Jay Sterling Morton was secretary of agriculture for President Grover Cleveland.

Thursday, July 05, 2001

Jay Sterling Morton was secretary of agriculture for President Grover Cleveland. It was Morton who introduced the bill establishing Arbor Day. He had been governor of the territory of Nebraska and, as I recall, established Nebraska’s first newspaper.

He lived in my home town, Nebraska City, south of Omaha. The big southern colonial mansion with its surrounding trees and gardens was presented to the state as a national park.

Among other attractions at Arbor Lodge, as the park is called, is a beautiful terraced garden. There is a statue of Morton in the park and another statue, which as a child I thought was Mrs. Morton, but is in reality s statue representing a mythological character associated with spring and growing. Don’t ask me which, like Thurber’s character, &uot;I don’t get it right. I just get it written.&uot;

At the back of this portion of the garden is a long, circular cement bench. Two people could sit, one at either end and talk to each other in low tones. An inscription either on or near the bench read, &uot;Love of home is primary patriotism.&uot;

Patriotism is a subject much on my mind lately. Seeing some of the results accomplished in its name has given me renewed interest in old Sam Johnson’s, &uot;Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.&uot;

There is a woman in congress who refuses to pledge her allegiance to the flag. On the other hand there are those,who run around in blouses and shorts that appear to have been cut from an American flag, screaming loudly for a bill to put flag burners in prison for long periods, possibly for life.

Among the loudest &uot;patriots&uot; in my town were the members of the Ku Klux Klan. At the time I lived there, up until July, 1934, the organization had its own hall. It stood on top of a hill, a comfortable looking old mansion, donated by one of the members. A cross on the lawn was lighted by light globes that went on and off in rotation, giving a somewhat ineffective suggestion of a flaming cross.

When I went back in 1984 and my 50th class reunion there was no sign of the building, no one had ever heard of the Ku Klux Klan. I would like to think it’s no longer there, but optimist though I am, I’m not convinced.

Everyone, I think has had the experience of suddenly realizing that a firmly held conviction is without real merit. What always surprises me when I go back to my home town is that, though most of them have traveled much more extensively than I have, and have sometimes three times as many college degrees, they have not changed in their thinking at all.

It doesn’t really matter. They will always be dear to me. It was somewhat surprising to me that last time I was home, though, when my best friend from high school, valedictorian of our class, reminded me what a shocking teen-ager I had been. &uot;Do you remember?&uot; she asked, &uot;When you insisted that Communism and Socialism weren’t the same thing.&uot;

A group of men who had been my classmates were gathered at the hall where returning alumni went for coffee and doughnuts. They had been waiting for me, because they had bets going as to whether or not I was part of the women’s liberation movement. The ones who lost money on that were inclined to be a bit surly.

&uot;How could you join an outfit like that?&uot; they snarled.

&uot;I didn’t have to join it,&uot; I told them truthfully. &uot;My family believed in equality for women before the Civil War. I think they always did.&uot;

That conviction, together with our feeling for conservation, supporting good schools and providing scholarships for those in need, are the attitudes that have defined my concept of patriotism.

I don’t own an American flag. On the other hand I never let a Fourth of July pass without re-reading the first 10 amendments to our constitution, the Bill of Rights. During the McCarthy era a survey was taken among the citizens of the country using the amendments for a base for the questionnaire. Without the source of the amendments being revealed people were asked if they approved or disapproved of each amendment. The majority of them disapproved on the grounds that the amendments sounded like Communism to them.

If we are to realize what is best in the promise of America, we are going to have to face the fact that true patriotism can never share a tent with ignorance, nor bigotry.

I have the greatest respect for our flag, and even more for that which it symbolizes. Nothing would cheer me more than to believe that the day will come when every one who raises the flag will have taken for his own Jefferson’s pledge, &uot;I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.&uot;

Love Cruikshank is an Albert Lea resident. Her column appears Thursdays.