Askov American., 1941-10-16

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blight of military and economic tyran-
nies of Europe.
The Scandinavian people, perhaps
better than any other group, have
clear conception of constitutional gov
ernment. They should have, because
trial by jury and freedom of speech,
were Graded in their countries. In
Iceland they have had parliamentary
government continuously for more
than a thousand years and this was
carried to Iceland from the Scandi-
navian peninsula. Many times the
Scandinavians were the victims of
imperialistic wars, but their passion
for liberty, freedom and self govern
ment prevailed.
When they came to this country
and became American citizens they
swore allegiance to the constitution
of the United States. Those people
who gladly took up citizenship in this
country took the same oath that our
President, our governor, and every
public official takes and that is to up
hold the constitution.
They take this oath seriously. To
them it is sacred pledge. They and
their forefathers know how people
suffered and how they lost their liber-
ties when they departed from consti-
tutional government. For centuries
they placed their trust in government
by law. They have learned to fear
government by men because they
have experienced its tyranny.
Our system of government is not
understood by all. There are men
who claim we owe loyalty to our
public servants rather than loyalty
to the people and their constitution.
Our public officials from president
down are the servants and not the
masters of sovereign people. Under
our constitution only the Congress of
the United States has the power to
declare war. When this decision, as
expressed by the Congress, becomes
our national policy then our citizens
rise to support their decision.
The people of Scandinavian an
cestry with their long background of
constitutional government have
natural fear for the safety of this
country when they see it edged into
war by policy of evasion, deceit
and subterfuge. They are loyal to
the constitution and they question
anyone who attempts to usurp their
power because they know from ex-
perience that such men, in effect, if
not by intent, are robbing the people
of their constitutional rights. Our
Scandinavian people insist that our
public officials shall have respect for
their oath of office and regard it as
sacredly as they do their oath of al
legiance to the government, and its
constitution. The cry to support the
leader no matter where he leads and
no matter what he does, they know
is the same process which lost liberty
for the people in Germany, Russia,
Italy and other dictator countries.
Another reason that our Scandi-
navian people in America are un-
moved by war hysteria and war prop
aganda is that they are realists.
Emotionally they all revolt against
Hitler's invasion of the Scandinavian
countries. They would like to see
tyranny overcome everywhere. With
deep sympathy for the people of their
old homelands, they nevertheless
realize that their first duty is to the
United States and not to Norway,
Sweden, Denmark or Iceland. They
know that war disrupts the economy
of nation and brings on dictatorship.
They know how war impoverishes
and destroys the standards of living
of the people.
Our Scandinavian people are will
ling to give their wealth and their
lives for the defense of this country,
but they are not anxious to sacrifice
their lives and their wealth in the
intrigue and deceptions of European
war, pursuing false hopes and inter-
national illusions. They can not fol-
low the confused reasoning of those
who claim we can defeat Hitler 5000
miles away, but can not defeat him
if he tries to invade us over here.
Our Scandinavian people have re-
sponded to every call. They suffered
with Washington at Valley Forge,
they fought with Meade at Gettys-
burg, and died under Grant in the
Wilderness. They responded loyalty
in the Spanish-American and World
wars. But they realize that we
achieve national unity only when
we move within the constitution and
we face decisions frankly, openly
and honestly.
They love this nation and they
want to see it protected and saved.
They believe the surest way to save
it is to remain at peace and to i'm
prove our political and economic
democracy while we build our de-
fenses so strong that no dictator will
dare to attack us. They do not be-
lieve we will promote the cause of
democracy by wasting our strength