Trench and camp., 1919-01-30
THE PRICE OF LIBERTY,

on the glorious Fourth, till we sud
denly realize, as we did a couple of
years ago, that we were going to lose
them if we did not best!r ourselves.
Then we got up on our hind-legs and
prepared to fight for them to the
death.
No, human institutions and govern
ments cannot be set up once for all,
and then left alone to run themselves,
any more than a clock can be wound
once for all, and then set going for
ever. That would be perpetual mo-
tion, in the one case as in the other.
Just as to every right there is cor
responding duty, so beside liberty
stands always RESPONSIBILITY
Neglect the latter, and the former
fades away: maintain a conscientious
responsibility, and your liberty stands
firm and gains strength and beauty.
But what is this responsibility? II
means, first of all, an understanding
of our institutions and OF our gov
ernment. 1t means being not only q
thoroughly loyal, but also an intelli-
gent American. For behind our free
institutions stands constantly an are
ma of study, debate and reflection.
Out of these come convictions, and, at
length, laws, constitutions and insti-
tutions that guarantee our liberties.
In o despotic government, this study
and reflection and debate are now al
lowed to express themselves in insti-
tutional form; people can talk lot,
IL they want to, but they cannot do
tanything. Their betters will do what
| su Ia D,,k Sc hn
sence of our democracy to allow free
dom of public opinion. That is one
of the things our fathers bought for
us with their blood.
A citizen, having informed himself
as to the nature OF our institutions
and government, and of the ques-
tions that come up for decision (and
this is particularly the duty of those
who have come newly to live with
us), he is then responsible for ex-
pressing his opinion without fear or
favor. There Is an arrangement
known as an election, occurring once
in so often, where opinions may be
expressed, by voting. 1t is therefore
the duty of the responsible citizen to
go and vote as his best knowledge,
reflection and conscience dictate. IL
he does not, he has no kick coming
if his opinion does not prevail.
And there is even more than this.
The citizen ought to exercise his right
to help nominate good men for ONCE,
and to insist that the party to which
he belongs shall stick to high and
patriotic principles that foster free
dom and liberty. There are too many
good men who do not take their prop
er part in politics, but leave the ma
chinery to be managed by profession
ais whose ideas of liberty and
straight-dealing are not always OF
the loftiest.
OF course, all this means that the
responsibility for liberty is dis
charged only by good citizenship. The
good citizen is the very tower and
as good citizens as we ought to be,
there could be mighty small danger
to liberty.
Part of good citizenship consists
also in living a decent private life.
If a citizen is always weakening The
laws by disobeying or evading them
or is discrediting the country by act
ing in ways he should not, he is him
self striking all the time at the heart
of liberty. To support liberty, yoa
have to live up to it-by refusing to
take advantage of your fellow-cit-
liens, even when a good chance to do
so offers itself; by always assisting
your fellows when they need help in
defending their interests; by always
seeing to 1t that the door of oppor-
tunity is kept always swung open for
the deserving-in short, by making
common cause with all other good
citizens on all occasions. Living up
to liberty in that style makes others
respect liberty and want to have it
for themselves. A free man in a
free state" is one of the noblest of