The copper era and Morenci leader., 1921-07-15

SON1A O4 COOttIy SSIllSIuGul, OESdnlZ6 one. It only takes 15 eX-seryice men
 and women to form a post I have
 in mind at this time, a post in a
 sparsely settled township in Southern
 Indiana. who are as vital an asset to
 that community as any one factor in
 the county. And yet they have only
 a total membership of 29, but it IS
 composed of every elegible man and woman in that section.
 To illustrate the stand of the Ame-
 rican Legion, l am going to take a
 moment of your time to quote the
 preamble of our Constitution:
 For God and Country, we asso-
 ciate ourselves together for the fol-
 lowing purposes: To uphold and de-
 fend the Constitution of the United
 States: to maintain law and order;
 to foster and perpetuate one hun dred percent Americanism; to pre-
 serve the memories and incidents of
 our Association in the Great War; to inculcate a sense of individual obli-
 gation to the community, state and
 nation: to combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses: to safeguard and transmit to posterity.
 the principles of justice, freedom and
 democracy: to make right the master
 of might: to promote peace and good
 will on earth: to consecrate and
 sanctify our comradeship by our de-
 votion to mutual helpfullness''
 Ladies and gentlemen this is our
 platform. Upon it we stand, and we will at all times try to live up to it's ideals. Boiled down, they are simply these; service to our country and service to our comrades. It is un- necessary for me to remind you of rI,@,f l,.N ty the American Legion all over the United States in the past three years. During the wave of wild radicaliSm which swept certain sections of this [ Republic of ours a few. months ago, it was the virile stand of the eX-
 service man, that was the greatest
 single factor in curbing the activities ! of those who were seeking to tear dogn the very foundations of this country and that glorious flag for
 which so many of our comrades gave
 up their lives on the battlefields of Bellau Woods, of The Marne, at i Chateau Thierry, just three years ago
 this day, and many other spots in | France. For their sacrifice for that flag. today thousands lay on beds of pain throughout the United States.
 n your own fair state at Fort Bay ard, 1000 of us are fighting to regain our health. Do we regret it? No! a thousand times no! And should oc, .. cassion again arise, which God forbid you will find every man who is able ready to answer to the call and take his place in the ranks, there to dc his part, to the best of his ability The spiri. of the American Legion : is universal. In it there is no East or West; no North or South: There is no Protestant or Catholic: There is no Gentle or Jew: no capital ol . labor: no Republican or Democrat: : We claim and. justly so, I feel, to have ! within our membership every single ! element and feel that our organization } is the nearest approach to a consen ! sus of public opinion that exists ir l America today.
 Also. just as the. Legion must work for good, so must it work against evil. It's program calls for determ ined effort to eliminate corruption and faithlessness to duty in public office, attempts to break down oul
 fundamental democracy or to limit or deny the proper human right to any
 man or group of men. The future o1 the American Legion is whatever the individual members, banded together ; in it's 11,000 posts make of it, and the ] measure of support, confidence and sphere of usefulness that the indivi
 dual community assign to it. Let , the Legion members as individuals throw in to the work the same unset , fishness, devotion and earnest work that they gave in their service an6 it's mission will be accomplished.
 Unfortunately, there has in some
 localities, been misunderstanding as 7 to the attitude of the Legion towards Union Labor. This is a mistake. We , are proud to number among our mem |, bers thousands of the staunches Union men of the country. I an
 proud to say that carry a Union card in my pocket now and intend to con F tinue doing so. The Legion has not 7 and WILL not take part in any in
 dustrial disputes between employers and employees. Our attitude toward: I organized labor is exactly the same : as the attitude toward all mainten
 ance of law and order and the pro lection of the institutions handed . down to us by our forefathers. , great deal of this misunderstandin: 7, has been due to nasty statements O radicals: garbIed misquotations anC . the deliberate intention on the par [ of . few designing politicians tt !, break the ranks of the Legion fo 3 their own selfish purposes. I vii grant that there has been. and I, in dividually trust, there always will be
 dissention between the Legion ant ]. the Industrial Workers of The World
 better known as the l. w. w. Ant 9 why? Because this organization o s men does not represent real Uniol [. labor, but has taken a stand agains
 all the things for which the ConstitU
 tion and laws of the country stand
 But here is no enemy, and no reasol
 for any, between members of the Anne
 rican Legion and the members of tha f. real American organization, the Anne 7. rican Federation of Labor, which o1 V ganization has always stood up an e fought for law and order, and Demo
 cracy and Americanism in it's highes