The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-22
LAW OBEDIENCE MEANS FREEDOM, SAYS COOLIDGE Class And Privilege Taboo President Tells Holy
 Name Society RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ONE OF PRINCIPLES Declares Principle Organ izatiOn Represents Is
 Support Of Ideals

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2l.- The essence of freedom, Presi- dent Coolidge told an audience of delegates to the Holy Name Society convention here today, is "civil, political and religious liberty" as "solemnly declar. ed in the fundamental law of the land."
 Our constitution" he de- clared, guarantees it fully, completely and adequatealy." ]"
 MT. Coolidge then emphasized that the constitution also provides mo re- ligious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
 "I do not say that we, as citizens, have always held ourselves to a. proper observance of these standards toward each other," he continued. But we have nevertheless established them and declared our duty to be obedient to them. This is the American ideal of ordered liberty under the. la .. 1t calls for rigid dlsclpllne.
 The president went into q thorough exposition of his theory of American government in the address. The gov ernment, he said, was the result .'of an effort to establish institutions under which the people as whole should have the largest possible advantages.
 Glass Is Outlawed.
 aClass and privilege were outlawed, he asserted. t'freedom and opp0r ttnity were Guaranteed ssA America is net going 10 abandon its4principles or desert its ideals"
 The principle which .tb, Holy Name societies represents, the president de- clared. is the main support" of these ideals. Reverence for God is the f6un- dation of American institutions, he said. and ''unnumbered organizations, of which your own is one, exist for its promotion"
 The right of individual liberty, he went on, carries with it under the American government the right of in- diyidual property, and in this canipaign he declared socialism and communism cannot be reconciled with the princi- ples which our institutions represent.
 The president kept closely to his theme without any direct reference to political questions. He mentioned the immigration law as reminder of the thigh estimation in which our Oppor- tunities are held by other people"
 Out of obedience and service under the government, the president declared, ''the people of our country have se- cured the greatest success that was ever before experienced in human his tory"
 The president gave particular stress to the liberties, civil, political and re- ligious, allowed under the constitution. A proper maintenance of these, he said, made it important to understand the foundation on which they were built and the claims by which they 'justi- fled the several rights and royal estate of every American citizen
 Religion Is Foundation.
 "The foundation of our independence and our government" he continued, rests upon our basic religious convic- tions. Back of the authority of 'Our laws is the authority of the Supreme Judge of the world, to whom we still appeal for their final justification.
 'The constitution and laws of our country are adopted and enacted through the direct action of the people, or through their duly chosen represen- tatives, while they reflect enlightened consciousness of our country. They ought always to speak with the true and conscientious voice of the people. Such voice has from time immemorial had the authority of divine arrives they may be altered in their details, but they represent the best that we know at any given time. To support the constitution to observe the laws is to be true Ot our own higher nat ure. That is the path, and the only path, towards liberty. To resist them and violate them is the path, and the only path, towards liberty. To resist them and violate them is to become enemies to ourselves and instruments of our own destruction. That is the path towards servitude. Obedience is not for the protection of some one else, but for the protection of ourselves. It needs to be remembered that it has to be secured not through the action of others, but through our own actions. Liberty is not collective, it is person al. All liberty is individual liberty.
 Individual Is Sovereign
 'COincident with the right of individ- ual liberty under the provisions of our government is the right of individual property. The position which the in- dividual holds in the conception of American institutions is higher than
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