The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1925-10-08


in community based upon the ideals
of which Americans boast than any
considerable development Of intoler.
ance as regards religion. To a great
extent this country owes its begin
nings to the determination of ouI
hardy ancestors to maintain complete
freedom in religion. Instead of .
state church we have decreed that
every citizen shall be free to follow
the dictates of his own conscience as
to HIS religious beliefs and affilia-
tions. Under that guaranty we have
erected a system which certainly is
justified by its fruits. Under no other
could we have dared to invite the peo-
pies of all countries and creeds to come
here and unite with us in creating
the state of which we are all citizens.
"But having invited them here,
having accepted their great and var
led contributions to the building of
the nation, it is for US to maintain
in all good faith those liberal institu-
tions and traditions which have been
so productive of good. The bringing
together of all these different ma
tional, racial, religious, and cultural
elements has made our country kind
of composite of the rest of the world,
and we can render no greater service
than by demonstrating the possibility
of harmonious cooperation among so
many various groups. Every one of
them has something characteristic and
significant of great value to cast into
the common fund of our material, in
tellectual, and spiritual resources.
IF we are to have that harmony
and tranquility, that union of spirit
which is the foundation Of real ma
tional genius and national progress,
we must all realize that there are
true Americans who did not happen
to be born in our section of the coun-
try, who do not attend our ploce of
religious worship, who are not Of our
racial stock, or who are not proficient
in our language. If we are to create
on this continent a free republic and
an enlightened civilization that will be
capable of reflecting the true great
ness and glory Of mankind, it will be
necessary to regard these differences
as accidental and unessential. We
shall have to look beyond the outward
manifestations of race and creed. Di-
vine Providence has not bestowed up
on any race monopoly of patriotism
and character.
"The same principle that it is neces-
sary to apply to the attitude of mind
among our own people it is also neces-
sary to apply to the attitude Of mind
among the different nations. During
the war we were required not only to
put strong emphasis on everything
that appealed to our own national
pride but an equally strong emphasis
on that which tended to disparage
other peoples. There was an inten-
sive cultivation of animosities and
hatreds and enmities, together with a
blind appeal to force, that took pos
session of substantially all the peo-
pies of the earth. OF course, these
ministered to the war spirit. They
supplied the incentive for destruction,
the motive for conquest.
"But in time of peace these Senti-
ments are not helps but hindrances;
they are not constructive. The gem
orally expressed desire of America
first cannot be critised. 1t is a per-
fectly correct aspiration for our peo-
pie to cherish. But the problem
which we have to solve is how to
make America first. It can not be
done by the cultivation of national
bigotry, arrogance, or selfishness.
Hatreds, jealousies and suspicious will
not be productive Of any benefits in
this direction.
"Here again we must apply the rule
of liberation. Because there are other
peoples whose ways are not our ways,
and whose thoughts are not our
thoughts, we are not warranted in
drawing the conclusion that they are
adding nothing to the sum of civili-
zation. We can make little contribu-
tion to the welfare of humanity on
the theory that we are superior ,peo-
pie and all others are an inferior peo-
pie. We do not need to be too loud in
the assertion of our own righteous
ness.
at is true that we live under most
favorable circumstances. But before
we come to the final and irrevocable
decision that we are better than every
body else we need to consider what
we might do if we had their provoca-
tions and their difficulties. We are
not likely to improve our own condi-
tion or help humanity very much
until we come to the sympathetic un-
Outstanding that human nature is
about the same everywhere, that it
is rather evenly distributed over the
surface of the earth, and that we are
all united in common brotherhood.
1--WE can only make America first in
the true sense which that means by
cultivating a spirit of friendship and
good will, by the exercise of the vir-
tues of patience and forbearance, by
being 'plenteous in mercy and
through progress at home and help
fulness abroad standing as an example
of real service to humanity"
{ OOIidUo,S Train