Show w WASHINGTON As A S THE anniversaries of our great patriots A are observed the temptation is strong to Try try to transplant transplant them and their characters to our own times and to ask how they would handle handie han lIa- die dle the complex problems of today On this tIns the two hundred and second birthday of of George Washington general of or the colm colonial l armies armes and first president of the republic it may nay be interesting and diverting to do this but hut more profitable to compare the citizenry of his day with ourselves America Ameri a in the time of Washington was as different from our America as was the loosely lout knit uit fraternity of the thirteen colonies from the world of the Caesars V We cannot therefore therefore therefore there there- fore get very far with tr trying ing to figure out ont how bow he lie would have felt about railroad mergers crop reduction plans sto stock k exchange e r regulation regula regula- gula- gula tion lion Tennessee valley projects codified industry industry indus indus- try liquor liquor control and the host of other major problems of the he day daj They rhey are wholly without tho the range of his Ilis experience There were even no theories regarding such sueh matters circulated in n books magazines and nd newspapers for the rumination of his contemporaries W n s greatness s consisted largely largel Sn m n the fact that h he was able abl to discover organize organize or or- and command the courage loyalty and amI endurance of the colonists Had it not been for this independence might not have ha been won and Washington might have lave been taken to to London in irons to have hav been hanged on Tower hi hill Any Auy national leader can be great only to the extent that th the people lie he lea leads s give him hini th their r support Ax Arwe We today possessed of the courage loyalty loyally and endurance that were characteristic char char- of the men and women of f the disorganized dis organized and bewildered bewilder d colonies in 1776 and andon on through the days of tribulation from Lexington Lexington Lexington Lex Lex- ington to Yorktown 1 In Washington's lay day life was a a. very ery simpie simple simple sim sim- pie matter Except that the colonists desired to erect a new structure of government for thoen tho the en enjoyment of life and liberty political economic economic eco ceo and nd religious it i is difficult to trace very ve y definitely anything that might be called national aspirations such as we l know them to to- to day As a a. people we wc are divided by partisan ship hip We are divided in a highly competitive society in which each of us seeks personal gain We V e are intensely bu busy y seeking pleasure and diversion We Y c are not a united people in any sense sens of the word Only in time of war are we shO shoulder der to shoulder in a common cause Inthis In Inthis this his we we are not unlike other peoples in other nations It is s quite useless to ponder londer overlong then boUt what Washington would do were he be to return to lead America Ameri a again We Ve say we are areat at peace with all the world It is not difficult to o r alze alize that the problems of peacetime are arc more grave graye and more baffling than are arc those we e confront in time of national nation l danger Surely we ve h have ve men possessed of character as noble as is was They y are men of greater power and vision ision because their experience and knowledge wedge are greater Then the important thing must be bo that Americans are different tod today y from front those who created this na na- ila- ila tion As we ve call for or great leaders in this era o of ot p perplexities we should be mindful that great followers are likewise needed As S a peole people people peo peo- le we should hould not expect to be saved vicariously vicariously vicari vicari- by the man DIan we choose to honor by bJ placing ing him in the White House Washington did didot not ot win alone The hc unity of his people was the instrument strument of his bis genius t On tl this day we pay homage to the great American merican His fame lame and glory are arc deathless With his ragged soldiers and the faith ant and ste steadfastness of his Ids countrymen he lie gained the freedom dom which has been handed banded down to us as a 8 legacy If we weare ar are worthy o of our heritage we e shall honor him and ourselves best by serving ing our country in In peace as devotedly as he Ie and nd they did in war |