OCR Text |
Show II NEED OF STRONG PATRIOTISM IS SUBJECT OF WINNING ORATION IN . WEBER-OGDEN HIGH COMPETITION "The Need of a Strong American I Patriotism" was the title Of the win I nine; oration delivered bj Mi.-s Ruth . Scowcioft of Weber Normal college in the Dr. E ! Rich contest at the j i dpn tabernacle Friday afternoon Mi - SCOWCrofl 18 ' ho daughter of, 3 Mr. and Un Heher Bcowcroft She I is a junior at Weber, i Hei oration follows: "Patriotism is soul devotion 10 on's cause or to his countrs. It Is that I cause tor which men give theil bap I piness, honor and lives. Plato said, Ji 'There is no affinity nrcr than one's ! countrj " American patriotism ? that oualitv which hsfl held this nation to-reiher to-reiher since it was first organized, by I those colonists who declared American I Independence. j "Toda the Pnited States peeds I j strnn? American patriotism. If we look I back through the annals of our his- tory, we shall see that the little ker nel from which this si eat nation has I pning, was patriotism, and due 10 no other motive. That virtue wlrch was breathed into the hearts of the first lovers of this nation, Inspired them to lay the foundation from which haa sprung the foremost power i n the world, this United States. It was that H same virtue which caused Nathan Hale to light for his csuntry; to give to his country the dearest thing he possessed his life and to utter on the scaffold, where he was so far, and yet so near, from those whom he ioved. and where he was surrounded on all sides by hated British. anxICUB-ly anxICUB-ly awaitinc his last words, I only re-cret re-cret that I hae but one life to lose H for my country.' II Not Self Devotion. H Surolv It waa not self-devotion WL which prompted Robert Morris to tramp from house 10 hou e solicitjlnS money, that his Tellow countrymen j could continue their fighl tor 1 berty. Benjamin Franklin, one ol 'ii fore- H most of all American statesman, did H not give his fortunes, nor spend his j lime during the revolution in plend- pm-j lug with Francc--he did not do Lh ; V for his own personal glory. "No, his soul was satiated with a spirit of na I tional devotion, and because of this, he won the affection and suport of France. I Won Independence. "Patriotism won indeedence for these thirteen colonies, now ili were B confronted with another task the 1 making of a constitution which was ; 10 unite them under law. order, liber-H liber-H ty, and the pursuit of happiness. In H a convention in which every .state H was representated a conflict ensued. I The states were jealous of each Oth ; HI the people feared a cemralized gov ernment. similar 10 the one whose aw- H ful clutches they had just escaped,' would be installed, and small stated WL feared the domination of the larcer H ones. Conditions grew worse The H people became more unsatisfied. 9, Eruption and Strife seized these co'o fl nists just freed from the bouds or ah ja solutism. Was this nriion so newly ;i born to be plunged into the pits of ! despair and subjection again? Could, . no one relieve these colonists of the A critical crisis pounding ai th it door? f Ah yes, there were a few men whose devotion to their nation was greater 1 than that to their state. There were H a few men whose souls were still fm- I bibed In the dories of patriotism, j There were a few men such as V ash J ington, Hamilton, Morris and Madi- son, whose American patriotism was M creat enough to drive awaj thr crisis H at the door, and put into effect that constitution from which was derived -t?j this present Uuiied States Was it M not friends and fellow atudentl '! e rJfii loyalty of these devoted men v hi. ii has given us the key to the door of Vy this great United States? Because of H their labor, toil and patriotism, we H now enjoy those three ideals of life, jM liberty and the puisult of happiness. Conditions of Today. j Let us pass 1 10m the firm founda M tion of the past to iho critical condl a tions of today A sre-it war has just iTff. been won; and the social problems B which contronl us are the most serl 'M ous ever known to this nation. In the larger citlea we " much of the for-. for-. eign element. In these people is ,1m breeding, boiling and spreading, a . 'M spirit of anarchism and Insurrection H Dally we hear of violent acts commit ted bj these people and daily their H treacherous plot arc being uncover .'"JS ed Recentlv twenty nine of the most B extreme of these terrorists were H seized at Patterson, N J In their! im, possession were plota by which they H - Intended to thwart our government H and harm thousands of people We cannot afford to let them upread H their spirit of insurrection anions us. H and in order to prevent them dolnc so. we must arm ourselves with a pa-H pa-H iriotism so strong that nothing will H be able to mo e to actg of vio BBBBBBBBBBBS ion... ..i.ainat nm foiinirv I Only One of Dangers. S But Bolshevism is only one of the dansers which conrront our republic W Today we stand face to fa- e with a 1 new 'riddle of the sphynx In the Golden Age or Athens we are told how a certain young Greek by the name of Oedipux in one of his irav-el. irav-el. came across a Sphyux. who sat by the road to Thcher. Keddip.io could H gee that many people had been slam in an attempt to kill the monster, j but no one could harm it. unless he H could guess mysterious riddle I jM which was, 'What rreature walks up H on four feet in the morning, upon . two at noon, and upon three at night ,ij We are told that Oedipus guessed ihc v'9 riddle and overcame the Sphynx when '?-m he said. A man ' "Friends and fellow students, the 'Ja labor situation which confronts us 10 'Ism day is Just such a Sphynx, and Its : riddle is. "How are the inaases of men ' ;I9 .and women who labor with tbelri 'w hands, to secure out of the products! IB of their toil, what they feel to be and what will be. in fact, a fau return" 'jm All modern nations are being stopped 3 an 1 he road to Progress by this new yl Sphynx, and Russia has been torn to pieces by its fatal claws. In the '.m I'nited States, capital and labor are j fighting one another, and unless the M question is solved, the whole nation 'M will be snatched in the clutches of the m Sphvnx and plunged Into insurrection. 'M Who is the Oedipus of 1920. who will solve the riddle? It is America, and Si her answer Is, as was the answer to aj olden Greece. 'Man! Man! Man!' But 1 man possessed -with a strong American '.'m Patriotism. ..m I Critical Period. ;a Fellow.Amerlcanewehaxo. forgot- tcrf that wonderful spirit of patriot ism which bound us during the recent WOI'ld war We have forgotten that this period of reconstruction is criti cal and that our coountry In this crl sis needs our raosi loyal support. We are abusing those rights and prlvi given us in the constitution of 1 hose men of '76. We are placing our own individual honor above that of the nation We hove ceased to ask, 'What is fan ?' and have substituted Instead, How much can I set and how little ran I cie in return for It?' Fellow Students, it is not the miner alone, who with his 56,000 salary is demand int. an increase in wages and a do Crease in daily hours of labor It s not he alone who has entered the Kmur of grab. It is all of us. It U 1 he merchant with his 5100 profit on a $5u coat. It Is the 'promoter with his lure of untold wealth It is the schoolboy, with his dollar an hour er rand, si carelessl perlormed Why we have forgotten our neighbors we have forgotten ourselves, and we have fa) gottt ii our country Danger of Selfishness ' With such a seltishe's as this, the gates to prosperity will close before us. It was sellishness which caused the tali of Julius Caesar, of the Aria tOCracy of Prance during the reign ol Louis XVI. of Napoleon, and of il Ham Ilohenzollern It was selfishness which caused the recent world war In Rnrope leaving that con nnt starving and dc potato Thouaml are dying daily from the want of p o-per o-per food, clothing and shelter. The I'nited States has been asked to aid Europe those countries sinking deep ei and deeper in die depths of ra n and despair We do not hear thell cry for help. Why" Be ause we are too wrapped up in our own se fish cricvant es, we aie 100 interested in our own selfish wants to her.r the rry of millions of people, who are draining the cups of starvation and who hip being lost on that dark, bl-k sea of anari hism and revolution That won derfiil tie of patriotism which b mnd us dining the war, is gone, and has been replaced hy Individual desire It is the duty of the people of the United Slates to save the world from starvation as she has saved il from autocracy. We have not sensed this dvbt as yet its truthfulness has sunk like the danger signals of our own in ternal Btrife Into the maelstrom of personal aggression There is but one hop tot ourselves and Europe, and tha is national devotinn What Patriotism Does. TeHow studentfi we have pointed out what patriotism has done in the past It has been that tie vrhah bound this nation together Everv-ihin- in this world must have a core. The trees have their trunks from rchich spring the branches and beautiful beauti-ful leaves, the Utile spring in the hills is the core from, which the great rivers ,ie and the core to this great U. S haa been national devotion. Patriotism is the only thing which will solve the conditions of today, for it has solved similar conditions In the past. To it. 'f owe not only our independence, but also, our most priceless pesses-sion pesses-sion our constitution. It is patriotism patriot-ism which has made and kept these forlv fight United States. It Is pa-triotlsm pa-triotlsm which has b"en our truest friend, solving every crisis of the past. Can we not call back thai wonderful friend toda '.' The triumphant ans er s 'Yes' welling up in the heart of every true American and proc'aim ng to the whole social woild that our object is our country, our whole coun-trv coun-trv and her service to humanity END. |