Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 254, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 November 1917 — Every Man’s Duty Is to Back Government When It Has Acted [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Every Man’s Duty Is to Back Government When It Has Acted

By William J. Bryan,

Former Secretary of State

The right of free speech is still in existence, but the question before us now is not whether the right to ffiritiriiw the -government still exists but whether it is the duty of the citizen to exercise that right. In the case of a riot in the street the mayor has the right to forbid the citizens the use of the streets. In other words, the right of the community is placed above the right of the individual. The government has acted. Our Constitution ( gives congress alone the right to declare war, and congress,. as the only body in the land which can speak

for the people of the United States, declared war by an overwhelming vote. Before we entered, the war was a matter of opinion. Now a person who puts his opinion above this act, which has become law, makes the matter an act of anarchy alone. When the government has acted, it is the duty of every citizen to support the government in his every action and to be loyal to it. N o man should chance doing his country an injury simply because he wants to express himself. This war is long enough at its shortest. The quickest way out is straight through, and we can’t allow for one minute that ahy nation should think there is dissension among our people. The more anxious we are for peace the more loyally we should support the government as the quickest way to secure peace.