The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1916-06-27
PATRIOTISM.
(FrOm Mr.. Booths Address)

w on the he ~ wat iS1S Ss ' Of pres
ent day world movements that
we now stand upon the border-line be-
yond which may lie a grave national
crisis, it is inspiring to know that the
fire of patriotism continues to burn.
Your presence here tonight, represent
ing as you do the average citizenship
of this great Republic, is ample testi-
mony of the fact that American tradi-
tons are still a living and vital force
in your lives.
There is no atmosphere more holy
than that which is charged with the
vitality of lofty and fervid patriot
ism.
You are here tonight because there
is a country that you love; there arr
institutions that you cherish, and
there is a freedom that you hope to
preserve; freedom that was born
from the throes of stern resistance to
tyranny and nursed in the arms of
rugged men.
There was one paramount concern
one pre-eminent conception that serv-
ed as the foundation stone in the very
beginning of those labors which fin
ture of government. There was one
thought, one purpose, one passion,
that, above all Others actuated the
heroic men of rs to send forth their
challenge to tyranny from the can
mons mouth, and inspired them to
create for themselves a government
conceived upon firmer and more
righteous lines than the world had yet
seen.
That thought, that purpose, that pas
sion, rested upon one single demand:
a demand for the recognition of the
rights of the common man. And it
was the men of Lexington and Bunker
Hill, with a valor that has challenged
the worlds admiration, who wrested
from the hands of a stubborn king the
scepter of political power and wrote
upon the armament of time and his
tory the flaming words: political free
dom is the birthright of all men.
And so began the march of the flag.
It's cleaning folds in the smoke and
roar of battle above the redoubts at
Yorktown gave promise of the nation
that was to be; hoisted above the ram
parts at New Orleans it redeemed all
sorrows and all defeats and guaran-
teed the safety of American citizens
On the high seas; it marched in tri-
umph from the Rio Grande and aveng
ed the crime of the Alamo; beneath
the skies of Appamattox it declared
that the shackles of slavery should no
longer encircle the limbs of men
that the union was perpetual-that the
constitution was supreme-that the
nation was united, indivisable, and en-
during-with liberty and justice for
all.
From the bitter tragedy of the pres
ent world war, there is to be drawn an
everlasting lesson for the future guild
ance of nations: so long as political
liberty is denied a people, monarchy
within its secret chambers unsheathes
the sword and sends forth it's servile
minions to the battle fields. The
common man beneath the skies of an
autocratic government is politically
non-existent, without a pulse and
without a pride
But where political freedom has be-
come an institution-here in our own
land where it has become the ruling
passion and the fixed determination OF
our lives-war, if it shall ever come
shall be a war of the people. There
never has been a time in the history OF
the country when our flag was unfvrl-
ed upon the field of battle that the
people of this country did not send il
there. When the sword is to be drawn
from its scabbard it will be drawn by
the hand of the common people and il
will go back to its scabbard when they
and none other, shall so decree it,
No crisis can come that will not be
met by the judgment of the masses. Nc
quetsion shall arise that, in it's fina
, analysis, shall not be solved in the
common councils of public opinion
Patriotism demands a profound res,
pect for our institutions and for those
whom we have chosen for high lead
. ership, but in the end and in the fina
: Issue, the will of the people is SUI
preme
7 The flag of our country should evel
be a reminder to the nations of the
earth that our people, within theil
} hearts, have construed the meaning Of
the flag as standing for a sacred citi
zenship, and that they have pledged
themselves, their lives, their fortunes
and their honor, that this meaning
shall be respected in every situation
and in every land. No delay, however
unhappily procured, shall ever succeed
to defeat the solemn purposes of oui
people-unshakable and uncompro.