Article May 19, 1928 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from Philip Snowdon

[From an editorial in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, as quoted in the Herald of Gospel Liberty, Dayton, Ohio]

Citizenship is a much more considerable affair than registering and voting. It goes far beyond the taking out of naturalization papers to qualify as one of the body politic in the land of the brave and the free. Citizenship has a duty for every citizen, not simply on election day or in the primaries, but the whole year round; and it is a duty that is social and not merely political. To be a good citizen is to be a good friend and neighbor. It is to manifest loyalty and integrity in business relations. Good citizenship acts to build up not alone the prosperity of a private concern, but the welfare of commerce and trade in general. The good citizen, singly or corporately, pays his debts. He does not keep others waiting for the money they have earned and therefore own. He has an instinctive horror of borrowing without a definite and understood prospect of repayment. He keeps his appointments. He respects the right of other men to the same consideration from him that he wants from them. He feels that as each man does his part, is true to his own trust, minds his own business, is responsible and reliable in his own person, the average level of credit and prestige for the whole community will rise. Citizenship means a realization on the part of one man that all men are helped or hindered by his individual performance.

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