Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-13

delay no longer in giving The star
Spangled Banner full and formal rec.
ognition. 1t is distinctively American
ana cannot be confused with God save
the King or any other oourtryIs ma
Gionai air. It is already known the
world over. 1t is preferred bv Ameri-3
cans, as proved by its aScendancv over
oCner patriotic songs. In both words
and music it is superior TO the
ilatlonal songs OF numerous other ma
lions. And millions Of citizens have
good reasons to hold It In regard so
nlgn tnat no act of Congress could In
crease or diminish their affectionate
reverence" The Worcester Evening
Gazette, opposing official action. adj.
v1seS, In the interest of patriotism.
iet US leave our spontaneous impulses
For some time there has been an ef-
Tort" says the Kalamazoo Gazette. 'to
write a national anthem to replace THE
star Spangled Banner on the ground
that the latter is dificult for some
people to sing. AS matter Of fact, the
difnculty is probably exaggerated, since
Tne song was widely sung during the
world War, and no vocal-chord cas-
ualtieS have yet been reported. Writing
national anthem to order Is no easy
task. The chances are that The star
Spangled Banner will continue to be
recognized as the country's national
anthem, whether the recognition comes
In the form Of congressional enact
ment or not"
"One may say with entire confidence
that because the American peopIe love
The Star Spangled Banner hieh notes
ana all, even II individually many of
them cannot sing a note Of It, they win
accept no substitute" AYERS the Chicago
Daily News. The Salt Lake Deseret
News holds that lin spite Of all criti-
clSm, IL has a wonderfully inspiring
SWING, tnat causes the listener to come
70 attention and the hat to be lifted
from the head almost instinctively"
The downward revision of this tune. !"
suggests the Spokane Spokesman
view, may be a potent argument for
omclal recognition Of The Star Spanpled
Banner as our national anthem. It has
Always seemed wrong to have q national
anthem that only q lyric soprano can
sing all the way through. Sc At
tne same time it must be remembered
tnat there are some low notes in the old
all, and any revision downward NAV
make the lower levels Of the tune suit
able only for basso profundos. The
problem Is by no means simple. It will
be hard to choose between having To
squeak The land Of the free and having
TO growl AT the twilight'S last CLEAN.
ing The interesting feature OF the
present campaign Is that great many
people really like The Star Spannled
Banner and are willing to work hard to
keep 1t from being supplanted by some
upstart ditty."
The Savannah Morning News won-
ders If some different theme "would
make the patriotism well up In the
heart and bring tears to the eyes.p and
asks II the greatness of the Country
could be expressed In the words:
"oh, say, can you see by the dawn's
early light
The mill workers leave after working
all night"
"The only law that IS needed re-
marks the Ann Arbor Daily News ais
one that will in some way dispense with
the custom of reading the words off If
song books. Every American cit;zsn
ought to know them by heart. The
Minneapolis Star comments: "perhans
the old tune can be done over. the hjrh
notes eliminated and the low notes
lifted. And after that's done eho,,t
loo, 100000 Americans WIN have To iesSr
the four verses. It won't be an eaSv
job" easy