The Alaska daily empire., 1918-12-26

The significance of any kind of flag whatever is to be found in it's symbolism. flag is an outward and visible sign of inner and invisible feeling, purpose desire.
 All national flags are a revelation of the sincere and deep devotion of people to their country That devotion does need to be articulated It is in deed, deep and too complex for words, but finds expression when the banner of the state is flung up- the breeze
 Other mass emotions besides these have found ex- pression by the of flags. There is the white flag" for example, inextricaby associated with the idea of surrender. All the civilized world it's symbolism is comprehended Raised above battered fertilization sinking ship it is far more elo- quent than speech and needs not to be translated n to any language. Then there is the black flag" Of the pirate. To it at the masthead of any yes sel anywhere upon the ocean is to be able tode- cipher without the aid of interpreter the greedy and remorseless purposes of the crew which flies It.
 Under the impulse of what motives these coors were chosen the proper representatives of sur render punder may not know, but the as- sociaton is permanent nvioable and unchange- able the laws of the Medes and Persians
 So, also, is that of the red flag with anarchy No possible doubt remains to the of its selec- tion. Red is the symbol of blood and the red flag of its shedding It stands for lawessness, plunder and murder It may be carried for little while by stainless hands: by innocent enthusiasts who have thought of crime, but all the same, the emotions which prompt them to it those which soon- later lead to violence and the shedding of blood.
 The sudden appearance of this scarlet banner all Europe is ominous symptom. It has been the signal of crime whenever and wherever 1t has been unfurled. It the symbol and the indictment of the anarchy of Russia. and its recent appearance in many of the Balkan States and in Ger many and Holland is portentous. By terrible and irresistible influence it infames the passions of men red rag does the irrational anger of bull. Whether any Government which wishes to endure should permit its appearance anywhere is ques- ton of the greatest To do is to trife with forces which ungovernable those of dynamite. It is to permit to carry lighted dies into chambers of gunpowder to allow lepers to walk about the streets
 It has become necessary for nations to stamp out the germs of yellow fever tuberculosis of small pox, but 1t is a thousand times more to stamp out the seeds of anarchy
 Between the red flag and the Star-Spangled Ban there is nvincible antagonsm. They can not fly together at the masthead of the ship of state. The must displace the other.
 The great country that. years after its birth. able send millions of fine well equipped soldiers to Europe to battle for democ- racy. and to finance and feed many millions of Europe's soldiers who locked in the last great battle against autocracy, not born under a red nag. The Great Republic born with scarce three million poor and struggling Colonists scat tered between the Bay of Fundy and Savannah River with a still unconquered in their front and the formidable Appalachian mountains and hun dreds of thousands of red men at their backs But it born holding aloft the flag of democ- racy and not that of anarchy. That is why it was healthy, remained strong, spread the con- powerful and glorious Nation upon which the sun has shed the light of day