Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1917-06-21
WHY DO WE LOVE AMER.
ICA?


which Englishmen led in the wal
against their mother country, the
allegiance pledged by a majority
Of alien people to the Stars and
Stripes, and the ferver with
which the strangers within oul
gates are upholding the interest
of the United States, disprove
the arguments that the foreign
ers" never forget their fatherland,
and that whatever may happen
their loyalty to the country of
their birth cannot be transferred
to the land OF their adoption.
There are those among the
new Corners who are ungrateful
for the blessings of America, jusl
as there are traitors among the
native born, but no measure of
intelligence can justify the con-
demnation of the whole for the
short comings of a few.
The reasons why we shed the
swadding clothes of the. old
world and replace them with the
garments of the new are very
simple and our pride in the
vesture of democracy is more
than trivial.
What is it then that makes US
sever our connections with the
old and embrace the new stand
ard?
What person of right intelli.
gence will persist to serve the
whims and caprices of a group
of men when better opportunities
are thrust upon him?
What kind of a mental caliber
must a man have who continues
to serve a despotic master after
he has been made the ruler OF
his own destiny?
This is the contract between
autocracy and democracy. The
former enslaves, while the latter
liberates man from undue i'm
positions.
We of the old world obeyed
commands of despots; we existed
while we were conscious of the
wrongs imposed upon US, wei
knew no happiness, nor dared to
express the agony that weighed
heavy upon us; we passed our
days in dread of inexpressible
horrors and our nights in restless
ness for fear of the sword that
knew no mercy, but the moment
we passed through the iron gates
of Ellis island, from that very |
moment we began to taste life.
Why should we then continue
to rally around a flag and uphold |
the interest of that country by |
virtue of whose ideals we were
treated as senseless animals when
in the Declaration of Indepen-
dence we find the elimination of !
the noblest sentiments that ever
throbbed the hearts of men?
Why did we leave our kit and
kin in the midst of tears and
agoniEing moments to escape
barbarities, sanctioned by law
and order, if we meant to trans
plant those conditions in America,
the ideals of which alone offer
the remedy necessary to abate
past wrongs?
The man who is at liberty does
not realize the pangs of dungeons
and the horrors of despotism.
1t is the oppressed who cry for
freedom and the blind who yearn
for one glimpse of the sunlit
universe.
The Americans OF this present
generation, then, who take free
dom as a matter of course cannot
understand the ferver with
which the new Americans are
upholding the interest of their
adopted country. The natives
are apt to charge the new
citizens with insencerity. They
cannot realize that the immigrant
was once a captive and he has
now become a free man; he was
once kept in darkness, but he
has seen a great light in America.
He wants to see that light kept
ever bright.
He breads the thought of COM
ing clouds that threaten to over
shadow the brightness of demo-
cracy. He is passionate in his
attempt to safeguard theideals
that have made this country a
haven for the prosecuted. a,
This then is why we, Of the