Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 160, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 July 1920 — SUNDAY DAY FOR AMERICANS [ARTICLE]

SUNDAY DAY FOR AMERICANS

RETURN OF NATION’S NATAL DAY TIME FOR THOUGHT BY AMERICANS. There are a number of days in the calendar that stand out prominently in the thought and action of the people of a our great nation. On Labor Day we stress the dignity of labor and strive to drive home the idea, not many centuries old and not sensed by some even "in the twentieth century, that it is an honor to work at any honest occupation. After this comes Thankgsgiving time when men following the example of the devout Puritan father of colonial times pause to thank the Giver of All Good for his bounty to the children of men. Then comes the Yuletide when the spirit of giving is freest, and when even the Croogs of the land forget their tight fistedness and join in the spreading of good cheer to all. After the dark and drear days of winter when the earth is brown and sear, comes the glad Easter time with its thoughts of the resurrection and renewed life, symbolized by swelling buds, singing birds, and humming bees. Memorial day comes soon after to remind us of the cost of the blessings we enjoy, in tears, in blood, in sacrifice and unselfshness. In and through all of these occasions runs a thought of faithfulness that our lot is cast in a great and free country where the individual can enjoy these special occasions as well as pursue the even tenor of his way day by day without fear of loss of liberty or an usurpation of his unalienable rights, but it is on the anniversary of .the birth of our nation that a day is given over solely to an expression of thankfulness for our land and its blessings, to a few hours of patriotic celebration, to a flow of oratory intended to inculcate a love for country and for flag, and to thoughtful consideration on the part of many how to insure the blessings of the liberty which we enjoy to posterity. It is*a law of nature well known that the mere having of a thing does not insure its keeping. Let a man hang his arm by his side for a year and what would it be worth? It is no less true' of the things of the spirit, patriotism for country included. Wise old Benjamin Franklin said to the members of the Continental Congress after they had signed the Declaration of Independence, the making of which was the initiation of this republic, “Well, gentlemen, we must all hang together or we’ll hang separately.” It is no less true today than then. Happy will this nation be when the great body politic comes to realize fully this truth. When what is best for the country shall have first consideration rather than what is best for self or party. Away with the hyphenates of the land. What we want is not German-Americans, nor Irish-Am ericans, nor FrenchAmericans, nor English-Americans, but AMERICANS. Pure, unadulterated, all wool and a yard wide Americans. It behooves every true American who Idves his country and wishes to see it continue to be the land of the free and the home of the brave” to take serious thought on this one hundred forty-fourth anniversray of the hurling defiance at a tyrant king and his henchmen (they were not the common people of England) as to how the weeds of anarchy, disorder, bolshevism, and all harmful isms shall be rooted out and the tree of true liberty be allowed to continue in vigorous growth; how disregard for the laws of both God and man shall be checked and a wholesome regard for law and righteousness fostered; and how the ideals of the demagogue shall be sidetracked and the ideals of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and other great leaders shall remain as the guiding stars of our people.