Metropolis weekly gazette. (Metropolis, Ill.) 1???-19??, 1920-04-16
WEEK APPEAL;
UNITED AMERICANS
Practical Suggestion Of Medium
Through Which All Our PeO-
pie May Function Per-
manently.
BY CHARLES WILLARD OLSON Of
CHICAGO

n.fiure does business by seasons. We
revive our interest by change in
Thought anil practice. As citizens and
a. q nation we need 10 take stock.
We are in grave danger of deeep-
Grating In our conceptions Of sound
government Too many Of our people
have listened to the siren of discern
tent instead OF ccurag eousiy and con-
structixely meeting any essential re-
arrangement Of our system that Will
enable Us 10 lead instead Of surrender
in lie world change. Present-dsy po-.
litical thought - demoralized. Doubt
fol aud even dangerous experiments
find a ready hearing.
Trngic events have disturbed Europe
since the war. We must not be blind
TO their Significance. We cannot be
wholly free from their influence. We
have heard echoes If the strange doc
irines preached by bolshevlst and
Spariaean we have felt something Of
their demorallzing effect In our own
social and industrial life.
Whatever excuse may he made for
the rash excuses of peoples who have
suffered for years from, autoerniie op-
preston, there can be- no excuse for re-.
sort To like methods I'm tie United
States.
The people 81 RnSsia aud The people
of Germany Ind no training in poifieni
freedom, no experience Of democratic
Institutions. They swing from despot-
Ism to liberty with sudden movement
aud In The swift. change lost their
heads. II is rot from such sources
that ne should took for wise guidance
nor IN such experience thai We should
hope ia fnd example.
In land where The only sovereignty
recognized Is that Of the people: where
every citizen has equal rights under
the law. and eauaI opportunity for sx-
pressing his viii ~ the bnlio; boy.
there does not exist the ssStige al sn
excuse for resoriing 10 methods Of
intrigue. suhterslon and violence In
order ia obtain change
Not only i there no excuse for such
a policy. bur IA pursue these methods
or 90 advocate them i 10 be guilty of
REASONABLE onense agains. the SOW
ereigniy Of ilie E.eople.
We may and do grant ~ men the
right fo discuss freely every sort 81
political and economic idea In Amer
lee: bun We deny The right Of any
group or class Ia seek Ia impose its
program of political or economic
change agalnsf tl.e will of The major
lsy. and by means alien 10 American
institutions. II - here that The issue
must be sharply drawn. and II Is on
this line thar We are Justified In max
ing our figllf.
a man WHO breaches In America the
doctrine 81 class conflicts and class ad-
vantage: who advocates the rule ~
any group TIM. II less than n majority
Of the people who seeks 10 attain his
ends by methods thar ia violence 20
the Constitution and laws Of the land
that man Is an enemy 81 America.
treat him as an enemy.
The remedy for all our llS-poliiical.
social and communicates within our
power by The methods ordained In our
fundamental law. We do not deny fhe
existence of Ills. We do not claim
that America has attained perfect
government. that she has made liberty
absolutely secure aud justice infalll.
bic. hut We On claim that there Is no
country IN ilIe world In which denioc-
racy las reached higher develop
nent. or IN which the people are more
completely in control OF their own des-
tiny. Remember. America Is not an
autccracy. neither Is II pure democ-
racy, but republic. and Iepiiblc u
a democracy made safe BY q IDA loyity
choosing from the Whole bods--by the
oailot--a small number OF tie most 1T
to deliberate and act for all.
II Is only 50 the collective intelii.
gence OF tie people rises TO higher
plane and takes Grnler grasp upon our
common problems thar we may hope
to advance more nearly TO the goal
foreseen BY the men who wrote the
Declaration OF Independence and gave
MS the Constitution nv he instrument
whereof. the lofty ideallsm and endur-
Ing principles az the Declaration may
be ever more fully expressed In our na-
tional life. The appeal 10 passion, the
fomeDting Of class strife, the resort TO
Iawless methods--lhese all hinder our
progress. Every real Americas knows
that the answer and remedy for all
this II the Intelligent. effective use Of
the ballot. But ibis must be more
than merely creed What IL needed
right now * that every man who be-
lieves II shall increasingly practice
and preach II.
We must all go forward together
The great need today is TO promote
better understanding among the varl.
Gus groups OF our people. and closer
cooperation in seeking the common
good II Americ8 was worth dying
for, 1T is worth living for We must
revive faith in the fundamental prin-
cipIes of Anericanism. faith in our
Constitution. faith in our free instlfu-
fions, faith IN and support Of our Of.