Newport daily independent., 1919-01-31
LOYALTY BASIS OF
 ALL CIVILIZATION.
Every Citizen Owes Moral and
 Legal Obligation to His Government.
SAME IN COMMUNITY LIFE
People Have Duty to Their Homo Town Which Is No Less BInd- Ing Because It Is Not
 Fixed by Law.

F Ing Because It ls Not
 E Fixed by Law.
 1 Copyright. 1917. Western Newspaper Union.) Loyalty is the foundation upon
 which the whole structure of civiliza-
 ton rests. Loyalty to one's country,
 loyalty to ones state, loyalty to one's
 city, loyalty to ones business asso-
 ciates, loyalty to ones friendsl Loy- I alty is essential to the ordinary prog
 ress of the world. Without it the world , must be chaos.
 1 There would be no stable govern
 ment in the world were it not for the loyalty of the people to their gov l ernment. There would be no success 1 full business enterprise on the face of l the globe were it not for the loyalty 1 of the men and women who are con- nected with 1t. No church could ex- ist for a month were 1t not for the loyalty of it's members. The sacred
 ness of the home would be a myth
 were 1t not for the loyalty of the members of the family group.
 The loyalty of people to its gov ernment is based partly upon senti-
 ment and partly upon the recognition of an obligation that people owes | to it's government. A people that has the benefit of good government owes duty to that government. Those who 10 not recognize this duty and per- form it voluntarily are compelled by law to do SO. The man or woman who is protected by the government in the pursuit of life and happiness, must con- tribute in money and service toward the support of the government. The man or woman who, under the pr0tec- tion of his government which pre- serves law and order, is able to ac- cumulate property, must pay taxes on that property to help maintain the gov ernment which has protected him or her. In time of war the government has the right to call upon its citizens to take up arms in it's defense.
 Loyalty Moral obligation. In governmental affairs these things are regulated by law. and the man who receives the benefit of orderly government is required to fulfill the ob. ligation which that entails, but in the ordinary affairs of life, loyalty is a moral rather than legal obligation. l There are Jaws which prevent man from stealing from his employer or his business associates, but there is no law that requires him to be loyal l to them. The success of business institution, however, depends more upon the loyalty of it's employees than l upon the laws which prevent them | from stealing it's money. Likewise the !! stability of a government depends l mores upon the loyalty of it's people i than upon the laws which compel them to fulfill their obligation to the gov. I ernment.
 It is equally true that the prosperity and growth of every individual com munity is dependent upon the loyalty l of the people who live in 1t. Every
 citizen owes an obligation to his com
 munity. and the obligation is moral
 as well as legal one. The good citi.
 zen pays his taxes cheerfnlly and
 willingly. He serves upon the juries | which administer the laws of the com munity. He fulfills every legal obli- gation that Is imposed upon him by l his government, but there is moral obligation which is of still greater i'm I portance to the community. This \ moral obligation consists in doing everything that is in his power to l promote the prosperity and happiness l of his community. The man who is I enabled to make his living in any com munity is under a moral obligation. to l spend his money in such way as to 1 help his community.
 Prosperity Worth Protecting. Anything worth having is worth pro-
 tecting, and if the prosperity of a community is worth anything to the 1 people living in it it is worth protect ing. If the chance for man to earn
 Il good living, to live well, to give his
 children a good education, is worth
 anything, it is worth protecting. There is just one way to protect
 the prosperity of community, and
 that is to keep the community from I being drained of It's cash-wOrking
 capital. The only way to do that is
 for the people of the community to
 keep their money et home. Every ! time the citizen of community sends
 money away from home to mail or ! der house instead of spending 1t in
 his home stores he is disloyal to his community. It is disloyalty to the mer- chants only indirectly. It is disloyalty
 to the community of which the mer- chants are only small but very
 important part.
 This Is the moral obligation that every citizen owes to his community,
 just as the payment of taxes and the
 loyal support of his government are
 his legal obligations. Disloyalty of large body of the citizens spells dis
 aster to any government and disloy-
 ~1% >k To v< <zf <t< Ia