Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-09-21
PERSONAL MORALITY
Continued from page !


The nation under whose flag you served is
not n,.,>.sible of the obligation under
which YOU placed il. In recognition OF Its
obligation to YOU and with full faith that
your voluntary service rs an actual ana
true declaration of your devotion to It's
principles as expressed in its history ana
traditions, its Constitution and laws, that
nation, the United States of America, has
today without further delay and without
further evidence of your attachment DC,
slowed upon you the most priceless OF All
possessions, the greatest gift within Its
power. that of American citizenship. No
longer are YOU strangers in strange land.
Henceforth this is as much your country as
it is mine. The privileges which belong to
the native born likewise belong TO you. NO
legal barrier now stands between you and
any heights to which you may aspire. The
offices of the government, save only that
of its President, may now be brought
within your reach.
Citizenship, however, does more than
confer privileges. 1t creates new relations
and thereby new duties. Your past
service, great rs it has been, does not re-
lease or discharge YOU from the duties OF
citizenship. No one can truthfully say 4
have voted at every election and III SO
doing | have discharged my entire duty to
the replblic or i have served faithfully as
a soldier in the army and So have fulfilled
the whole measure of my obligation TO the
nation Such citizen still owes to the
nation the duty of maintaining in himself a
hi0h. clean. moral character. His personal
morality is a duty To the nation. Indeed,
il is an integral part of the nation s
morality and hence is of primary nm
portance and binding at all times and IN all
places. Good character is the product OF
right living and right living OF right think
ing. Ii is the fruition of common honesty
and implicit Obedience to the Golden Rule
and Ten Commandments. Character is
power. 1t enables the citizen TO stand firm
against all wrong, to uphold every effort for
right and 10 resist all efforts to weaken the
force of law or To tear down the Stars and
Stripes.
The nation needs, and consequently re-
quires service from its citizens, not only IN
times of war, but IN times OF peace as well.
The nature of the service differs, but the
obligation of the citizen Tor ITS performance
is not the less One important service Is
connected with the administration OF
Justice. namely, to aid IN maintaining the
only true liberty, liberty regulated by law
In the forms of government heretofore eX-
istinp in many foreign countries the state
was an entity separate and apart and,
consequently. different from the people
and the average subject held the view that
their government should have agents TO
enforce the law and that he need have no
care in regard to it. He looked upon every
policeman as an enemy, every sheriff as a
tvrant and all the forms of law as so many
forms of dcspotism In the American idea
and form of government, however, there Is
a personal responsibility on the part OF
every citizen for the maintenance and
proper conduct of the government.
In brief, each citizen IS a part OF the
government Hence the officers of the law
are his officers engaged IN upholdlng the
laws of all the people for all the people
Such officers must hc paid for their service.
As they are officers of all the people and
not a part only, it is right and just that
their compensation should come from and
bc paid hv all of the people. From this
condition, a necessary one 1t the freedom
of all is TO he maintained rises the duty of
each citizen 10 pay taxes.
Another duty of an American citizen
Is obedience To law. 1t Is a necessity of
every government, as well as of every
military organization that there should be
laws and regulations 10 control the actions
Of individuals Without them a state of
anarchy would exist and the so-called
government would be no government
worse than useless, and individual liberty
and freedom would be a myth. Ii Is true
that laws and rules place some restraint on
human action, but it does not follow that
they at all lnterfere with liberty in its
truest sense For liberty docs not imply
license, absolute freedom of action. but
simply the right TO do that which one
deems best. subject TO the limitation that