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Show Our National Songs. The controversy over and criticism of the air to which we sing Smith's "America" has led a correspondent in a New York newspaper to point out the fact that, while it does not rival in musical mu-sical merit such songs as the "Marsel-laise "Marsel-laise " or the " Wacht am Phcin," it was stirring enough to cause Beethoven to incorporate it into an overture and Haydn to compose "Got erhalte Franz der Kaiser" as a rival to it. He also goes on to say that it was for a time the national anthem of Denmark, Prussia, Prus-sia, Saxony, Norway, Russia and Switzerland, Switz-erland, and that thee is nothing more inappropriate in our using it for that purpose than in our using the English Eng-lish language. When Dr. Smith wrote the rather banal words we now sine he did not, in fact, have the air of "God Save the Knur. " but that of the Prussian song. "Heil dor im Sicfcrkranz, ' ' in mind. This country has been unfortunate in not having a national fcvmn of its own. Even "The Star-Span;;!ed Banner" is adapted to an arrangement, too difficult diffi-cult for the ordinary voice, of an old students' drinking sou. Key's verses were written for an occasion find do not at all fit the use of a national anthem. " Columbia ' ' is merely the paraphrase of an English soncr, and the words of Ifopkinson's "Hail, Columbia" are too archaic for tho present day. The start which "America" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" ha has probably discouraged writers of a later day from producing a song for us to sinir when in a state of patriotic exaltation. exal-tation. There have been attempts made to establish a competition for this purpose, pur-pose, but thev have all come to naught, so it seems likelv that we shall continue to fumble for the words and ship the high notes as we havo always done. Chicago Tribune. |