Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-02

The Israelites, and also the Mayas.
used to execute any person who failed
to show due respect to holy days. A
day set apart for fasting and prayer
could not lightly be turned into a va
cation filled with sports. Anybody who
failed to stay at home or who played
what was then the equivalent OF golf
or base ball, or went fishing, or in
sport climbed a mountain-"he shall
surely die"
Next Monday will be independence
day in the United States of America.
Are there as many Americans who
intend to honor 1t as such, by devotlng
themselves to considering the blessings
of American freedom and prosperity,
as the number of righteous men de-
manded by the Lord as condition OF
saving Sodom and Gomorrah?
1t is alleged that President Coolidge
intends to climb Coolidge Peak
mountain named in his honor. He will
not fish on that day, lest the worm
turn and bite him, but it is his birth
day. and shall not man celebrate his
own birthday?
Forty years ago, President Grover
Cleveland said in a speech on the
Fourth of July before the Union
League Club Of Chicago:
"The commemoration Of the day on
which American independence was
born has been allowed to lose much
Of it's significance as a reminder or
providential favor, and Of the 1nttex-
ible patriotism Of the fathers Of the
Republic, and has nearly degenerated
into revel of senseless noise and
aimless explosion. leaving in its train
far more of mishap and accident than
lessons Of good citiz> nship or pride OF
country. / will not, without
decided protest. be accused of antag-
onizing or deprecating light-hearted
mirth and jollity. On the contrary,
am an earnest advocate OF every kind
of sane, decent, social enjoyment and
all sorts of recreation. But, neverthe-
less. I feel that the allowance of an
incongruous possession by them of our
commemorative days is evidence of
certain condition, and Is symptomatic
of popular tendency, which are by
no means reassuring."
X X X =
All Americans of 1927 who will cell
citrate the Fourth in the spirit of
George Washington. Thomas Jeffer-
son, Daniel Webster and Grover
Cleveland, please rise and be countedi
Is patriotism passe? Be seated. gen.
tlemen. You are too conspicuous.
Read Washington's diary:
Dated July 6. 1890.
"The members of the Senate and
House of representatives, public Of
ficers, foreign characters, etc., the
members of the Cincinnati. officers of
the militia, etc., came with the COM
pliments Of the day to me. About
O'Clock a sensible Grafton was de-
livered in st. Pauls Chapel by Mr..
Brockholst Livingston, on the oc.
casion of the day-the tendency of
which was to show the different sit
uation we are now in, under the excel
lent government Of our own choice,
to what we would have been in if we
had not succeeded in our opposition
to the attempts Of Great Britain to
enslave us, and how much we ought
to cherish the blessings which are
within our reach, and to cultivate the
seeds Of harmony and unanimity in
all our public councils. There were
several other points touched upon in
sensible manner.
"In the afternoon many gentlemen
and ladies visited Mrs. Washington"
Could anything be more dignified !
and stately and patriotic?
\ X r \
Today, can we imagine our foremost |
undergraduate Of Dartmouth College |
the eloquent Junior, Daniel |
Webster, who delivered a Fourth of |
July address in 1900, in which &C. |
Cured this outburst? Somehow the |
conditions the orator describes do not |
appear unfamiliar. He declared:
"Yet all the vigilance Of our Execu- |
tive and all the wisdom Of our Con-
gress have not been sufficient to pre-
vent this country from being in some |
degree agitated by the commissions of !
But why shall every quar- |
rel on the other side of the Atlantic |
interest us in it's issue? Why shall |
the rise or depression Of every party /
there produce here a corresponding |
Was this continent de- !
signed as a mere satellite to the |
other? Has not nature here wrought |
all her operations on her broadcast |
scale?
Where are the Mississippis and the
the Alleghenies and the
Andes of Europe, Asia and Africa?
The natural superiority OF America
clearly indicates that 1t was designed
10 be inhabited by a nobler race of
men, possessing superior patriotism,
superior talsasSs superior virtnaa.i