Show m 0 ma ism rz lim ft n 91 the fourth recalls wars of the past IQ IE fourth of july has occupied an honored place on our calendar for or ft a long time and the temptation grows to regard it as aa a perfunctory gesture in honor of an ancient deed yet there was never greater need of realizing how dependent those old victories are upon present day courage the battle to preserve the freedom won in revolution Is a battle that never ends in observing independence day we are celebrating an occasion which has far more than the picturesque tur esque significance of a venerable antique it can and should remind us of with what difficulty and suffering our freedom was first obtained and of how constantly it has been endangered both by domestic and by foreign foes the freedom which we proclaimed on that first glorious fourth cannot last if we do not tend it any more than a plant can grow without water and sunlight rn in domestic affairs restrictions strict ions upon personal freedom have hava grown to a dangerous height in foreign fields we are still inclined to assume that because we have a primary material interest as well as a strong stron moral belief in peace as a guarantor of freedom the interests and the morality of others impel them along the same path with a modesty which would be commendable under other circumstances circumstances many of us underestimate III the importance of america to ta civilization and the need tor for a national insurance equivalent to all that we have at stake in the continued maintenance of peace the F fourth of july Is a valuable occasion indeed if it carries our minds through the war of the revolution the civil war and the wars or near wars which we hae had with great britain france germany and spain it renews our present zest for liberty may ilay it remind us that one neither gets nor keeps something for nothing in this world and that even such a priceless thing as freedom drifts away or Is snatched away unless a community Is constantly vigilant I 1 new york herald tribune |