The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-07-24
Copyright 1s42, John Barr)

During the FOurCn or July
 celebration the writer overheard
 on the radio several absurd state
 ments about the importance of
 Tom Paine's contribution to the cause of American Independence.
 To answer such misstatements 1t
 is we'll to be reminded of certain
 undisputed historical facts: For
 ten years before the outbreak of
 the American Revolution at Lex
 ington and Concord in 1775, Bos- ton and Massachusetts were heroically bearing the brunt of King George Thirds hatred of his thirteen American colonies; Against Boston's patriot popula- ton of about 16,0O0 the tyrant king sent a fleet of war ships and 10000 of his crack troops to take possession of brave little Boston, cut off food and all supplies from outside and starve the patriots into submission to the tyrant's will
 With gusto we delight in re- membering the story of the king being so infuriated by Messrs Samuel Adams and John Hancock that he commanded that they be immediately caught and hanged; their offense being that though Sam Adams was very poor and didn't know where his next meal was coming from, there wasn't money enough in the Bank of England to corrupt or buy him, or a big enough army and navy to scare him; But Sam Adams could write inspired words to rouse the Thirteen American Colonies, and though he couldn't deliver speeches, he could write them for John Hancock to deliver, and to- gether they made the fur fly and the king madder and mad der.
 The story never grows stale of how the kings 10000 troops in Boston were unable to catch and hang Messrs Samuel Adams and John Hancock to gratify the wrath of His Majesty George. Third of England.
 Of course every American school boy and girl knows that thrilling story by heart, and how those H. lustrious friends and neighbors of South Boston, Paul Revere and pr Joseph Warren, attended to that matter together with their other tremendous responsibilities = in the Cause of FREEDOM.
 At that time 25 per cent of the 3 million population of the l3 colonies were tories who had to be closely watched and prevented from getting information about patriot plans and activities.
 That was why Paul Revere made so many secret horseback rides to New Haven, New York and Philadelphia.
 Some information was of such that 1t was only re- vealed under oath by whispered word of mouth.
 The patriots of the thirteen col- onies were thoroughly organized and understood each other.
 In every colony there were great patriot leaders, orators and writers. For instance, in New Fork there appeared a pamphlet of such power that only the great Benjamin Franklin was thought capable of having written 1t. But it was discovered that the writer was an IS years old college boy was an IS year old college boy
 Then it was asked if he could speak as well as he wrote. They put him on a Broadway soap box and he electrified the town.
 The tories and traitors here in America were more than offset by the wonderful friends our country found in England and on the continent.
 Never were men nobler than were Edmund Burke, Charles Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the brilliant Irish dramatist, and the fighting Earl of Abingdon, who openly defied the king and the House of Lords in demanding jus- tice for America.
 And where is the name dearer to America than LAFAYETTE, that incomparable FRENCHN6AN9 For the love America bears him and his countrymerf the STATUE OF LIBERTY in New York har- Dor must now be invested with a new and sacred meaning that shall not rest till FRANCE IS AGAIN FREE.