Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1922-12-15

sIltution were students OF history.
Not word in that immortal docu-
ment but was weighed in the deli
cate scales Of thought and placed
with nicely in its own peculiar
niche. Amendments to that CON
stitution were possible, but only
through laborious process which
insured ample time for thought,
for the cooling Of passions and
prejudices before final action was
taken.
Foresaw Possible Strife.
1t must be remembered that our
forefathers who drew up the con-
stitution were essentially English;
that some Of them may have had
ancestors not far removed who had
either served as cavalier or round
head; who had thrown their FOR
tunes in with the cause which .eo
to the beheading of a king, or nae
taken up the sword under the Lord
High protector. These men knew
what religious strife meant. They
know that their mother country
had gone through centuries Of dis
turbance because of it, centuries
Of disturbance which led to a civil
war that carried England to the
brink Of the abyss. They knew
that the civil war had forced
king to the block. They knew the
reaction from the civil war had
caused the bones of the Lord High
protector to be torn from their
grave and desecrated by the angry
counter-reyolutionists.
They knew something of the
star chamber, the inquisition and
all of those iniquitous forces which
had been called into being to sat
isfy hatreds generated by religious
fervor.
Because they knew those things,
they insisted that religion be ban
ished forever from our political
councils, and that we be made a |
nation free from those internal
entanglements which had led
other civilized nations to the
brink Of ruin. They knew those
entanglements would do the same
lor US il we allowed them full and
lntrammelled sway.
Safeguards Thrown Off.
Some Of our states have stepped
lway from the lines laid out by
,ur forefathers, and their consti-
utions have been so changed as
o remove the checks and balances,
o throw into the public arena
luestions of grave import to be
snawed as bones and too often to
'e swallowed without mastication
i assimilation.
Whittier are we drifting? Is
he nation to be drawn with the
ide into the troublous whirlpools
1 discomfort, buffeted from one
ock to another; .sWirled in the
ddies Of fate? Or can it back
Jater and face about up stream,
0 regain that solid and firm
nchorage which will keep it Sc
ure against the stress and storms
I time and eternity?
In Oregon we have had an ex-
mple Of what may become ma
Ional crisis. We have seen the ,
functions of our forefathers dis
beyed; We have seen class array
i against class; neighbor against ;
we have seen families
lyided; communities split; we r
ave seen cities where for years !,
Othing but peace and amity mao i
listed between neighbor and :
eighbor torn into contending. fac :
ons, where men went armed with !,
lns, where deeds of violence .
ere perpetrated under the guise =
law enforcement, and where all /
ad once been peace, harmony and =
usefulness, turned into suspicion
nd hatred.
Are these things to spread, or ;,
70 they to die under resurrec- !.
on of common sense? Is the =
cart of America to be true to 9
rst principles, or is it to beat to :
ew and strange ideals and follow a
Use gods to destruction? J
No Calamity Howler." C
Do not mark me as calamity t
owler. Do not get me among a
lose beings who see an Indian be- +
nd every bush and a ghoss De- n
nd every tombstone. But | have b
en- enacted in some Of our com- II
unities those things which 81
ould like to see banished forever. II
I'd which | hope may reach to no a
her state, although fear they I
ready have. have read state p
ents from the men indirectly re-
onsible for those things that in
nd to carry their propaganda n
rther until it reaches into every h
wn and hamlet of the nation. n
III America permit this, or will q.
nerica seize this serpent and ii
rottle 1t in its infancy? 5,
When | refer to what l consider q,
e of the gravest menaces ever n,
nfronting our national or civic 81
g l refer to the Ku Klux Khan. ~,
This nrpnniZafi ion hnnrto thnt