Our Common Country

by Warren Gamaliel Harding

Our Common Country

 

Mutual Good Will in America

 

By
Warren G. Harding

 

With foreword by the editor
Frederick E. Schortemeier
Author of Rededicating America

 

Indianapolis
The Bobbs-Merrill Company
Publishers

Copyright 1921
The Bobbs-Merrill Company

 

Printed in the United States of America

 

Press of
Braunworth & Co.
Book Manufacturers
Brooklyn, N. Y.

Foreword

Under the leadership of President Harding, America is at the threshold of an era of good will. Several of our presidents have performed greater services for America than befell their lot as its chief executive in an administrative capacity by leading in the development of the moral forces of our country. Harding's greatest service to his country at home will come in the awakening of the American conscience toward the mutual good will of Americans, one for the other. He would end the day of jealous rivalries, of class detriment, of group supremacy, of greed, and lead the way in making popular throughout America understanding, cooperation and good will toward men.

Warren Harding has already become known to the American people as a strong nationalist in international relations. It is the purpose in this volume to give to the American people in the president's own words his conception of the proper course for the people of America in their domestic relations. Just as Harding has taken the leadership in the preservation of the nationality of the United States, so he will come to be known as the foremost advocate of a national appeal toward a common understanding, a mutuality of interests on the part of all the American people, the end of class consciousness, and the prosperity and happiness of all Americans, everywhere.

Those Americans who seek the day of a more widely applied good will in America, who fervently hope for the time when no group of our people will place its own interests above the common weal of all the people where the interests conflict, will find in Harding their stanchest advocate. This fundamental conception of the proper American relationship is shown in everything Harding thinks and says and does. Harding hopes for the utter abolition of class. He seeks to encourage the fullest cooperation by preaching the gospel of understanding. His great purpose is to construe and develop the desire for a common good fortune in America. "I wish it distinctly noted," said the president, shortly after his nomination, "that I shall say nothing to one group of fellow citizens which I could not as cordially utter to another. So far as I can be helpful it shall be along the line of promoting the good fortunes of all the American people. We can not prosper one group and imperil another. We can not have, we must not have, a menacing class consciousness in America. I like to think of an America where every citizen's pride in power and resources, in influence and progress, are founded in what can be done for our people, all the people. Good Government means the welfare of all of its citizens."

Harding seeks in America the application of those simple virtues in our national life which are essentially necessary to the life of a successful individual. He is sounding the call for the application of the common weal. He looks forward to the day when no class of our people will seek to advance its own interests to the detriment of all the people. He wants a contented, prosperous, happy America in which every individual and every group of individuals will desire in good conscience to aid and prosper the lot of all other Americans.

This volume seeks to present to the American public the views of their president upon numerous phases of American life, and would show that in addition to entertaining definite ideas for the advancement of the welfare of our varied groups of citizens, Harding hopes to point the way toward the mutual good fortune of all Americans. He would prosper the farmer, the business man, the laborer, as such, to the fullest possible extent, but only so far as is consistent with the welfare of all other Americans. He is ready to lead in that most vital and timely American undertaking which has for its purpose the end of classism and the development of all that is good for all Americans, under all circumstances, in all walks of life and in every conceivable situation.

Harding proclaims anew the equality of opportunity. From his own life's experiences, he knows whereof he speaks. He acclaims individual and personal honesty as the greatest of all American assets. He hopes for an American reconsecration to faith in God. He longs for the day when every American genuinely and sincerely wishes well for every other American citizen. He aspires to develop in America a contented, happy people, who find their delight in their belief in and devotion to good will for all Americans. To him every American life is sacred and is entitled to the fullest opportunity for development. "If a wise God notes a sparrow's fall, no life can be so obscure and humble that it shall become of no consequence to America," is Harding's conception. He seeks the best and the most for every human who has been fortunate enough to come beneath the folds of the American flag.

Besides his consuming desire for the common weal in America, Harding has very definite ideas for its development. He wants a common understanding between employer and employee. He desires the promotion of those measures which make better the lot of American women and children, which feed and clothe our unfortunates and which buoy their spirits. He encourages play and urges honest work. He delights in the enthusiasms of accomplishment. He would have a normal America in which those rigid American virtues of honesty, understanding, cooperation and good will are popular among Americans.

As president of the United States he would lead to "where every one plays his part with soul and enthusiasm, no matter how insignificant that part may be, so that out of the grouped endeavor comes the perfect offering." Harding is ready to lead the moral forces of America in the further development of our common country, in the establishment of mutual good will in America.

F. E. S.

Indianapolis.

Contents

Chapter		Page
I	Reconsecration to God	13
II	Business and Government	19
III	The Inspiration of Labor	35
IV	American Agriculture	63
V	What of Our Children	109
VI	The Press and the Public	117
VII	The Theater	131
VIII	American Education	145
IX	The Immigrant	157
X	Conservation and Development	173
XI	Social Justice	197
XII	The Value of Play	225
XIII	Fraternity	235
XIV	The Village	249
XV	Two Wars	257
XVI	The Meaning of the Armistice	263
XVII	The Federal Constitution	271
XVIII	The National Conscience	297