Show thanksgiving CP fi F reveries and queries i es thanksgiving Is tile tho first of 0 americas own holidays As tile the earliest to be set apart its observance runs through the whole history of the nation like most other distinctive features of our american order of life it sprang up lip out of the local soil it was at first and tor for many years colonial it became national only as its observance spread from town to town from colony to colony from state to state while it has a historical interest all its own thanksgiving la Is identified with no single event no special occasion no definite date in our history it recalls no single act as does in dependence day it commemorates the name and service of no man as do the birthdays of washington and lincoln it Is not shared with other peoples as are christmas and new years tears day alt with all the american thanksgiving day la Is identified with the soil wo till fill for whose harvest we give thanks it Is therefore identified with the toll and the toilers boilers whose tillage and productive labor inventive skill constructive and distributive enterprise teed feed clothe shelter and develop our oar own people and many of their kith and kin hin in the old fat herlands across the seas chanke Th thanksgiving anke giving Is another and greater labor day it recalls and calls forth all kinds of effort by all classes of people it merges the common product of the common toll for the national possession of which the president and governors of the whole people call upon them to faank their father creator and the good providence of the great provider in thus reminding us na that oar harvests are the joint 0 t product of mother nature natura the children 11 of men and father god thanksgiving is ie first of all the american peoples expression espres slon of grateful appreciation for their country its land and waters Us its fertility and beauty for our great out of doors nature its response to human effort to mans discovery and his working with natural law thanksgiving Is therefore natures harvest harrest nome bome holiday celebrates entire year and yet it celebrates the full round year while held after harvest thanksgiving does not let us forget the seed and sowing ot of the springtime the plowing and weeding of the summer as vital to the all inclusive process of reaping moreover and above all in this linking soil and sides earth and the heavens it Is the day of remembrance of the F father ather of us all as the great giver elver not only but as the greatest worker with whom we may work and who works with all for the common good my father hitherto and I 1 work said eald the greatest of the sons ions of god and the children of men these reveries awaken queries also araham taylor declares in the chicago dally news kewa they spring from the sincerest recognition and most appreciative precia Irecia tive acknowledgment that the american people are and always have been a composite race and that adopted citizens from many lands have done very e ry much to make america what it i Is s the early history of the united states interweaves Inter weaves fine strong strands of f english scotch celtic french stanlea Span lea and jewish life with not few or feeble negro traits and tolls and some relics of indian and old mexican civilization the human conquest and amazing development of Us this new continent cannot be accounted for without crediting much to the toll and many bother other enrichments enrich ments of the latin slavic and southeastern european migrants Ig contributions to our culture aln in art and philosophy and to our culli of 0 the land and our commerce lof of the sea come coma from the tha older civill lations zat lons ions of china india and japan founders of Count rys faith foundations of americas falth faith were laid aid by pilgrims and caval cavallars cavaliers cava liers lers catholics and protestants each in its own iway yet all to the same great end they are merely listed here as queries raised by our thanksgiving reveries their discussion being reserved rod red dserve d for or timely opportunity their mere statement however makes bold the undoubting falth faith and hope that these hese and all other problems ot of american can life can all and only be solved and settled by the spirit inspiring katherane Kather lne lee lea bates great patriotic hymn that breathes the soul of our american thanksgiving ngi 01 0 beautiful for or spacious sides for amber waves wavea ot of grain for purple mountain maje martlea malt alies lea above the ole fruited trul teil plain 1 america america god send his grace on thee and ana crown thy good with brother hood L brorn sea eca to 0 beautiful tor for heroes proved in n liberating strife iwho he more than self their country loved and mercy morn more than life america america may god thy gold cold refine till all success be b nobleness and every grain brain diving divine holiday of the home thanksgiving Is a day sacred to the home more of it Is spent at horne home than at church in family reunions than in public assemblies in serving the needy the lonely and the homeless than in formal services of worship its sanctuary Is the thoughtful thankful heart more than the house ot of worship who that has lived in tiny any of our oldest col colonial ordal states especially in now new england can ever forget or fall to have a glow of heart at every remembrance of the real home thanksgiving day as observed on the soil from which it sprang at the very mention of it what visions reappear of the long preceding preparations for it at the old family homestead of the letters flying forth and back between the old folks at home and the scattered young folks in their new homes or transient abodes of ane railway station platforms and cars thronged thron ged by merry homebound home bound children ot of an older growth and childrens children of greetings at the threshold of the old farm house or village home mingling the smiles and laughter of the alvin living with tears or silent sorrowing undying yearning for the touch of ft a vanished hand and ane sound of a voice that Is still of the bountifully laden beautifully decorated family table with americas fatted batted turkey as a welcome home instead of the acted f fatted calf of ancient days national development in the truest american homes the thanksgiving family reunion ta is all that robert burns san sang of the cotters saturday night and and still more tor for being more joyous though no less religious for fill all that and there are americans not a few who feel deep down in their hearts tor for their own country what the scotch singer song sang of ills his from scenes like these old scotia grandeur springs out of this population more wonderfully composite than constitutes tile the citizenship of tiny any other nation a very distinctive national development has bas evolved it Is recognized by ourselves and other peoples as distinctively our ann own As and ns as I 1 a distinct ca contri 1 button to thi the worlds possessions an 1 I to tile the heritage herl tage of mankind it is here and now being cons considered without tiny any c comparison with ane characteristics of other nations as better or worse this life spirit of 0 the american peni people I 1 le Is a fact and a fact th that at raises these obese two queries at least Is tills this american life or spirit distinct and valuable enough to be conserved de voloyed volo port and perpetuated it if so how can it maintain its distinct identity and value enriched by the accessions from abroad which are appreciated and welcomed without being transformed diluted or deteriorated these are not only fair questions but are queries that ave are forcing themselves upon the more or less strained attention of our people N W |