Milford chronicle., 1930-05-09
SHOULD We HAVE A VOTE FOR
OUR NATIONAL EMBLEMS?

/ have read with interest yOul
editorial and news articles publish
ed anent the collective vote for the
wild rose for our national emblem.
It. like the national anthem, seems
to totter on its throne; such is di-
versifed taste, not looking to the
initial qualifications of the object
submitted for the position.
The Star Spangled Banner" long
has been acknowledged to hold pre-
cedence above others, yet never mas
been adopted officially. Why are we
so slow? Let this be put to a vote
and test, and if america the Beau
tiful" (and it is beautifully written
we admit or MY Country 'Tls OF
Thee" gets the majority, accept 1t
and be loyal to 1t. My preference
is for the original ode that glorities
our flag; having some year, ago
through the enthusiasm of patriot
ism. stood near Fort McHenry, Bal
timore harbor, where the ode was
born under great stress and need'
and later reVerently by the authors
grave at Frederick, Md. Here, too
lies the body of Barbara Fritchie,
whom John G. Whittier has immor-
talized in poetry. Not even Angela
Morgans poem is admissible for this
consideration.
Let us keep to our high ideals, the
good, the true, the beautiful, even
if old, they do not lose their values.
Spirit is the highest motto. God
made ancient truths sublime"
The children of today do not re-
we're their grandsires' swords.
Chance and change are busy ever,
but let us not change our initial ode.
1t should be the nations choice by
inception and conception. 1t is sig
nally and dedicatorially the song OF
our flag and nation. Frances Will
lard's inspiratiOnal verses regarding
il come to me, with its red for love
and its white for law, and its blue
for hopes our fathers saw in a lar
ger liberty"
Our flag is always spectacular,
never quiescent. 1t is potentially
alive, and of such human quality
and so prescient with life and all
humanitarian issues it seems spirit
ual in its virtues.
From the North to the South
From the East to the West
For the good of man, whate'er IS
best,
It floats DER the land we love;
Of invincible might
For truth and the right,
1t reflects the Spirit above.
The enthusiasm of patriotism
what a sensation! Evidenced first
standing by my dear mothers side
in the Betsy Ross house, what a
thrill enyisioning the making Of our
flag; felt again where Patrick Hen
rv uttered the time resOunding
words-"Give me liberty or give me
DEATH" Born on the seventeenth OF
,.1e, the anniversary of John Wes-
ley's birth, the Battle of Bunker Hill
and the Peace Jubilee, l have right
to thrills. No, l will never cross the
ocean to be held upside down near
lv to kiss the Blarney Stone or to
bend to kiss the POpe's big toe, Dut
7 have knelt and kissed the Ply
mouth Rock on which our fore
fathers landed, and l would have a
national ode and march too, ana
would let it be John Phillip Sousas
1.-THE Stars and Stripes Forever.
OF emblems or ensigns, what a
plentitude is ours! A flag, an eagle,
Uncle Sam, a song and now a flower
To embody our sentiments.
An omniferous reader, sixteen
wears ago when living here when a
plea for a national flower was agl-
tated to demonstrate our taste OF
our democracy Q had better say
poeticaI preference), l strongly al
vocated and wrote for the MayhoweT
or Trailing Arbustus for this ele-
waited position, but since having
thought much upon the subject ana
seen very little of its exploitation
and knowing the restricted area OF
habitat of the Mayfower knew it tC
he too ephemeral, and so conceded
if TO Massachusetts its individual
right. After that long and cruel WIN.
ter how they must have welcomed
that darling of spring. l no Longer
imagine our fierce eagle hoverlns
above a mat of it's frail roseate bios
SONS. -,
No. our emblem must reflect a
once a cosmic or continental taste
strength and perpetuity, and the love
and admiration of a nation. Every
one must know and love the ob5ec
that shall represent the virtues OF
nation.
In other nations eXigient circum
stances have caused the adoption o
a floral heraldic escutcheon. Blue
bells or heather might have beer
Bonny Scotlands traditional flower
but for bit of history. The thistle
saved Scotland. Through the inva
sion of the enemy, one of them step
ping upon thorn cried out pro
test of pain, and alarmed those Oh
defense. Both truth and poetry oe
clare the issues of Scotias ilora
sign. How conclusively approprl
ate!
York white and Lancaster rec
roses back and dated the historical
preference of England. The prim
rose too is associated with the mor'
recent monarchy of Great Britain
1t must have been previous to thu
marriage of Queen Victoria Guelph
to Albert Victim, for l have a larg'
picture of her when child (and
beautiful one too1, sitting on a foo
with her playthings, a broad plai'
sash across her waist and shoulders
and nearby is an urn with a -four
ishing primrose in 1t.
France has the Fleur de Lys o