New-York tribune., 1919-10-30
Organized Patriot sm

&
The Bolshevist- minded, the assas-
sins of government, the enemies of
society (name the cement as you
please), display practical virtues
which they use to serve their bad
purpose.
They believe in organization.
They ne' er weary in propaganda.
Headed off in one direction, they find
another. They are ceaselessly ac-
tive. They are not satisfied to leave
the future to evolutionary develop
ment. They rant, they cajole, they
intimidate, whenever they have the
opportunity. They resort to every
known species of falsehood and mis-
representation to win converts. EX-
cept, perhaps, the Mormon Church.
there is no company so persistent.
1t is time for the majority to take
a lesson from the minority and look
to it's organization. Sometimes by
malefcent missionaries from abroad
and sometimes by the product Of ma
tive zigzag brains no inconsiderab
number of persons have been weaned
from just and living comprehen-
sion Of American ideals. There is
need to blow the fires of liberty once
more into fame, to scatter the ashes
of Indifference which have accumu-
lated.
We possess schools Of patriotism.
There are the army and the navy. No
boy or man can long serve in either
without catching something Of the
spirit which gives the flag its mean
ing. There is the National Guard.
Its contacts are wholesome and
stimulating. There are the Boy
Scouts and the Girl Scouts; no lad
or girl can be in either and no. come
out something of an American.
But existing agencies need sup
plementing. The call of duty comes
also to the civilian. Membership in
some patriotic society should be uni
versal. And the membership should
see that not all the time is con-
sumed in consideration of immedi-
ate problems-there should always
be emphasis on fundamentals.
The words of Lincoln come down
the years. "Let every Amer r'can," :"
ne said, "every lover of liberty.
every well-wisher to his poster.ty,
swear by the blood of the Revolution
never to violate in the least partic-
alar the laws of the country and
never to tolerate their violation by
others"
Americans have too much been
sneered into keeping quiet about the
principles on which the country was
founded and which are as pertinent
to-day as in 1916. The braggart
American, who was forever boastine
Of the institutions Of his country
may have been somewhat of 9
nuisance, but more can be said for
him than for the fabby American
who does not know or care--who en-.
Joys blessings coming from the past
without doing anything to protect
them for the future.
Patriotism should become more or.
ganized; not only more organized
but more earnest, more militant
mere intelligent. We have beer
eulogiZing Colonel Roosevelt because
he shook the country out of its
materialism. Who will deserve as
we'll by shaking it out of the slott
of indifferentism-out of the fata
notion that all the questions are
solved and that it is no longer nee
essary to be active in defence of the
general welfare?
Most of our political, social am
industrial problems would be solved
if organized self-seekers met coun
ter organization. At the threshold
should ke met those who do not rev
erence democracy and conceive O
government as an agency to advaac
their private interests without re
gard to the effect on general in