Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1919-07-11

! DOTn ElIEH ann HlAttA VI al oA+t~of ~
careful consideration and final Judg-
ment slowly reached but firmly hesd
u,her, attained. These are preen.in-
entity the qualities Of present day
American scholarship and are the
qualities preeminently needed to
grappIe with and solve the present
day problems Of reconstruction
The time is insufficient and per
haps the occasion inappropriate for
station. and because it IS the natural
impulse Of the judge to look out well
and closely for the interests Of the
weak and defenseless OF one thing
all American Bolshevists may rest as
sured. and that Is this: that Ameri-
can Judges have all taken the oath TO
i support the Constitution Of the Unit
/ ed States of America and can be re-
4 lied upon to keep that oath good.
/ Whatever justification or excuse there
may have been in any part of Europe
/ for such sentiments and teachings,
f there is absolutely none IN this coun-
/ try and we must reconstruct upon the
basis Of no federation for them what
ever. We must see to it that our
sehoolhouses shall no longer be used
as nurseries Of disloyalty and sedi-
ton. Every teacher in an American
school and every person permitted to
speak to the people within its walls
should be required to take the oath
Ito support the Constitution of the
United States of America, without
the least mental reservation, and
think also that every graduate of such
school should be required to take
that oath as condition precedent to
receiving its diploma, and please re-
member that an oath to support the
Constitution is not fulfilled by CON
demning or even cayiling at its pro-
visions.
American Bolsheviki may be divid-
ed into three classes, namely ta)
those Of the gutter, tbt those of the
| cloister, and (c) those of the parlor.
| For the first ! have some respect and
a very great pity. They were for
| the most part born in the most be-
nighted parts of Europe, where gov
eminent and property were synonyms
| Of oppression and wrong and where
| the masses, even if nominally free,
were really slaves of the privileged
and ruling classes. They are for the
most part honest fanatics, but none
| the less to be feared because OF their
| honesty. For the second class-such
men as Scott Nearing-and for the
third class | have only the deepest
contempt They have had the full
| benefit of our free Institutions, of the
! education which our schools and col
leges afford and of the pecuniary
competence which in this country so
surely follows upon industry, ability
and thrift All such have betrayed
! their brthright and merit only con
tempt, and when they do violate the
law they should receive its most con
dtgn punishment.
| In his last speech made at Chicago
the latter part of May, 1861, where
he had gone ut Lincoln's request to
rally the West for the defence of the
Union. Stephen Arnold Douglas said !:
I"There are only two sides to the ques-
ton. Every man must be for the
United States or against 1t. Ihere
can be no neutrals in this war. only
patriots-or traitors We are now
fast getting into like condition,
where everyone must be for the Con-
stitution or against 1t. For those VINO
are against it the country has no use
Alien born or native born they should
be deported. 1t looks very much as
though for some years to come all
such will be able to find in Russia a
country to their liking, and there they
should be sent as IN 1864 Lincoln sent
Valendingham across the lines INTO
what was then termed "Rebeldom.
In the coming years, even as never
before, it should be the part of the
American scholar to inculcate and to
practice answering loyalty to the
| | ID For N
sacred instrument should be our at
titude. It is high time, think, to
sound the alarm in that direction For
sixty years before the Civil War not
} a single amendment to the Federal
Constitution was made; then after
that war three embodying its results
in emancipation were adopted; and
for forty-three years thereafter there
was not single amendment. Within
the past five years three have been
adopted, and fourth has now just
been passed by Congress with GER
tainty of speedy ratification by the
} requisite number of States. Each of
those amendments has had some mer-
J it, but we must take care lest we es-
tablish the habit of amendment Al
ready very respectable association
| mas announced us pun FPHN w Nr~'Nt'NN
for prohibition amendment as to to-
bacco; and the maker of the Gross
of Gold and Crown of Thorns'
speech. lately felicitating himself up
} on being the real author of the recent
prohibition amendment, announced
his purpose to secure an amendment
adopting the referendum and initia-
tive for Federal legislation. If any
} thing could make our Federal legisla-
tors more spineless than of late they
have been, that would accomplish
that end.
1t should be clearly understood that
} there is no middle ground between
democratic government by represent
alton, with checks and balances as
ours is, and democratic government
by direct action of the masses, such
as the present government in Russia
and that all these modern devices,
such as the Recall, the Initiative and
the Referendum are tendencies In the
latter direction, and that if they are
persisted N they will eventuate in the
latter sort of government with all its
manifest evils, May this fever for
Constitutional perhaps