Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-09-11

%NS" La n iA9o
congress which would raise the
humble daisy to the official post of
the national flower. A purely
aesthetic bill about a daisy has as
much chance of receiving serious
consideration now as a bill to make
all representatives learn the Star
Spangled Banner" would. But a
bill is Il bill. 1t is always potential
legislation, and people are interest
ed in it from that standpoint. Repre-
sentative Kissel's bill has aroused a
number of inquiries, and expressions
of protest and approval.
Some people think that the ma
tional flower should not be a COM
mon weed but a blossom that car
be cultivated and cherished. They
want something handsome that Will
do the nation credit. Others ap-
plaud the sweet simplicity of the
dasiy, but believe that we should
choose a flower that is more capa
BILE of historic association. Others
read into the daisy a fitting symbol
ism for national use. The heart of
gold, the wilderness of pure ideals,
the green stalk suggesting fruitful
ness of earth are pointed out.
1t seems to be especially impor-
tant to link up a complete set of
associations with a national flower
if it is to be arbitrarily legislated
| into existence. The c~olumbine, for
instance. which was persistently
| pushed into a hot race for the ma
tional flower some years ago, is said
to be deeply significant. The name
suggests Columbus and Columbia.
| All three are, in fact, from the same
Latin word, meaning dove. The
dove, it was pointed out, is a desir-
able symbol for any country, sug-
costing as it does peace and mild
ness.
Moreover, the columbine grows
wild over the greater part of the
country. and blooms in adverse cir
cumstances. 1t grows in a variety
of colors, among them red, white
and blue.
Back in 1896, when interest in
t. matter was widespread, a COL
umbine society worked untiringly to
have its favorite flower adopted by
the nation. The governor of North
Carolina called a national flower
convention to which representatives
from every state came. They drew
up resolutions setting forth the
qualifications for a national flower.
After that they concluded that the
columbine was the only flower
among those proposed that meas
ured up to the standard.
What a National Flower Should Be
The columbine is practically for
gotten as a candidate for the honor
now, but the standards are still in
teresting. 1t was decided hat the
national flower should be a native
of this country; it should be a flower
not already claimed by some other
country; it should bloom on at least
one national holiday and lend itsel1
readily to floral decoration; II
should not be a weed or harmful tC
health; it should be suitable fol
decorative design-that is 1t should
be capable of recognition independ,
ent of color If used in a conventional
way-and it should possess. If pos
sible. some patriotic association.
The Maylower has since hat
quite a following, particularly in th'
East. This was the first flower tha'
greeted the Pilgrims after theil
hard winter in Plymouth. Unfor
tunately. however, 1t is a blossom
of our eastern coast, and is scarcel,
known to other sections of the coun'
try. 1t cannot be transplanted sue
cessfully nor cultivated and 1
blooms for only a short time, il
April. 1t would be national, there
fore, only by historic association.
Goldenrod which has many sup
porters also arouses opposition. 1
was suggested because of the asso
citation with gold. America being tn,
traditional land of gold. But golden
rod has a bad reputation as a ha.
fever agent. and it would probabl.
make a great many people miserabl,
if it were to be widely used as tn,
national flower.
II The pansy seems a strange flowe
to be proposed for our national EN-
blem. Yet in 1892 two bills wer
introduced to that effect. One o
these bills is a curiosity. 1t sug
gests that the flag of the Unite,
States be made more symbolic. an,
this is to be achieved by revising
the blue field with its rows of star;
The bill proposed hat this blu
field "shal hold the outline of
white pansy with a true pansy cen
ter which shall represent the CAPT
tai, or central government: that tn
white stars, representing the states
shall be set inside the white outlin'
of the pansy in a manner to produc'
the general effect at a distance of
white pansy in a blue sky" Need