Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-05-30
DAVID c. Peters, memorial DAY
ORATOR, MAKES ELOQUENT SPEECH
Christianity in Struggle forI
Democracy Among Nations
and Peoples, He Tells Crowd
at Nuuanu Cemetery

Christian America has heard the
call to enter the mighty war on the
side Of true democracy, David C.
Peters, pastor of the Christian church,
told a large crowd at Nuuanu GENE
terry today, In delivering the annual
Memorial Day address.
Mr.. Peters said in part:
A people are ine1tricably bound up
with the government under which
thev live. Their lives are what the
government il They are swept
along with it like drift-wood on the
surface OF the rivers current.
We are social creatures. We can
not live to ourselves. 1t does not
make any difference how much we
may desire to live our lives different;
We must live them in keeping with
the social conscience Of the people of
whom We are a part.
This law holds, whether We are
born to citizenship in a certain coun.
try, or have come to it from some
other country through personal
choice, or have been thrust into it by
the fortuitous circumstances Of life.
We must recognize this law and con-
form to it, or be crushed by its opera
ton.
Community Interest Comes First
Every individual must subvert his
own interest to the larger interest OF
the whole community. We often hear
men talk OF personal liberties. There
sonal responsibilities; but there are
no personal liberties, until we have
come to that high state of social de-
velopmeat in which we count It
privilege to sacrifice ourselves for
the social good
These four short paragraphs clear
the way and stste the fundamental
law of civilized government.
We ara American citizens. or people
enjoying the advantages Of American
ideals, and we have come together
this morning TO decorate the graves
of our deceased and to honor their
memory. It Is we'll that we face a
serious fact, lest our Memorial Day
performances become hollow farce.
Here at this crossroads city, where
people have cone from the ends OF
the earth, it is especially important
that We fix in our minds the essen
tial character of the government, the
protection of which we enjoy.
Every nation possesses few essen
tial characteristics. These are the
elements that have been built up into
her by her inheritance, by her en-
vironmental contact and by her own
internal evolution. She may take on
a surface polish that somewhat
obscures the character of her fiber e;
but when the ctrain Of the testing
time comes, it is the fiber Of her ma
ture that is important, and not the
surface finish.
Americas Haven Of Freedom
America stands today as a wide
spreading tree whose towering crown
,4-a4S rtIu2e ana shelter. She has
withstood the shock of many storms
she has not wIthered, though bitten
by the severest frost through many
winters. Into what kind OF soil has
she thrust her roots that she has
come to possess such strength? Am
erica is essentially Christian nation.
There has never been a poll of the
people declaring this a Christian
land There has never been am
legislative act so declaring it. But
all Of the streams that have flown
through the fields of American his
tory, causing them to spring into yer.
dant life, blossom into full summer
time and ripen into glorious and full
laden harvest, have arisen from the
one eternal Fountain Of Living Wa
ters." The driving passion in the
bosoms of Saose hardy forebears Of
ours, which caused them to uproot
themselves from the countries Of
Europe ana cross the Atlantic to carve
homes ont Of the American wilder
ness, was not the lust for gold nor
the greed for gain. 1t was the love OF
God and a passion for liberty and
democracy. From France and Hol-
land and England they came, follow
ing the lure OF a High Ideal. After
landing upon the inhospitable shores
of the north Atlantic, the first thing
they did was to erect the sign Of their
religion, bow themselves in prayer
and conservation and to build
place of worship.
Fought Way Toward Ideal
With our eyes upon that goal we
have steadfastly fought our way
through one hundred and forty-one
years of independent history. Again
and again the principles upon which
this nation was founded have been as
su..vu, sometimes from without, some
times from within. Always there has
been a predominant host of American
lueu anu women who were more than
willing to sacrifice their lives in de
tense of these American fundamentals.
We American citizens of this gen
Grafton have received a magnificent
heritage. Some Of all the nations past
has been gathered up into our pres
cnt The blood shed on thousand
tattlefieldS courses our veins today.
Their bivouac fires throw their glow
Gomu our pains, guiding our footsteps.
All the prayers our mothers have Of
fered To tho throne of grace arc in