Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1902 — ONE AND INSEPARABLE [ARTICLE]

ONE AND INSEPARABLE

These Are the Flag and the Constitution, Says Editor George Farrar. The paper read by George Farrar, editor of the Greenfield Tribune, was the subject of close attention. In part Mr. Farrar said: About 120 years ago in an old Quaker home there were seated in quaint chairs, about a quaint table, several quaint but busy women. They were Intent on their work. At the Instigation of injured rights they were doing the biddings of destiny. They were plying the needle and thread. They were sewing the stars in a sky of blue and tacking the stripes in a field of white. They were making America’s flag. In a convention hall, in a now great city, in the year 1789, the representatives of a sovereign people, fresh from the battle’s field, bearing the wounds and the scars, convening by lief of redressed wrongs, voted the adoption of America’s constitution. The flag and the constitution! They are the outgrowth of centuries, the master-productions of world-wide statesmen-craft. Interwoven m their purposes, interlaced in their promises they are counterpart—each to the other, and like loyal hearts united in the bonds of holy matrimony, they are one, inseparable, now, forever! Arm in arm they have marched against the obstacles that beset the new republic. Arm in arm they have achieved the victories of the Nineteenth century. Arm in arm they must conquer the future. For four years the destiny of free government has hung in a balance. The party in power lays violent hands on the silver cord of universal freedom and threatens the flag to an ignominious fate. This must not be. The flag is a promise; the constitution is its fulfillment. The flag is a pledge; the constitution Is its guarantee. Separate them and the promise is an illusion, the pledge is a sham, the guarantee is a cheat. Separate them and you stifle progress, turn your back upon the future and serve notice to mankind that selfgovernment Is a failure. Separate them, and the proud stars that bedeek the sky of blue will cease to illuminate the thirteen stripes, and the “Old Eagle,” which has soared —so high and so far —will return to a broken household, ashamed and abashed: Separate them! Not while my party lives! Our flag was wafted to Cuban soil In response to the Macedonian cry. That occasion was the event of the grandest specta' ’ that the world has ever known. Seventy-five million of freemen deliberately forming themselves into a mighty army for the uplift of a common humanity! A glorious example! The tyrant-ridden, blood-stained thrones of Europe looked on In amazement. Could It be possible that the American people so. loved their institutions that they were willing to die that others might enjoy like advantages? Yes, sir, such was the case. But the party In power proved recreant to the trust. You know the history. Instead of uphold ing the American principles they brought the flag to shame. Instead of carrying out the nation’s purpose, they sold the flag for gold. And today ft floats with drooping folds alongside the Union Jack, the Russian bear, and the bloody ensign of Spain. Shame to the party that has so debauched the flag! Urged on by greed an hundred thousand lives have been sacrificed in the Orient! But still the death goes on! In the name of philanthropy the blood of our sons has become as free as water! But still the death goes on! In the name of commerce our treasure Is flowing at the rate of ten thousand an hour. But still the death goes on. The war Is over, the imperialists say. But still the death goes on! The flag is yonder—the constitution-is here. Anil still the death goes on! Republican voters shrink but their leaders command. And still the death goes on! My countrymen, shall U never cease? Shall not the old flambe rescued, brought hack to its home, washed of Its stains and reunited to its cen-tury-old partner, the American Constitution? • • • • Why not treat the Filipinos with the civility of men? Why not offer to them the right hand of fellowship?. Why not add glory to glory and grant to them their hearts' desire? Do not leave them alone without affording help and protection No! That would be a crime to humanity! But to shoot them down like dogs and lay their dead bodies, their broken-hearted wives, their starved orphans at the feet of Republican "philanthropy”—Sirs, in the sight of God and men that Is a far greater crime! Never before did civilization ask so much of the American people. The awuful responsibility of leadership rests upon us. All eyes are looking this way. Shall we advance or shall we fall Into the old rut? Among the guests of the Editorial association was ex-Governor W. J. Stone of Missouri, who addressed the assembled editors upon national 18enes.