St Stephens Academy - Academician Yearbook (Port Huron, MI)

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porta nee, the voyage of Columbus, or the circumnavigation of the globe. Is it any wonder then, that Americans are proud of their country? —LEO TRESE, ’ 19 . CITIZENSHIP “l am an American.” Why does the heart of a foreign horn citizen of the United States swell with pride when he makes this declaration? The answer will be found only when a comparison is drawn between the privi- leges and liberties enjoyed by American citizens and by those subjects of foreign powers. First and foremost, freedom of religious belief is indelibly engraven into our Constitution. There is no church which has to be supported by public taxation nor is there need of a religious political party to safeguard any church’s rights in our nation. Then our right of free speech and opinion is a privilege which is not to be ignored. True, it is that within the last few years certain foreigners have abused this privilege by making their criti- cism of our National Government destructive rather than constructive, un- mindful of the fact that in their mother countries they could not even voice an opinion contrary to that of even local authority. But undoubtedly lib- erty of speech and opinion will ever remain the prerogative of the American people. Another reason why a foreigner is proud to be a citizen of our republic is that he is not forced into military service and sent quickly to the fighting front just because a fanatical monarch who himself proclaims that “by the grace of God, I am ordained to be the ruler of the world,” and tries to con- vert his insane aspirations into a reality. This foreigner realized that he did not wish to die for a cause which is not his own hence he came to America. He witnessed the calm deliberation with which our President and Con- gress weighed the evidence and then decided that the world must be made safe for democracy by the abolition of Imperialism, and contrasted it with a “general staff” which with cold calculation waited only for a signal, the assassination of a royal couple to hurl their millions of soldiers in a mighty drive against the sons of democracy in order that their monarch might have a “place in the sun.” No wonder then that he, the foreign born citizen was willing, say glad to don the khaki to give his service if not — his life in order that a glorious democracy might live. Hence when he says “I am an American” he does not mean that geo- graphically he is a resident of the Western Hemisphere, but that he is a representative of a nation which never has, nor never will recognize that any monarch can merely through accident of birth, and not through intellectual or executive ability rule over a nation which is the positive belief of the Imperialists or Monarchists. By this same citizenship he denies the as- sumption of the Bolshevists that every man should be levelled to the same moral, social and financial standing which is as every American realizes an impossible, immoral and untenable program of anarchy. E. F. McCAFFERTY ’19.

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OUR STAFF MANAGING EDITOR LEO TRESE ASSOCIATE EDITOR .... EUGENE McCAFFERTY LITERARY EDITOR BERGETTA COX JOKE EDITOR LUCILLE WELCH ADVERTISING MANAGER .... ROBERT MEEHAN ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER - - GEORGE MARX DISTRIBUTION MANAGER .... FRANK KRONNER STAFF ARTIST FRANCIS ST. DENIS JUNIOR CORRESPONDENT - - - MADELINE WOLFSTYN SOPHOMORE CORRESPONDENT .... JAMES LAMB FRESHMAN CORRESPONDENT - - MARGARET McCARTHY TYPIST ALICE TRESE “First in war, first in peace, first in the realm of science.” Thus might the oft quoted phrase be altered to truthfully express the position America holds in the scientific circles of the world. In the great advancement made by humanity during the past few decades, the United States occupies the foremost rank in the onward march of civili- zation. The human race is constantly demanding mechanical perfection in in- dustry and in science, and almost invariably our own country is the first to fulfill this demand. For this is the home of inventors. Here was the birthplace of the steam engine; here the wireless telegraph reached its perfection and here the wire- less telephone was conceived. Americans invented the telephone and tele- graph, and in this land the automobile had its real nativity. And so, having spanned rivers, created great waterways, and constructed tunnels: after having built the magnificent steamship and the wonderful rail- road, Americans turned their attention to the third and most treacherous element of the universe, — and conquered it, with the aeroplane as the victori- ous weapon. Then came the Liberty Motor, that marvelous mechanism pro- duced by native workmen. And now as the crowning feature of the age, comes the first trans-At- lantic flight ever completed by man. A voyage that rivals, in historic im-

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Class of ’19 EUGENE McCAFFERTY MARGUERITE TYNAN LUCILE WELCH PRESIDENT TREASURER SECRETARY Class Colors — Green and Gold Class Flower — Tea Rose C lass Motto- — “Pro Deo et Patria ' ’ President’s Address My Dear Classmates: Standing with reluctant feet Where the brook and river meet. e realize today as we assemble for our last class exercise that we have come to the parting of the ways : and a feeling of sadness overwhelms us when we reflect upon the meaning which these words imply; a severance from familiar scenes and the parting, perhaps forever, from friends endeared to us by years of pleasant association. We know that the friendships made here will go with us and abide, “for memory obeys the heart and where there is love there is no forgetfulness” yet the sweet companionship of our school days is at an end and this afternoon there is for us a peculiar significance in the simple word good-bye. But there are other and cheerier words to be spoken today. Words of congratulations to you my dear classmates, upon our course well run, our tasks faithfully completed ; words of gratitude to those whose loving solicitude has made this day possible, and of promise that the hope they build upon us shall not be disappointed. It is true as we affectionately review the happy scenes so quickly slip- ping away from us, our hearts would fain cry out “Tarry, thou art so fair,” yet the real spirit of our class is better voiced in the inspiring lines of Arch- bishop Spaulding: What I have done to me is nothing now, Or but the vantage point from which I see My task still widening to infinity While o’er the past sinks the horizon’s brow. —EUGENE McCAFFERTY, T9.