Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1916-07-13
OUR FLAG.

Stripes displayed, son, stand up an
take off your hat.
Somebody may litter You ma
blaspheme in the street, and stagge
l drunken In public places, and tn
bystanders will not pay much after
tion to you; but if you should gel
down on your knees in the str,
; and pray to Almighty God or II yol
should stand bareheaded while {
company of old soldiers march b,
with their flag to the breeze, some
people will think you are showing
off
But don't you mind. When Old
Glory comes along, salute, and lei
them think what they please. When
you hear the band play "rhe Star
Spangled Banner" while you are
in restaurant or hotel dining-room
get up, even if you rise alone; stand
there, and don't be ashamed of 1t.
either.
For of all the signs and symbols
since the world began, there is never
another so full of meaning as the
flag of this country.
That piece of red, white and blue
bunting means five thousand years
of struggle upward. 1t is the full
blown flower of ages of fighting for
liberty. It is the century plant of
human hope in bloom
1t means the answered prayer of
generations of slaves, of the helo-s
of Greece, of the human chattels Of
Rome, of the vassals of feudalism, of
the serfs of Russia, of the blacks
of America, of all who, whipped and
cursed, have crawled from the cradle
to the grave through all time.
Your flag stands for humanity, for
an equal opportunity to all the sons
of men. OF course, we haven't ar
rived yet at that goal; there are
many injustices yet among us, many
senseless and cruel customs of the
past still clinging to us, but the
only hope of righting the wrongs Of
men lies in the feeling prodrcsd in
our bosoms by the sight Of that flag.
1t stands for no race. 1t is not
like an English, French or German
flag. 1t stands for men, men of any
blood who will come and live with
us under it's protection. 1t is the |
only banner that means mankind
1t means the richest, happiest,
people ON the globe.
Other flags mean a glorious past,
his flag a glorious future. 1t is not
20 much the flag of our fathers, as
: is the flag of our children, and of L
Ill children's children yet unborn. 1t
$ the flag of tomorrow 1t Is the
signal of the Good Time Coming"
t is not the flag Of your king, it
S the flag of yourself and of all
our neighbors
1t has a power concealed in it's 1
ollddss and scatters abroad an influ |
nee from its flutterings That power j
nd influence mean that in due (
ime, slowly and by force of law, /
ct surely as the footsteps of God, {
he last ancient fraud shall be smit- {
en-, the last unearned privilege re- '
loved, the last irregularity set right,
be last man shall have a place to :
Tork and living wage, the last
oman shall have all her rights of
erson, and the last and least of chill
rem shall be sheltered and trained
nd equipped by the sovereign state,
ad so have their right to live.
Don't be ashamed when your
lroat chokes and the tears come,
) you see it flying from the mast !
ship in the bay of Gibraltar or
e port of Singapore. You will never q
i've worthier emotion.
That flag is the concentrated es-
nee of the best impulses of the s,
imam race
By hundreds and by thousands the
fICLlllS vi
g streaming westward, seeking v
re the thing that flag stands for F
portunity. R
1t stands for the quick against the ~
ad, the youth of the world against
senility. b
1t stands for the open door of NJ
lbition against the closed door OF %
ste -
1t stands for the stability of Wig \,
Gus growth against the fixedness FC
hoary institutions. Ia
It waves defiance at all ghosts, ~ y,
sy that have for long inundated R,
N; the ghost of monarchy, the
ost of aristocracy, the ghost of
+, and all their kind that still lay
adowy hands upon the life Of Ca
rope. and Asia. su
And when at last shall convene VI
LII