The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1918-05-16
PATRIOTIC ADDRESS DELIVERED
AT FANNIN. MISS, APRIL
26. 1918.

- 20. 1910.
| regret very much that the Chair
man OF the Rankin County Council OF
Defense was delayed in sending out
his notices to the extent that / only
received mine on the evening of the
23rd. accompanied by the notation that
. / was appointed to meet with you here
this afternoon in Patriotic Rally pur-
suant to the Proclamation of President
Wilson setting forth the fact that Fri
day, April 26th, should be observed as
Liberty Day. and urging all good citi-
gems to gather together for patriotic
rallies.
1t is to be regretted further that
have never made any pretensions as
to being public speaker, and 1t seems
like an imposition on an intelligent
audience to take up your time, but
these are martial times that we are
going through, this period OF care
and apprehension for most business
men, a period OF high wages and friyo-
lous spending for young people, and
period of heart-breaking sorrow for our
mothers and wives, but above all this
should be a period of strict obedience
On the part of ell of us toward consti-
tuted authority. Hence. when | receiy-
edthe notice from the local Council of
Defense felt 1t my duty to do the best
/ could toward serving you.
IL is unnecessary for me to tell you
that America is now engaged in great
international struggle. in which nearly
ali the great nations OF the earth have
an active part Alb to this fact. you
are all well informed, but / still meet
people whose vision is so narrow that
they even yet think that America had
no occasion to enter this war and that
!. wa should have kept out of it. This
seems almost incomprehensible to most
OF us, and yet We must remember that
il has been our misfortune to have had
few men in high office in the past
three ye e.rsy who have consistently op-
posed the Presidents shipbuilding pro-
gram. they opposed armed neutrality,
they opposed the selective draft. and in
fact it really appeared that they op-
posed about everything that the ad-
nninistration considered necessary for
the defense of the country, the protec-
ton Of our shipping interests and the
maintenance of our honor, integrity
aud dignity as member Of the family
OF nations. Please do not interpret
these few remarks in the nature OF
political address, for ell my life have
made a studied effort to keep out OF
politics. The professional politician
fights only for himself. and the man
who lives for himself alone has but
mighty little to live for. 1t is what we
achieve in the form OF unselfish SER
vice rendered to others that really
lives after us. And every page of his
tory is adorned and illuminated with
the acts and achievements of men who
have lived out their allotted time in
their efforts to bring organized society
to that ideal point where men can
dwell together without individual con-
nIct, and where nation can dwell along
side OF nation without war, and with
out all those deyelish implements OF
destruction that war implies. The first
half OF this proposition may be, and no
doubt is. purely idealistic. for we can
not preclude the possibility OF men be-
ing born who revert to atavistic types
who are abnormal and degenerate. and
men of this class are always trouble
some, dangerous and criminal. We can
not always keep men Of this character
from reaching positions of trust and
confidence, for example the Kaiser OF
Germany. But in Democracy ii we do
net always succeed in placing worthy
men in an Office that they can measure
up to, we can certainly put them out.
AS to the latter half of the proposition.
referring to nations dwelling alongside
OF nations without any fagrant prepar-
ations for ofSense or defense. we have
before us the example of Norway and
Sweden. peacefully they existed under
a common monarch for over one hun
dred years, peacefully they dissolved
their union within my recollection and
created separate rulers, and peacefully
they are working out their destiny to-
day side By side. Nearer home we have
the example of our own United States
aud Canada dwelling side by side for
over one hundred years. have been
along the international boundary line
for three thousand miles and never
saw Q fort. q cannon or q bayonet, and
the question naturally presents itself,
why cannot every other nation enjoy
the respect and condolences of every
other nation? Briefly might answer
"A n