Verhovayak Lapja, 1944 (27. évfolyam, 1-52. szám)

1944 / Verhovay Journal

Page 4

Verhov ay Journal

Journal of the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Ass’n

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Verhovay Journal

April 27, 1944

Don't Give Up the Ship!

Th^Fother

155 years ago, on the thirtieth of April, George Washington was inaugurated President of the United States of America, in New York City. Tradition remembers him as the “Father of the Nation”, and to-day, when our armed forces fight on the farflung battlefronts for the preservation of our national heritage, it is only fitting to remember the anniversary of this date.

As the first among those who signed the Constitution of the United States, he was, indeed, the father of the nation as well as its first defender. Due to the decisive role he played in securing independence for the people of the United States, history has elevated him to the pedestal of a national ideal whose principles are' still venerated by our generation.

We will do no justice, however, to the tradition that has been built around his person, if we remember him only by a few selected qualities, instead of regarding his entire personality. We would gain but a distorted picture of him which would not have much in common with the reality.

We often hear that poverty makes for greatness as exemplified by Lincoln, but we should not forget that Washington Was one of the richest men in the country whose estate was valued at about five million dollars.

We talk about liberty and equality for all, and are prone to forget that Washington owned 317 slaves.

Those who disclaim God on the ground of the tradition for religious liberty, should remember Washington as a religious man; while those who would deny some of our liberties on the ground of our religious heritage, should not forget that the Father of the Nation was also a distiller, a lover of fun, a regular theater-goer and a good eater too, since he weighed 210 pounds at the age of 40.

Those who hate the rich,

of the Nation

should remember the. millionaire who built a CQuntry that has become a haven for the downtrodden masses of the earth. Those who believe that all politicians are necessarily liars, ought to remember that Washington was a truthful statesman who did not find it necessary to sugarcoat his political convictions With hypocritical pretensions.

If we will learn to see Washington, as he truly was, then we will understand that our nation was built not by narrow minded bigots, but by men who were honest, yet kind; devoted to God, yet apprecitive of “good-time”; lovers of peace who could also handle the sword; men who could make money, but also knew how to give it away; men who could work and suffer for great causes without being paid for

it . . . proud and strong men Who knew when to be stern but also when to smile . . . the easygoing, yet tough; hardworking, yet generous; praying and playing men who through the centuries came to be known as “The American Men” as typified by the Father of the Nation, George Washington.

•------------v------------.

No man can live happily who regards himself alone, who turns everything to his own advantage. Thou must live for another, if thou wishest to live for thyself.

—SENECA

• * *

Happy he who far from business, like the primitive race of mortals, cultivates with his own oxen the fields of his fathers, free from all anxieties of gain.

—HORACE * * *

Health, longevity, beauty are other names for personal purity, and temperance is the regimen for all.

—A. B. ALCOTT * * *

Inspirations that we deem are our own are the divine foreshadowing and foreseeing of things beyond our reason and control.

LONGFELLOW.

It has become a tradition with captains to go down with their ships when they appeared to be lost. The tradition has a history of many hundreds of years and even to-day we read quite often of commanders who prefer death with their ships to life. It seems such a -shameful waste of precious human life, yet ,at the same time, it has its beauty too, when we hear of a man, who loves his ship more than his own life.

In not every instance has this heroic attitude resulted in the wasting of precious human life. It has happened many a time in the present war that not only the commander but his men as well refused to give up their ship and through heroic efforts brought the ship home, which otherwise would have sunk. What a glory it was for those men, when, after nursing their ship like a dying baby, it limped to port where it could be repaired and restored to active duty!

It is experiences of this kind that justify the tradition of the Navy which has found such consice expression in these words: “Don’t give up the ship!”

While many a commander preferred to go down with his ship, there are other living beings that will never go down with a ship. As a rule, they are not to be found among the officers and men of the ship ... it is the rats that are first to leave a sinking ship

Obviously, there are rats among humans too, who will jump as soon as the going gets rough; Who have faith neither in their ship’s ability to withstand the fire of the enemy, nor in their own ability to keep a ship afloat even though it may be sinking.

Thus we have two extremes exemplified in naval life: that of a commander who, as often as not, has saved a ship by refusing to leave it, though it seemed to be condemned to sink; and that of the rats, who left it as soon as it started to list . . .

War will bring out of human beings the best and the worst that lies hidden in their nature. Some turn out to be heroes, others cowards. Some will prefer to go down with their ships, others will leave it at the first sign of danger.

This is so not only on the seven seas. It is the same in civilian life the situtions of which lend themselves so readily to the simile of “the ship.” It is said that “a friend in need is a friend indeed.”

It is in troubled waters that friendship asserts itself, while the rat will leave the friend at the first sign of danger -. If life is good to us, our friends are many. But as soon as the going gets rough, the rats leave in a hurry, and, as a rule, the commander of the ship, the man or the woman, will be left alone at the moment when the ship goes down into the bottomless sea of adversities.

Loyalty is not a matter of flag-waving, it is an attitude of the soul that is revealed only in adverse circumstances: it is a quality of faith and love that persists even when hope is gone.

Poets have compared almost every kind of human under-]

taking to ships that sailed through stormy waters towards the port of achievement. Fraternal life too can be compared to a ship,' and in the stormy waters of the present it is easy to find the heroes as well as the — rats.

If there be one who will persists on the commander’s bridge, even though the ship seems to be doomed, he is like the captain who loves his ship with a great faith and refuses to leave it And the many who leave it because it has no comforts to offer anymore, they display the attitude of the rat that prefers flight to fight

Many a lodge has a heroic commander a president or a manager, who remains on the bridge, though quite often he may be there alone. Yet he prefers to stay, because he believes in fraternalism, he has faith in its saving qualities, and he prefers to go under with it, to the easier way of leaving it as soon as it seems difficult to stay.

And then, too, there are lodges that have housed many a member who had no other qualities but those. or a rat . . . who turned his back to the sinking ship, as soon as activities seemed to bog down.

It seems silly for a commander to throw his life away with a heap of rusty scrap ... it seems much less silly to stake one’s life on the survival of the values of fraternal life. And if there is a heroic commander who succeers in securing a following, he will more often than not succeed to bring the limping ship of this lodge into port, and start it out, after repairs, on a new trip that will justify the efforts of all those who were instrumental in saving it from going down.

The war has caused as much damage to our branches as torpedoes could to a ship What with the young men gone, the older people working day and night, there does not seem much to be left for the few members remaining but to jump. But the glorious examples of our seamen and airmen should turn us into heroes on the home-front too. Don’t give up the ship! As few as there may be left, you are able to bring your ship into port, and, as soon as the war will be over, those boys who

will return, shall reward you for keeping the ship afloat. Those boys will need the companionship afforded by the lodge, they will need good times they have left when they went to the war and hoped to find again upon their return. Don’t disappoint them. Even though some of those boys may not have appreciated the social values of the lodge while they were here, they will return with a changed attitude. They will be happy to join if there is anything left to join. They will happily work with you if there is anything left where they can work with you.

But they will definitely not be in the mood to salvage something that has been left to sink by those who remained safely at home. They will have done

enough fighting, enough struggling, enough sea-beeing out there on the bloody battlefield. When they return, they hope to find a house in order, a lodge which has been kept warm, active, and full with life, by those to whom they have entrusted their home-life.

And if you find it hard to keep the boat afloat, don’t blame the membership! Even though there are many rats among those who jump off a sinking ship, not all of them are rats! Most of them just don’t know better. A bad example may make them jump, but a good example may make them stay. Mostly, it is up to the commander. If he is able to instill into the men his faith in the ship, they will stay with him and fight and work, and bleed and sweat, until they save it. It is usually one man who makes heroes or cowards out of those who are around him ... it is the qualities of thé leader that determine whether his crew shall become a bunch of heroes or a pack of cowards.- j Girls! That lodge is YOUR SHIP Don’t let it sink! Believe in its future, have faith in its necessity, have courage to face the times when you have to man the pumps alone. . . think of the i port of peace that will come j nearer with every day you have succeeded in keeping your ship i afloat . . . think of the homecoming boys who will welcome you for not letting them down . .* and even if there are only a handful of you left . . . DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP! ./