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Show I: JUDGE (GEE'S TALK BEFORE AMERICA If IB li ItB HI PROVES j;i TO BE SOMEWHAT OF A PROPHESY H ill 0n February 2, 1917, an American jig if I flag: was presented to the court house li'li ,-v Women's Relief corps of tho ju i city and in a speech of acceptance, Iff! 'i Judge Agee gave the following which fjj j ! has since proved to be somewhat of a ffl.j prophesy: ' rt is'a real pleasure for me at this H J time, on behalf of both departments IH i of this court, to accept from you, the B ' representatives of thee Woman's Re- UH 1 lief Corps, this beautiful flag. And it is particularly fitting that it should H come from your organization, an anx- tt iliary of that other and even greater 8 I organization, the Grand Army of tho fflj Republic, whose ranks are constantly HI I and rapidly diminishing. B 1 These organizations represent a lof- B ty patriotism born In the struggles of uj the early colonist, and in their quests fill1 an(I tnGir Dattlcs for clvil an(l rclio- MM ious liberty, a patriotism christened 1: at Bunker Hill and at Concord, at Sar- Mlji atoga, Yorktown, Trenton and Brandy - SI ' wine, and re-baptised In the blood of Wai hundreds of thousands of the bravest Bg and best sons of America, at Stone Rf River and Shiloh, at Winchester and KflL Chancellorville; at Antitetam and Get- Jfll tysburg, and in the Wilderness. A If patriotism which under the leadership am of the Great Emancipator, Abraham HM Lincoln, freed four millions of salves, WL ': and made this land of ours a nation jlS- and a land of liberty in fact as well Jlji, as in name. Ml ' Only those who participated cither directly or indirectly in that 'great 1 struggle can fully appreciate the tro-fim tro-fim mendous cost in treasure and in liw blood, of this flag and of tho great fl republic it symbolizes. And now we are face to face with I W i tho most serious crisis that has arisen I 11 in this country since the close of tho I m great civil war. All the other really lH great nations of the world are engaged ' sfi : in the, most gigantic struggle, in a jf 1 war tlie most devastating known toi J ffi history; a war in which the rights of) j$H peacemul neutral nations have been! I iff ruthlessly disregarded, and the lives of! :18 their citizens wantonly sacrified. And! ljfi at this moment, we, as a nation, are HE standing at the very brink of this ;w maelstrom of war. It is, therefore, a jw J time for sober reflection and high pa- j J Bt ! triotic resolve. It demands the besti fjl thought of a great free people, f ffl ; Many persons who heretofore came! m ! from the various warring nations are j jfiftj now seeking the privileges of Amerl-jju Amerl-jju can citizenship and it is, therefore, pe-1 mm culiarly appropriate that when they! yjlR shall have before them the flag to' IB which they must swear undivided al-i al-i jUS legiance. They must understand that ,.(Jw in taking the oath in which they relit re-lit nounce all allegiance to every other ill power, prince or potentate, they must r iffll .sever every political tie that has bound i llf them to the "land of their birth, and ! IB lnat henceforth they must render un-I un-I In divided loyal support to this country, f K its institutions and its flag, even j J1J though in so doing they may be called ' lull upon to lake up arms against their fa-( fa-( jm therland. i JjJ J We hope for peace, we pray for ! peace, we plead for peace, but if 'war Jjl f shall be forced upon us, if we must tjjpljj' fight to maintain the honor of this' Mill country arid the rights of Its citizens! Ifii against those who would trample those Uil rights under foot, as the brave men Amu oI Grand Army of the Republic, (jjjil from 1S61 to 18G5, demonstrated upon ! jf W hundreds of battlefields red with car- ! HI nage, that no power in this country 'm could drive our flag from any portion of so'1 of 1,10 rcPubllc' so now, liif lneir sons and lncir children's sons, will, if need be, demonstrate to. the world that no power on earth can drive the Stars and Stripes from any portion of the high seas. Out of this dreadful European conflict con-flict let us hopo that some good will come, and that scepter of militarism may fall from imperial hands, and that on the ruins of some of the Monnr-chics Monnr-chics of the Old World will rise republics re-publics like our own. to give freedom and blessing to those so long under autocratic rule. I most heartily thank you for this flag and I am sure my associate, Judge Pratt, will Join me in accopting II, and In expressions of appreciation of the patriotic impulses which have prompted prompt-ed its presentation. oo |