Evening star., 1923-06-15

OF proportionate width. The flag g-has
hung for years inside the covered
court of the main building of the de-
partment. 1t is beautiful and i'm
pressive, but now il is fouled byy4h.
CRIME and dust Of the air. No lair
dry has a tub. no professionally H.
cleaner vat big enough to corta
II. 1t would be recreItabIc to La,
TO rip its broad stripes and briGa
stars" which have hung throur
| many "pcriIOuS night" Where !
It's pristine beauty? The query J..
raised upon Flag day" even Will.
! the President and others are speak
ing at public meeting upon the i'm
portance of proper respect for Ola
Glory.
Shall it be hung within the emve-
lope Of some balloon where purifying
gases may dry clean" its bunting
Shall the whole post office buildinl
become its vat and he filled wiz
| cleansing vapors overnight? Is ther
no bathing pool where foamy sud
could he stirred and the flag be give
bath? Are the golden twins" too
busy to take the contract? Ha-
Uncle Sam no little fairy who woul1
delight to please the world" Can
all the Chinese laundries come TO IT,
rescue? How easy 1t was to hcsm re
| the flag, just by letting the fou,
smoke and the dusty CRIME OF ncglc.:
! do their worst, unhinderedn Hos,
hard to purify it!
There is a greater flag problem '.s..
that before Americans. How shal
/ . fEr tIo+
patriotism be cleansed OF the grim
and smoke that have tarnished j
| beauty within the American hearts"
| There is a huge bIotch Of "indifter
ence' spread from stars TO stripes
! a Scumlike smear. Who bu. Citi=-.>
| put 1t tharA2
There is a rip made As it draExcr
might easily spread until il becomes
| rent, unless some meuder with IL"
magic needle and thread Of III.
| Union, one and inseparahIe." take.
! up the task Of patriotic scamstres
Where is the modern Betsy Ross?
| There is a Jagged tear. which eve
! lifts d corner of a star, here and
| there. Some vardal with a. part sa =
or local or class knife. has dared to a.
| tempt to separate the stars. by say!rG
| the stars are not Interested in wha
the whole flag symbolizes and will II"
attempt to defend the whole flag am
all it stands for.
| Men have died for the defense o.
the whole flag. The world has seen il
wave in triumph upon battletields in
defense of alien rights, as well as for
it's own sons and daughters that de-
mocracy should not perish from tho
/ Tt y a. q
feat it has never bowed IN shame j:
| has never stood TO uphold wrong, +:
! has always defended tho right agains;
might BY what it symbul2os. il vi
! still stand Ito combat aujoCrdCy o.
| both classes and masses; 10 max
! right the master of might; TO SAT-
| guard and transmit to pnstcritv tt.
| principles of justice, freedom and d.
mocracy; and to consecrate and san
tify devotion to mutual helpfuness
of all good citizens.
What Old Glory needs is bath d.
| dry cleansing, a renewed swinging
| out to the bleaching sun of patriot.
idealism. Away with the frills and
frumpcries Of festoons of the ho!.
symbol! 1t means seIf-sacrifcc TO-
country. It means stanch battling
against insidious scltishness L.
| means loyalty TO laval Law. n.
| means that which Paul meant whcu
] he differentiated between circuu
! cision of the flesh and cirCumciSinl
! of the heart. 1t means what the pp''
meant when he cried out:
| God give US men.
! A time like this demands StroIc
minds. great hearts, true faita
and ready hands"
* K X
Who will wash Old Glory, and re
store, through the cleansing waters
of ideal patriotism, the arterial blood
of its red, the fleckless snow of its
purity. the celestial blue of its truv
field. and the steady shine Of its
forty-eight stars?
Copyright. 1923, nv i. V. Collins