borders, on the seas, in every land and
under every sky.
Our Foreign Relations.
Seeking to practice the very Ameri-
canism I preach as Republican gospel,
I am reluctant to speak of division
Of American sentiment relating to our
foreign affairs. One must be an Amer
lean first and a partisan afterward,
though we believe Republication Is
the culture ~ highest Americanism.
But it must be said. for the truths
sake and clearer understanding. we
have hungered in vain for that I'M
flnching Americanism at Washington
which is needed to exalt the American
soul. There is no geographic modifi-
cation of American rights. They are
the same in Mexico that they are on
the high seas: they are the same in
Europe that they are in Asia and are
sacred everywhere, and the American
spirit demands their fullest protection.
Whatever the ultimate solution may
be. history will write Mexico as the
title to the humiliating recital Of the
greatest fiasco in our foreign relations.
Uncertainty. instability. Mexican con-
tempt and waning self respect will be
recorded in every chapter, and the pitt
able story of sacrificed American lives
and the destruction Of lawfully held
American property will emphasize the
mistaken policy Of watchful waiting
and wabbling warfare.
Our civilization has evolved the rules
of right conduct and written them into
forms of government by law. They
were conceived in justice and deyel-
oped in righteousness. They have be-
come instructive in our American life
and are cherished as part of our peo-
pies inheritance. Our people do not
understand any suspension; they are
impelled to march on. confident and
unafraid. When the spirit of Amer
lean accomplishment, or the mercies Of
American ministration or the incllna-
tons of American teaching. or the ad-
ventures Of American development take
our people abroad under the compacts
Of civilization they have right to be-
lieve that every guaranty Of American
citizenship goes with them. When it
does not we have forfeited the Amer
lean inheritance.
Our Course With Europe.
No political party can draw vari-
able chart for our ship Of state amid
Europe's warning ambitions, lust for
Justice points the way through the safe
channel Of neutrality. There are dan
gers, seeming or real looming on ev-
cry side, but we should feel secure
along the course marked by interna-
| tional law and our own conscien-
| tious convictions OF American rights
| Straight ahead" shall be the com
mand, and when peace comes the sober
| judgment OF the world will eXalt us
ever higher and higher as a people
strong in heart and noble in the
espousal of justice and Justices hu
mainly. In that worldwide respect
and confidence which needs only to be
preserved we shall have lofty place
in the great reconstruction. and we
reasonably may hope to see this mighty
republic again ministering to the re
establishment of peace and all its pre-
cious blessings.
| My countrymen, Americanism begins
at home and radiates abroad. The re
publican conception gives the frs
thought of free people and fearless
people and bespeaks conditions a
home for the highest human attain
ment We believe in American mar
kets for American products, American
wages for American workmen, Ameri
can opportunity for American genius
and industry and American defens,
for American soil. American citizen
ship Is the reflex of American condi
tions, and we believe our policies max,
for fortunate people for whom moral
material and educational advancement
is the open way. The glory of on
progress confirms. The answered as