Prize Winning Oration

            

Enemies of the Constitution

By Wanda Walker

           

As we live from day to day in the freedom, safety, comfort, such as so few people have ever before enjoyed, we come to look upon our Constitutional Democracy as an impregnable fortress. Because it is the oldest experiment in Democratic Government now existing, we come to believe that what has been, will always be. This is blind unreasonable faith. Important as faith is, faith alone cannot keep democracy living. Our form of government is most vulnerable. It is constantly open to attack, forever fighting for survival. However much we may wish this struggle did not exist, it is unavoidable -- one of the necessary evils of Constitutional Democracy. 

  

I would like for you to think with me for a while about the enemies of democracy. There are three types -- the enemy from without, the one in our minds, and the enemy in our own hearts. 

  

The enemies from without are those forms of government that are not democratic and which are conducted in a manner unlike our own. Three such forms of government are known as Monarchies, Totalitarian state, and Communism. 

  

All three have been notorious in their opposition to democracy because their principles and our principles do not coincide. Each has felt, at different times that democracy could not exist in a world within itself and they have tried to stamp it out. 

  

In the American Revolution we fought the soldiers of a monarch in order to gain our independence. Shortly thereafter, the French followed our example. In modern times we have the monarchy of Japan, who really has a combination of a holy emperor and a military dictator. The Japanese hate democracy; they hate us because under our Constitutional Democracy we have become the most powerful people in the world. We are fighting with them now to see which form of government will survive. THE JAP DIES FOR HIROHITO, BUT THE AMERICAN BOY DIES FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FREEDOM THAT OUR CONSTITUTION HAS RECORDED AND THEREIN LIES THE BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A VASSAL AND A FREE MAN -- BETWEEN THE SERF ON BENDED KNEES AND THE MAN WHO CAN STAND UPRIGHT AND LOOK SQUARELY INTO THE EYES OF MANKIND.  

  

Dictators are just as bitter as monarchs in their enmity. Hitler has made it only too clear in “Mein Kampf” and other utterances that democracy must go out of existence. Mussolini has echoed his master’s sentiments. Why do dictators despise us? Because our privileges and their total regimentation are at opposite poles. Under our principles the rights of every individual citizen are supreme. Under theirs the Fuhrer and the state are supreme. Their homes, churches, schools, industry, and everything are subversive to one leader. Totalitarian states can thrive only upon slavery, but democracy is nourished upon freedom. 

  

This second enemy is the one in our midst. He may take one of many forms. He may be a saboteur, trained in the process of espionage and who by physical means tries to handicap our war effort or, by more subtle devises, tries to undermine morale. Or he may profess to be a citizen while aiding the enemy in some way. Such a person is a traitor and a spy, and when apprehended he can receive the most severe punishment man can give. 

  

More dangerous to democracy than the saboteur is the otherwise well-meaning American who seeks special privileges from our government at the expense of others, or who is so selfish and intolerant that he fans the fire of racial and religious hatreds; and it is he who believes that laws have been made to constrain the rights of others and that he is immune. It is he who thinks that in this man’s world it is everyone for himself and he says, “I’m a free man so I can d as I please.” Such a person has not yet learned that the privileges guaranteed in the Bills of Rights are not permits to disregard the general welfare. 

    

Finally, let us consider the third and most dangerous enemy, the one that can lurk within ourselves. It may be termed complacency, indifference, or what you will. This American who has it is a menace to the democratic privileges he has been enjoying. It is complacency that keeps us from the polls on Election Day and that causes us to cash in all our war bonds to pay for non-essentials. It is indifference that permits us to accept every act of our government without question, that restrains us from active service in our own community and causes us to believe our contributions, our blood, our aid would be unnecessary when others are giving. This last enemy is the hardest of all to defeat because it must be conquered by the individual who harbors it. We can’t hang complacency and we can’t send it to jail. We can only drive it from our heart with the strength of our own will. The enemy in our hearts comes to us unannounced, but once we have given it refuge, it will feed on rumor, indifference, and doubt. Like Frankenstein, it becomes our master and only a moral revolt or a spiritual awakening can make us again that true citizen of democracy. 

  

Yes, Constitutional Democracy is vulnerable. Like all other good things in this world of ours, it is hard to get and harder yet to keep; but also like good things, it is worth the struggle. It was so much better said by Thomas Paine in his famous pamphlet, “The Crisis,” which was often quoted by George Washington to his men: "WHAT WE OBTAIN TOO CHEAPLY, WE ESTEEM TOO LIGHTLY; IT IS DEARNESS ONLY THAT GIVES EVERYTHING IT’S VALUE.” 

               

Reprinted from the 1945 Crescent

 Wanda Walker was a Senior.