New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1917-06-06


the ideal that has sustained US thru all
our trials and has given us the loyalty to
sustain our government. The Declare
ton Of Independence is the greatest
political document that stands clearly for
human rights.
However, in the great war wnlch fol-
lowed it's PRONUNCIATION the one thing
happened that always happens in every
war period, that is; the landed and
predatory interests obtained possession
of the machinery Of government, so that
when the Constitution was framed
eleven years after, it developed that
while the Declaration stood for human
rights, the Constitution was made clearly
for property rights, and incorporated
within it, it contained the very in
strument Of destruction of the peoples
rights that had been Incorporated in the.
governments that had preceded it. The,
Constitution has. been found wanting
and has been changed time and again and
needs more changing. The. Constitu-,
ton stands for property, which dis
appears. The Declaration, stands for an
American ideal and it has never been
subject to change,
| Now. the instrument that was incor-
porated within our Constitution that is
able, to- nullify the ideals of the Declara-
ton was the adoption of the very
same system of taxation that was used in
the most offensive monarchies and auto
cracies,a that had crushed their. peoples.
We find that it has 50 successfully ac-
complished its mission that the misery
andfvice and degradation that spring
from undeserved poverty are as wide
spread in freest America as in darkest
England or Russia where the people are
crushed by an autocratic state or church.
That tax was tax or tribute upon the
energy, industry and thrift Of our people.
Our, ideallin the, Declar alton was that a
government was to be.a service. to the in
dividual. The fact IS the government
has been made into burden. And it
cannot be humanity expected that man
will rush to. defend that which is a
burden, but if our government will con-
form. to our American ideals and make
our government a service to it's people,
then no power on earth could restrain
the rush that would be made to its defense.
fortunately, for our internal peace,
little clause crept into the constitution
that has been successful in keeping the
peace among our many states. That line
reads about as follows, mo state shall
levy a tariff on the goods of another
state" This was done to hold the states
Ntogether for common defense. The re-
suit is that here we have the greatest
population covering the largest area in
the world in which is permitted absolute
free trade, the harbinger of peace. This
is another of the great American ideals.
Here we have the greatest melting pot
the world has ever known, peopled by
those Of every nation, race, language, and
religion, living in reasonable harmony
altho coming from those countries whose
people are kept in continual warfare thru
an imposed hatred. When men can
freely exchange the products of their toll
with the goods of other men there is no
incentive to hate.
Another significant clause incorporated
in our constitution demands that the
church and state shall be kept forever
separate, and while this has not been ac-
complished in full, yet it has become 50
strong sentiment among our people that
to large extent they have been able to
restrain an influence that has invariably
corrupted every government that the
church has been able to attach itself to.
Freedom of church and state is another
great American ideal.
That this land shall be haven of
refuge to the oppressed and down
trodden was an ideal that was deeply
implanted by our forefathers and in the
early days of our Republic was one of
the greatest of American ideals, and one
that we have let go of thru neglect. 1t
was the hope that here in this free land
all could have freedom of opportunity.
Here, then, we have list Of the dis
tinctly American ideals. Mans natural
rights; freedom of trade; freedom of
church and state; freedom IF opportunity.
These are our ideals. They are the
ideals that we need to live up to. These
are the ideals that we are anxious to have
the world share with us. These are all
llpeace ideals. And, rather than forsake