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Show GUYM0NS SHEET METAL featuring Continous Rain Gutter Color-weld aluminum gives beauty. Won't stain or dis-color. No more leaking joints or painting. Call GUYM0NS SHEET METAL for free estimates 500 W. 400 N. Cedar City, Utah 586-9509 (Just turn north at North Elementary) The Birch Log f The Crown of St. Stephen by John F. McManus Belmont, Massachusetts Any American official visiting Hungary Hun-gary these days can certainly expect ex-pect to hear demands for the Holy Crown of St. Stephen. The thousand-year-old symbol of Hungarian authority and independence inde-pendence is sitting in a vault in Fort Knox, Kentucky. Communist Commu-nist officials in Budapest, who fully appreciate the Crown's historic and symbolic significance, signifi-cance, want it for themselves. The Crown's History Pope Sylvester II gave the Crown to St. Stephen, Hungary's Hun-gary's first King, in the year 1000. The gift acknowledged the King's role in leading the once-barbarous once-barbarous Hungarians to acceptance ac-ceptance of Christianity and civilized civ-ilized order. Ever since, no ruler of Hungary has been considered legitimate until he has been crowned with the Holy Crown. More than once in its thousand-year history, the Crown has been sent out of Hungary for safekeeping. With the arrival of Soviet occupation troops at the close of World War II, Hungarian Hungar-ian officials gave the Crown to a U.S. Army unit under General George S. Pat ton. It ended up in the vault at Fort Knox. Now, as before, the inability of an illegitimate il-legitimate ruler to get his hands on the Holy Crown provides a hope of freedom for the oft-betrayed oft-betrayed people of Hungary. Hungarian History Last December, then Secretary Secre-tary of Commerce Elliot Richardson Rich-ardson visited Budapest, where he was told in no uncertain terms that American retention of the Crown was "an unacceptable situation." Members of Congress Con-gress who have also toured Hungary Hun-gary in recent months have been informed that the question of the Crown "is preventing an improvement im-provement of relations" between be-tween Hungary and the United States. With the inauguration of the more liberal Carter Administration, Adminis-tration, Hungarian officials openly express hope that the symbol of Hungarian authority will be returned to Budapest. In 1956, Hungarian patriots staged the famous revolt that temporarily freed their land from Red rule. But help that had been expected from America Amer-ica never materialized. Instead, the U.S. State Department sent the following message (November (Novem-ber 2, 1956) to Yugoslavia's Tito: "The government of the United States does not look with favor upon governments unfriendly to the Soviet Union on the borders of the Soviet Union." Khrushchev Khrush-chev was thereby assured that we would not intervene, and his tanks rolled into Budapest. The tragic outcome is now history. The American people were unaware of the role played by our government during the Hungarian Hun-garian Revolt. And they have been kept in the dark about numerous nu-merous other betrayals. But an increasing number have begun to wonder why our leaders continue to make concessions to the Communists. Com-munists. Communist leaders are tyrants pure and simple, and basic ba-sic morality insists that we should not aid their designs anywhere. any-where. It clearly follows that the Holy Crown of St. Stephen should never be given to the Reds in Budapest. Another Link w ith Hungary There is yet another reason why our nation should never betray be-tray the Crown. King St. Stephen, for whom it is named, had a son named Emeric, who himself was later declared a saint by the Catholic Church. Centuries after he lived, an Italian family chose St. Emeric as the patron for their newborn son, who was given the Italian form of the saint's name, Amerigo. And it was for this Amerigo Vespucci that the entire en-tire Western Hemisphere was later named. Thus we, who are known everywhere as Americans, Ameri-cans, derive our name ultimately ulti-mately from the son of King St. Stephen of Hungary. St. Emeric and St. Stephen both hated tyranny. All Americans Amer-icans should do likewise. We should never return the Holy Crown until Hungary is free. i 1977 The John Birch Witf Features FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING THE BIRCH LOG, CALL: BILL REAGAN 586.6226 i I i |