Evening star., 1952-10-15
Get Out the Vote

n V0kS november 4 can 90 muC0
more than choose between candi-
dates. according to civic, educa-
tional, religious, and political
leaders in nearby Maryland and
Virginia who urge a huge turn
out at the polls.
Statements by those citizens
stress the power. duty. opportu-
nifty. value and basic meaning of
the voting privilege.
President H. C. Byrd OF the
University summed it up today in
a sort of syllogism:
I'm a democracy the power OF
determining the acts of govern
ment rests in the hands of the
people. The only way that this
power can be exercised is through
the ballot box. Therefore. if citi-
zens in a democracy have a re-
sponsibility for their government,
it is their obligation to exercise
that by voting"
Part Of Double Obligation.
The voting responsibility, as
part of a double obligation which
Ia citizen owes to his country and
to God. was explained by the Rev.
George Hileman Yount of the
First Presbyterian Church. Arling-
ton, president of the Arlington
Ministerial Association.
"As the church is of divine ordi-
nance, so also is the State" he
said. "That is not to say that
they should be one and the same,
but rather they should co-exist
and be subject ultimately to the
same divine principles. The will
'of God demands that the society
of men should learn to live to-
|gether peaceably and with BROTH
Ierly love Therefore good citizens
must strive to make the State
obedient to the requisites of divine
law and do all things decently and
orderly.
"It should be stated emphati-
cally that Christian citizens, and
for that matter all good citizens,
should vote for leaders and Off
cials who will, to the highest de-
gree, be true to all the RESPONSE
bilities of public Office. When we
do not exercise our right to vote,
not only are we being poor citi-
zens disloyal to both God and So
ciety but we are encouraging men
of lower standards to fill posi-
tions that demand more than they
can give and whose public service
does not contribute to the higher
interests of the State"
Shows Love for Country.
The Rev. Henry r. Osgood OF
the First Baptist Church of Hy-
attsviile described voting as a
chance to make known by def
mite action love for my country
and interest in her well-being."
The Rev. Edgar w. Beckett,
minister at the First Methodist
Church. Hyattsville, declared:
ITO vote is an innate moral
imperative pressing on each of
us. We must do it. The only hope
for a free and rebuilt world lies
in intelligent and enlightened
citizens going to the polls"
Several public officials and can
didates for Office in nearby COM
munities maintained that the
voting privilege Of the individual
citizen is bigger than the fate of
any particular candidate.
No Time to Stand Aloof.
This is no time for any person
who can qualify as a voter to
stand aloof in the mistaken no.
ton that politics is only for poll
ticians, meaning somebody else."
said Mrs. Stella B. Werner. Dem
ocratic candidate for Congress
from the 9Th Maryland District.
Political parties are essential
cogs in the machinery with which
we run our representative form
of government. That means that
politics is government. Certainly
government is everybody's job"
Dewitt S. Hyde, Republican
candidate for Congress from the
same district, said:
"The failure of a majority of
citizens to register and vote is an
open invitation to corrupt public
officials. In these days when local,
State and Federal taxes take one
third Of our hard-earned income,
it is unthinkable that we should
fail to use our vote to direct our
government to use that money
wisely"
Way to Guard Freedom.
Failure to exercise the right to
vote lis to fail to do our part
in maintaining the liberties which
we now enjoy" Richard e. Lank-