NINETEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 433 



war, have forced upon us some big issues and have made us think over 

 questions with a new viewpoint. 



I do not want to make you think that I believe the railroad question 

 is the only question for us to consider at the present moment. We are 

 witnessing some tremendous events of stupendous importance in world 

 history, and we are witnessing some scenes most dramatic and interesting. 

 One of the most thrilling that I have ever witnessed was a few weeks 

 ago, when for the first time I saw a mother greeting her boy just coming 

 back from overseas. She clasped the boy in her arms at the depot, kissed 

 him half a dozen times on each cheek, hugged him. Back home at last! 

 The boys are coming back from that great struggle over there. Some of 

 them aren't coming back. There are vacant places in the family circles 

 here and there, but those boys have made the supreme sacrifice for one of 

 the greatest achievements of our generation. 



When you look at that good old flag, have you ever realized what it 

 has cost? It is the symbol of our national life from 1776 down to the 

 present time. First we fought for freedom from the British; then we 

 fought to give freedom to the slaves; then we fought to give freedom to 

 Cuba; now we have fought for world democracy. Through it all is that 

 thought and theme of liberty. America and Liberty stand synonymous 

 throughout the world. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, made 

 the most beautiful tribute to our flag I have ever read, and I am going to 

 close my remarks by reading that statement by Mr. Lane: 



"makers of the flag. 



"This morning, as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me 

 a most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: 



" 'Good morning, Mr. Flag Maker.' 



"'I beg your pardon, Old Glory,' I said; 'aren't you mistaken? I am 

 not the President of the United States, nor a member of congress, nor 

 even a general in the army. I am only a government clerk.' 



" 'I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker,' replied the gay voice. 'I know 

 you well. You are fhe man who worked in the swelter of yesterday, 

 straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or per- 

 haps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or 

 helped to clear that patent for the hopeful Inventor in New York, or 

 pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in 

 Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. No 

 matter! whichever one of these beneficent individuals you may happen to 

 be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker.' 



"I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words: 



" 'Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier the future 

 of ten million peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag 

 than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the com club 

 prize this summer. 



" 'Yesterday the congress spoke a word which will open the door of 

 Alaska; but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into the 

 night to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag. 



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