Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-07-04

Time flies, '"Tempes fugit." In
every language there is some ex-
preston to show that the people
swiftly and the moment alone is
ours. And there are all sorts of wise
maXimS to teach us to do the best
at all times, to do unto others as
we would have others do unto us
When the heroes that we now call
our ancestors worked and denied
themselves the bodily comforts that
England, France and Holland offered
them. and came over here to develop
a land and establish a government
for the rank and file, the plain every
day sort of people, they "builded
wiser than they knew"
And how was that possible? The
answer is plain to all of us. Those
people counted not the cost to them
selves. They worked for the good
of humanity. Time, talent, wealth
were not withheld. All were put in
the melting pot and came out labeled
| for the true American. And when
| the time was ripe there was a great
| day called Independence Day.
| The bell that still affords tangible,
! evidence of how bells were made al
| most two hundred years ago is only
symbol of the bell that rings in
! our ears and thrills our hearts when
| mine, that has been stained in later
| lighting to give the world the sort
| of freedom that we enjoy. The sort
| that does not degenerate into license
| or SpOliation of another'S property,
not the sort that upholds mob vio-
! lence when one set of people demand
| the time, money, or property that
| belong to others, but to work and
save as seemeth best for all who try
to do right and be honest.
This is your land and my land, and
| to keep it that way we must never
! forget to render unto Caesar Cor our
| government that which belongs to
Caesar, and here is the fundamental
| truth, render unto God that which
| is Gods. DO you have the faintes:
! idea that the Germans would have
degenerated into the awful brutes
| her soldiers proved to be if they had
! not drifted SO far from God?
Ancient history, in and out Of the
! Bible, records the names of many
one sort put up their own images
for the people to worship. Your flag
and my flag means more than that.
| The Germans We're ambitious in the
wrong way, they did not scruple to
kill nor ruin in order to plant. the
Kaiser's flag on foreign soil. Your
flag and my flag is for the protec-
ton of others, toslive ard let live, to
give the whole world not certain
classes in certain countries, the right
i to live peaceful lives under their
own vine and fig tree, or to help
who look carefully after their own
! households, or businesses, and re-
strain the sort who would grind the
face of the poor.
Representation is what the world
! thinks of you, character is what you
| and God know to be facts. lie puts
| it into the hearts OF men to work OUT
| plans for the worlds betterment and
! TO lead the people in the upward
| path, to thwart the unscrupulous.
| Did you ever hear the story OF the
! building OF what is now known as
| independence Hall? That building
was begun in 1923 and completed IN
| 1884, and. was known as the State
House until that memorable July day
| when the representatives, OF the ma
| ton resolved to be free and gathered
in the east room. the one now known
! as independence Hall to so declare
unto the world. A government for
! the people, by the people, that's not
! Bolshevism nor Socialism.
There was much wrangling and
bitterness over the plans for the
| building. DR.. John Kearsley archl-
tect of Christ church was an I'M
successful bidder. Andrew Hamilton,
! native Of Scotland, was q lawyer
| and president of the assembly; he
| designed the building and superin-
tended it's construction. 1t was OPP
posed and delayed several years be
| cause the obstructionists regarded IT
| as too large and too expensive. They
were the same neople who in later
years opposed the adoption of The
| Declaration of Independence" SUCH
people are in every age and cline.
Your flag and my flag means moth
ing to them. 1t must be their own
flag and used for themselves alone
They are the people we call nacl-
| fists. or SlackerS. or even pro-German
in this day. Such people know verV
little about the real thrills that come
to the hearts that see it in foreign
| lands. or on foreign waters. and can
say "The one flag-the great flag
the flag for me and YOU"
/ may only be able to buy a very
cheap one and yours may be silk
may carry mine in a cheap suit
case and yours in blue and gold
| enamel, may be worn on your coat
but there is the sort of freedom en-
| phasized that tells the world that
! you cannot take mine. nor 1 snatch
yours as an evidence of what some
misguided minds call freedom. And
it is we'll for us to cherish more than
even the great and glorious Fourth
of July, the anniversary of the day
| that a body of brave men gave us the
| right to love and if necessary die
for our flag, the red and white and
blue.