SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 14, 1926 "Tolerance" Is Subject of Winning Oration In Contest for Medal of S. A. R. Society GRANT CHANDLER, winner of the medal offered by the Utah Society o fthe Sons of the Am¬erican Revolution, for the best or¬ation made by an Ogden High school boy on a patriotic subject, intends to press on for higher honors. He plans to speak in the society's district contest for a chance to compete in the national contest, the first award in the lat¬ter being a trip to Europe with all expenses paid. The text of the winning oration follows: TOLERANCE. Years ago, as a new star exhibit¬ed itself to the universe for the first time, a child was born, a child destined to startle the wrorld with a new gospel, a gospel destined to revolutionize peoples on all parts of the earth with its principles based on the love of man for fellowman. The child became a man, and as a man was persecuted, reviled and finally murdered for teaching that man should live and let live. His philosophy of tolerance was regarded as a thing of evil, an off¬spring of the devil. From Egypt to Greece, the disciples of this new doctrine oreached and were perse¬cuted. They spread to Italy and were even more reviled against, bur never once did these champions of a grand cause falter in their aim. The selfsame star that witnessed the birth of a new idea has wit¬nessed the progress of this old world since that time. It has watched the beginning and ending nf cities, of states and of nations. The Star of Bethlehem has seen this world in its darkest days, when Christ's gospel of tolerance had be¬come corrupted and had degenerat¬ed to the lowest degree; when the powers used his no me to oppress mankind. IN DARK AGES. The Dark Ages, when the self- styled pillars of Christ and . His teachings allowed, and even aided, the rulers of the world to oppress the weak and helpless, were not enlightened by a love of brother¬hood, but were oer shadowed by the power of greed and hate. The world and its people were not al¬lowed to progress and strive for life. Mighty rulers were possessed with but one thought—that of the gain¬ing of greater power. Through time of strife and terror, however, those basic principles of tolerance have been held as a shining light for the oppressed and downtrod¬den to see. In the unendurable days of the Spanish Inquisition, Christ's ideas, of tolerance were again suppressed. Incorrectly defined, His plan was used to torture, rob and murder the same people for whose sake He died. Mere man was not allowed to think for himself. It was a case of either do as told or die. Count-less numbers of human beings were killed because they dared to commit the crime of obeying the rulings of their own consciences. INTOLERANCE TO BLAME. Intolerance was the basic rea¬son for these heinous crimes. Again, in England, under the rule of Henry the Eighth, people were punished and executed for believing in the inalienable right of man to choose his own faith. Directly be¬cause of this unfair persecution and still under the light of that awe inspiring star, a band of men and women sailed from England for the New World; their hopes buoyed up by the thought of a world of liberty, a new world with all the promising success of the fu¬ture. Their old homes and home¬land had lost the beauty and attrac¬tion which is so necessary to hap¬piness. The weight of intolerance bore too heavily upon them and they risked all to find the Utopia of their dreams. We know the story of their journey and their finds, their hardships and success¬es. and we know that those pilgrims were happy because of their toler¬ant surroundings. TEMPORARY PEACE. But peace and happiness was only temoorary. More people came to the New World and the theme of Christ's message was again mis¬interpreted. Intolerance once again; became the ruler. Finally because of hatred of each other, because of the intolerance between the mother country and the new colonies, the Revolutionary war was fought. Mankind once more bore the brunt of intolerance. The real spirit of the teachings of Jesus Christ, how¬ever, forced its way into the dis¬rupted countries. Peace and an era of good feeling existed. Then a work, which was surely the basis of an enlightened race of people, was accomplished—a docu-ment, formed from the thoughts and ideas of the world's most bril¬liant men, providing for the insur-ance of domestic tranquillity, the establishment of justice and the promotion of the general welfare of the people in a new and glorious country, the Constitution of the United States of America. There was a good beginning, the begin¬ning of a nation founded on the greatest document of tolerance ever written. The rights of the peo¬ple were safeguarded for all time to come. The principles set forth in the Constitution of the United States, however, were not well guarded, for in a short time another question of the rights of mankind was present¬ed to the people. SLAVERY QUESTION. Slavery had become dangerous to our government. The leaders of out country must decide whether or not the negro was entitled to the rights guaranteed by the constitution. In¬tolerance began to show its evil countenance. Men insisted on using Christ's gospel on white men only. Christ had set no racial lines in His teachings, so that the people were sorely perturbed. The intol¬erance became so great the Civil war was precipitated, and at last the slaves were freed and tolerance was shown regardless of race. Time went on and we find that tolerance was again losing its feeble hold on the people. Man had begun to fight man, sons against fathers, brothers against brothers, and soon practically the whole civilized world had entered into one of the great¬est conflicts ever witnessed. Christ and His ideas of tolerance were trampled under foot. Even the dis¬ciples of His teachings, the minis¬ters and priests, fought against each other and revealed their lack of true understanding of Jesus Christ. The great World war ended with the nations defending the right vic¬torious and the powers of greed and hate conquered and subdued. Still inspired by the star of tol¬erance, which shone through our every action, the United States with the help of allied nations, projected the peace treaty and then the League of Nations, both of which were the result of tolerant think¬ing; based upon the seed of which is found in the principles of our government—the constitution. TOLERANCE DOMINATES. Tolerance once more took root and grew as never before until to¬day the world is confronted with the real idea of love and brother¬hood. Confronted with the oppor¬tunity to do the greatest work ever undertaken by any group, the United States must recognize in tol¬erance the means to further and strengthen that which is dearest to the hearts of people, the govern¬ment. We should center our en-ergy on a better country for a bet¬ter people. Intolerance has teen all too prevalent in every walk of life among the American people. The wealthy have brought pressure to bear upo the poor, causing them to suffer and, in turn, fight back. This alone is an unforgivable breach of the promise given in the constitution. That worthy document was formed primarily to provide for the insurance of domestic tran¬quility, the establishment of jus¬tice and the promotion of the gen¬eral welfare of the people. If we will only try to maintain these ideas, we will be rid of the ani¬mosity between classed, and hence rid of a danger threatening to cause a breach in a wonderful unity. The industrial system in the United States, regarding the worker more as a machine than as a man, must be taught the lesson of intoleration. Man must be recognized as mniu It is absolutely necessary to lo unto others as we would have them do unto us. The light from the star of tolerance, sliming through our greav, document, the constitution, will re-move our most perplexing internal problems and will cause this na¬tion to advance and progress as no other nation on earth. Labor and capital will cease their bat¬tling, religious sects will realize the futility of quarreling and crime will die out, if only the people will accept the fact that the teach¬ings of Christian tolerance, taught by the forefathers of this great na¬tion, are for the betterment of man. In order to retain a powerful na¬tion of one people, we must believe in man. Religious, racial and class hatred's must be abolished. Our minds have been occupied with im¬material matters for so long we find it hard to realize the import¬ance of well being. We have made mountains out of mole hills and now must change our ways of thinking so as to rid ourselves of our evils. Because of their intolerant at¬titude toward the lower classes, the Roman nobles lost their civiliza¬tion. Because of the narrow ideas of the French aristocrats, they were overthrown in revolution. England lost her colonies in this New World because of her lack of toleration for freedom loving people. Russia has been forced to experience revolution and the worst of conditions because of the intolerance shown by her imperial sovereigns to her peasant class. Thus we can read¬ily see that it is not only me wel¬fare of the people, but the welfare of a great government that is en¬dangered by intolerance. We must make the foundations of our homeland firm and strong by constitutional support; we must protect the interests of our citi¬zens and our government by preaching the gospel of tolerance.