The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1940-04-04

TO: John q. Public EardNl' Montana
FROM: A. Businessman April A. 1910
RE: The Pursuit of Happiness
The pursuit of happiness" is n lei fine phrase coined by
chance o caprice by the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Nor is it a literary nugget dropped at random by them into the glow.
establishment.
The pursuit of happiness" came from the heart Perhaps more
than any other single phrase n that undying instrument. the "nur-
suit of happiness" represented most truly the deepest urge and ud-
mate desire of those leaders charged with responsibility for fusins
o Sm nression - noe ~ an ain which provided h fa,best
point of departure from Old World theory and practices and all pre-
vious systems and PHILOSOPHERS of government
The idea of a pursuit of happiness a a unahenable right which
lower pM' ia a ooS % pe =" o .s e p ortst t rs Amaricsn thomsnt + set s f foub
in the Declaration. Rebellion and reaction against abuses were in
1916 natural political movements long established by history. The
quest for independence and mans conviction that he had a right
to Life" and Liberty" were equally tested and recognized political
detectives. The signers themselves for the most part stemmed directly
y from who had fought for those principles in other lands and
who in large measure had com to these shores for relief.
But mans right to a pursuit of happiness something new,
fresh, sweeping, deep, unshackled, vast-inspired by the free air of
a nw land. born of a desire for human dignity. and Graded in the
full faith of m e who needed faith if they were to survive.
The pursuit # happiness remains today as a typicany American
right granted to Americans a a political and a social privilege and
by Americans to their fellows a S a n ct of brotherhood and under
standing. What has made that phrase a living thing has not been
the lip service and the legend that has surrounded it; rather it has
been the manner in which the thought behind it has been woven in"
extricably into the fabric of u everyday existence. After 1874 years
the pursuit of happiness a a political right is more alive than it
it works We know that it has given u IS inspiration and incentive for
progress. tolerance and spiritual plenty. We know that we would not
be without it.
In their pursuit-and note the dynamic quality of the word-of
happiness, Americans have found the system of government. of bust
play of their talents and the unendng opportunities OF their
ambitions, historically, additionally and nationally. Americans thrive
in such an atmosphere and progress and profit under such a system.
Providing the maximum possibility known to for individual de-
velopment and group accomplishment, the tested system of Ameri
can life for the mast century and a half has provided the maximum
incentive for individual initiative.
The principle of free enterprise in American business. operating
as it does under the motivation of rroft and loss. risk and reward.
symboizes a n economic pursuit of happiness that harmonizes with
and to a considerable extent has made possible and effective the ideal
of that broader pursuit under which W live.
In this troubled world of ours happiness is at best a fugitive
and fragmentary thing-infinitey to be desired. ceasaessly sought.
menta Capture Ri the quest fOr it is a glorious yen
and all who undertake that argosy learn that the joys of a worthy
pursuit r often equal to tire pleasures of attainment.
In the American way of life under which countless millions of
men m women down the years have achieved a measure of content
and a degree of personal adventure unapproached elsewhere o this
|earth-the encouragement and inspiration given to individual inra-
tive and the strong incentive given to individual enterrrise yer the
roots whence derives the full Towering of political economical
Those roots go deep.
Sincerely YOURS