Evening star., 1924-05-13
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM. Calvin
| Coolidge. Charles ScribneTs

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM. Calvin
Coolidge. Charles ScribneTs
Sons.
Occasions and themes, many and d.
verse. come together here. These
various themes fall into complete
unity Of effect, however, by virtue of
their common convergence upon a
single dominating and directing line
OF thought. This thought centers,
primarily, upon the nature and quality
Of our government. From this point
it moves to the individual in a clear
restatement, on the one hand, of the
rights accruing to him out Of the
purpose and plan of the government,
on the other hand, OF the obligations
| imposed upon him by II. Upon the
| assumption that every man has GER
| tain inherent, inalienable rights, that
| in this respect all men are equal, was
built a government OF such freedom
as exists under no other form. But.
| like everything else, this freedom
! has its price. 1t must be paid for in
an intelligent and vigorous support of
the laws whose object is to protect
the Individual, to encourage him to
| the fullest measure of self-develop-
ment, provided only that he does not
| encroach upon the equal rights of
| II,
! whatever the theme, these addresses
sum to a fresh analysis of our gov
| ernment, to a restatement Of our in
dividual part in it.
x Il \ r
This is a system with which every
American should be familiar, a system
| Of equality and freedom, not without
| the claim of divine right but recog-
| tot %hot riDh in n
people; a system where the individual
is clothed with inalienable rights, the
people are supreme, the government
| is their agent Under this conception
| there is real freedom, real independ-
ence, and grave personal responsible
| ity. The rulers look to the people.
Their authority is the public will,
ascertained in accordance with law.
| There will be the least possible in
! reference with private affairs. Real
izfng that it is the people who support
| the government and not the govern
| ment which supports the people, there
| will be no resort to paternalism. I'm
der such institutions there may ap-
pear to be a lack of machine-like ef-
| fciency, but there will be no lack Of
character. Private initiative will be
stimulated. Self-reliance and self
! will remain a living organism sus-
tanning hope and progress, content to
extend it's dominion not by conquest
| but by sacrifice. Such is the system
of self-government, the orderly rule
| of the people, carrying within itself
a remedy for its own disorders and
the power of self-perpetuation. This
| is the ideal Of America
Independence is exceedingly ex-
acting. Self-control is arduous. Self
1 &.
! ease and self-indulgence are not the
goal Work and achievement are the
| ideals. Just at this point Calvin
Coolidge gives way to Theodore
Roosevelt, who declares: "I wish to
| preach not the doctrine of ignoble
ease, but the doctrine of the strenu-
GUS life. the life of toll and effort.
| of labor and strife; to preach that
highest form of success which comes,
| not to the man who desires more
| easy peace, but to the man who does
not shrink from danger, from hard
ships, or from bitter toll. and who
mate triumph"
I'VE Americans have been indi-
still. That sturdy spirit which makes
the pioneer is seIf-reliance. With
out 1t no people ever achieved lib
erty. With it no people can be held
in subjection. In the protection of
the rights of the individual our Con-
stitution and our laws set up a new
standard, guaranteeing their mainte-
nance against all the forces of So
ciety, or even OF government itself
Nothing must be permitted to en-
croach upon those rights. They are
the foundation upon which stands
the whole edifice of our institutions
If ever the citizen comes to feel that
our government does not protect him
in the free and equal assertion of
his rights at home and abroad, he
will withdraw his allegiance from
that government, as he ought to do,
and bestow it on some more worthy
object. 1t is idle to assume that the
privilege of the strong has been de-
stroyed unless the rights of the weak
are preserved. The American theory
Of government means that back of
the humblest citizen. supporting him
IN all his rights, organized for his
protection, stands the whole force of
the nation. That is the warrant and
the sole warrant of his freedom. He
can assert it in the face of the world.
The individual has rights, but only
the citizen has the power to protect
rights. And the protection of rights
is righteous"
4 y x4
Mr.. Coolidge, talking OF Lincoln:
1--WE see in great men brighter
CLEAN of the infinite. Unto them is
given the power to show forth to
their fellow man not only what he
longs to be, but what he is. They
are the means by which the people
raise themselves to a new and higher
order of nobility. They see. They do.
They inspire. In the greatness of
Lincoln the people Of this nation are
tbee ,oobeS up on nei b oTh thsg AS
better selves. They felt with him the
bond of a common spirit He was
Father Abraham. They loved him.
They The followed him; They knew that
larger knowledge OF truth.
Wherever men look upon his life, they
are filled with wonder. About him
there was never any needless thing.
No wilderness of tangled ideas be-
wildered his vision. For him the out
ward show of the world was cast
aside that he might be a larger par
taker OF reality: When the
met many leaders had many different
plans, but in the end the urge of the
will Of the people chose Lincoln He
was elected. He took office amid
great stress and strain. Many states
had already fallen away. Others
wavered. Yet he told them that we
were not enemies, but friends; that
1t was not their duty to destroy the
government, but his sworn duty to
preserve it. Clearly, steadily, draw
ing those who loved their country
more than all else around him, he
kept one end alone in view, the saw
ing Of the Union. He saw the
failure of his armies through nearly
two campaigns; then came Antietam.
Knowing that the time for which he
had long waited had come he issued