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WASHINGTON NO KING, SO CONSTITUTION BORN When we celebrate Constitution Day on September 17, not all of us may realize that our freedom under law is due largely to George Washington s determination that we should have a strong government based on a written Constitution which would protect us against dictators. Long before he rode to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the spring of 1787, Washington had spurned a proposal that he be made "King.” He wanted a republic—but a strong republic. Washington was in poor health, and the long trip from Mt. Vernon was a strain. Nevertheless, he was one of the first dele gates to reach Philadelphia. Chosen to preside at the meetings, he helped, by wise rulings on disputed points, to keep the work going ahead during the next four months. Quietly, Washington put his influence behind the delegates who favored a central government with power to speak for all the states in foreign affairs. The fact that he did so had a great effect on public feeling, helping to quiet fears that the Conven tion would attack the liberties won by the long struggle against King George III. When opponents of the Constitution said "your President may easily become King,” the people refused to be frightened, because they knew Washington had rejected with scorn a pro posal to make him that kind of a ruler just after the Revolution. The people were confident that he would not join in any move ment to strangle the liberties he had fought hard to win. The result was that when the Constitution was laid before the people, a great many were ready to vote for it just because Washington favored it. In Delaware and New Jersey, the Con stitution was ratified unanimously. Pennsylvania voted for it two to one. In Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, the opposition was stronger. However, newspapers in those states published a letter in which Washington urged favorable action. The letter won over many leaders, and all three states finally ratified the famous document. So it turned out that we have freedom under the Constitu tion and the Bill of Rights—because Washington believed it bet ter for free citizens to rule themselves than to have a King ruling them. dUCJL Vol. 13 AUGUST 1951 No. 8 PUBLISHED AND PRINTED MONTHLY BY AND FOR EM PLOYEES OF ECUSTA PAPER CORPORATION AND ENDLESS BELT CORPORATION AT PISGAH FOREST, NORTH CAROLINA Charlie Russell, Editor Jack D. Morgan, Art Editor Fritz Merrell, Sports Editor H. E. Newbury, Safety Reporter PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE— Lee M. Bauer, R. F. Bennett, E. B. Garrett, Jr., M. L. Herzog, Roger J. King, Charlie Russell, W. M. Shaw, Harry Straus, Jr., Walter Straus. • ON THE COVER A swimrner at Camp Straus boasts of his swimming and div ing feats to three of his young lady friends. MOUNTAIN TOP MEN Said the Emperor Marcus Aurelius: "Live as a mountain.” There is something vibrant and inspiring about mountains. How can one be mentally small who associates with the magnificent bigness of mountains. Great men live on mental mountains. Their spirits tower above the storms; Their minds above doubt, cynicism and despair; Their horizons are expanded; their mental fron tiers are broad; Their visions are lifted above the fog of petty things; They look over the obstacles into the Promised Land of Tomorrow; They see the rainbows while little men battle with phantom shadows in the valley; They see the sun in the east while the valley- dwellers burn their tiny lamps in darkness; Their heads are in the clouds but their feet are bedded in solid rock of fact and reason; They dare the sky; they take the risks; Like the Alpine Guide they would have as their epitaph these words: "He died climbing.” —Wilfred Peterson
The Echo (Pisgah Forest, N.C.)
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Aug. 1, 1951, edition 1
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