The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1975-04-01 / 4. szám
Page Two THE EIGHTH TRIBE April, 1975 THE WHITE HOUSE A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WASHINGTON It is now nearly two hundred years since America’s Independence was sought and won. Then, as today, the achievement of our Nation’s goals was met through the devoted efforts of Americans who gave loyal service. The United States has become the greatest Nation in history because of the loyalty of our people to our Constitution, to our laws, and to those ideals which they represent. The thousands who become citizens each year through naturalization take an oath to support the United States. One can sense the meaning and the spirit of loyalty in those proceedings. For most of us who were born to the freedoms we enjoy, a declaration of loyalty has not been such a conspicuous event in our lives. It is, nonetheless, reflected in our patriotic effort. In recognition of the need for “a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States of America and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom,” the Congress, by a joint resolution of July 18, 1958 (72 Stat. 369, 36 U.S.C. 162), designated May 1 of each year as Loyalty Day, inviting the people of the United States to observe Thursday, May 1, 1975, as Loyalty Day, with appropriate ceremonies. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States of America, do call upon the people of the United States and upon patriotic, civic, and educational organizations to observe Thursday, May 1, 1975, as Loyalty Day, with appropriate ceremonies. I call upon appropriate officials of the Government to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on that day in testimony of our loyalty to this Nation. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hands this fourth day of March in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-ninth. Loyalty to God, Country and Friend On these three principles lays the foundation of the United States of America. You can not find them in any Law-Book, not even in the Constitution itself, but it is there. The authors of our Constitution took it for granted, that these basic principles are written in the souls of each individual, without putting it down on a piece of paper. For these principles millions of Americans laid their lives down from the Revolutionary War through the Vietnam War. * * * God! Country! Friend {or Fellowmen)! Loyalty to these today means you are old fashioned. Out of time. — Who is God? — Nobody — I can not see him, can not touch him. Just an imaginary person, horned in the minds of unsettled persons. — —Country? — I do not owe anything to my country. I did not ask to be born. Now that I am here, the country owes me a living in a style of my own choosing without any responsibility to anyone. — Friend? (My fellowmen) — I am an individual. I live only for myself. Other’s welfare does not mean anything to me. * * * These three principles are actually are one — one can not separate it. Loyalty to God brings forth loyalty to Country and to your Fellowmen, or if you loyal to any one of the three, the other two automatically comes with it. President Ford’s proclamation reminds us about our loyalty. He calls on his fellow countrymen to return to the three basic principles, which governed this nation for two centuries. Let us all search our hearts for the right answer.
