Show I I Flag Day i 4 i 1 By DR FRANK CRANE Once a year we arc aro called on to pay ay particular reverence to the national flag nag The flag is the one totem which still holds sway with intelligent men I We know that it is a symbol a mere sign but it is i a 11 symbol of something which is of the utmost importance importance tance to all of us It is a s symbol of our national life of our social group It does not necessarily mean that we are opposed d to any other group or that we hurl d defiance at anybody Some people Va al always alVas s interpret their flag It smells of gunpowder All AU the of or ancient seem seeni to linger lingerIn in Its folds To 10 them it it- means hatred of England suspicion of European nations and detestation of Mexicans It was probably a man of this kind in Texas who advertised himself as a per cent American He lie was asked what he meant by being per cent Oh he replied I hate everybody body With too many men patriotism Is a kind of exha ex- ex ha halted ted Chauvinism or bellicosity When Golden Rule Jones was made Mayor 1 of Toledo he lie had the tue policemen put away their clubs and pistols and and- wear weal white gloves It was to sym the fact that policemen existed not to hurt people primarily nor to arrest them but to help hell them The rho plan worked So our OUI country does not maintain its integrity and cherish its ideals in order that it may be able to defeat or make matte war upon other countries primarily but to conserve its own strength and develop Its own powers powel's so that It may be a help to the world We want to stand to the rest of the nations as a big brother and not as a possible opponent War has practically demonstrated its uselessness It has been found round to be about as costly and wasteful to the the- conqueror as as- asto to the conquered But while weare weare we weare are confirmed internationalists and sincerely believe that above all nations is humanity we ue should not be what Dr Dutler calls colloid internationalists In other wor words s the coming coining world structure of universal brotherhood ro will not be he formed like a wall of of- cement or like a glutinous mass maRS or like a brick wall built up of several severa bricks briels The bricks are the tue I nations and the strength of of the whole wall or the world edifice will depend upon the efficiency of the Individual Our devotion to our country therefore docs does not necessarily mean antagonism to any other country but Is a sincere appreciation of our ideals and a desire to use them for the tho benefit of mankind Copyright 1928 McClure Newspaper Syndicate |