OCR Text |
Show DR. VANCE'S DAILY ARTICLE o What Is your national accent? I am rot speaking io much of what Is on your tongue, as what Is In your mind ana heart, when you say "America." What are our feelings as we think' tit our national life today? Can we say "America:" as the first settlers said It? They were fleeing from oppression. They werc seeking a land where they could worship God tend be unafraid. We are preparing U .Mayflow er celebration to mark the I 300th anniversary of the coming of! that little bund who hailed the winds! which greeted th m is they landed on i bleak New England coast as winds from the heights of God. Can we say It as millions of Die, poor of earth have said It during thei la.-t hundred years'' They were hunt- Ing a place where they might work, and live. Here- they round freedom1 nnd opportunity They have learned to love the flag. They call America their mother, and many of them have been 1' iicjy te die for nor. Or must we say it. as some of these people are saying It today? Th fire Iui9 died on tho hearthstone of their patriotism. The light has faded from their faces. There la no caress In their, lolces as they 9pcnk of America They ir going i. way with bitterness. Their' love has turned t hate They curse ( America as the cable hoists and they. all a way-Shall way-Shall we say It as bigoted and un-' traveled provincialism used lo say It, j i.hen America dwelt In the backwoods mistaking bluster for power and bigness big-ness for greatness? We are not the only nation. Wo have virtues, but there are things to be learned from older nation. Surely. America has Used enough of a world life tn be saved from the folly of overbearing egotism How shall wo say "America '? Shall wo say it as the allies said it whan our first soldiers landed overseas to lino up in the world war? What a welcome they gave us' We were on an unselfish crusade, and as the khakl-clad khakl-clad lads went swinging through the streets of London and Paris, tho crowds that packed the pavements cheered and cried. "The Americans' 'I h. Americans!' Their hearts were, on their lips as they cheered. "America" "Amer-ica" w:ia musical then, it wan the song of men who were to keep liberty alive on the earth. Would that wo could always say: "America"' with the accent of those great days! Must we say it as, they tell US some of those who cheered ua are ralnc It today? Two years ago there wis no, name more highly honored In France than that of America. But the luster has been dulled Thcv say we have repudiated our lofty sentiments, .riil h ft Europe In the lurch. They Say we are so absorbed In politics, so occupied oc-cupied With making money th;U we i have forgotten There is scorn ou the lips that once cheered us. We are making history. We must' not wrlto chapters which -will shame' those who come after us. They will be saying: "America," for centuries to come, maybe forever. They must ge'. rrom us all that we can furnish that Will enable Americans in the years to come to speak of their country with he-ads up. I |