The life of John Worth KernBowers, Claude G. (Claude Gernade)
History
The life of John Worth Kern
Bowers, Claude G. (Claude Gernade)
Kern, John Worth, 1849-1917; Politicians -- United States -- Biography
“This great body of a million or more men whose loyalty you
question, and the millions more who make up the organized labor
forces of the land, and who are not yet Socialists, will love their
country and its flag if you will permit them, and not drive them
away by making them constantly realize that they can not expect
fair treatment either in the administration of the law by executive
officers or in the construction and enforcement of law by the
courts.
“If the time comes--we all pray it may be averted--when the
integrity of this nation is assailed, either from within or from
without--if the time comes when the American Republic is brought
face to face with the marching armies of the nations beyond the
sea, we will need those million of men, for they are men that toil
with their hands. They have strong arms. They are the same type of
men as that splendid Army of the Republic fifty years ago who won
for themselves imperishable renown by their sacrifices in behalf of
the Union and the flag.
“Do you make good citizens of men by denying them their rights? Do
you command the respect and the patriotism of the toilers of this
land by turning them away when they come into this great tribunal
and simply ask that the light be turned on, to the end that the
people may know as to whether or not God reigns and the
Constitution still lives, and whether they and their kind are to be
despoiled of their heritage of liberty?
“For a man to be a loyal, good citizen of this country he must love
his country. Can you ask him to love his country and be true to her
traditions and institutions when in his heart of hearts he knows
that in this land and beneath its flag there is a law for him which
is not enforced against others, and that he can no longer appeal to
the courts for the enforcement of his constitutional rights?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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