of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 35

at peace, relatively free from the mental turmoil that engulfs nearly every
other nation on the earth, we may wonder, whether any of us ever has given
to the memory of our First President the reverence and respect due it.

There are times, it does seem, when the Almighty raises up on this earth
a particular person to accomplish a particularly vital objective. Certainly,
when our forefathers were in their death struggle with the Mother Country
across the sea—a struggle that, as we are privileged to look back upon it now,
was much more than an isolated bid for freedom by the thirteen tiny States
of the American Colonies—it is doubtful if that struggle ever could have been
brought to a successful conclusion had1 it not been for the heroic virtues of
George Washington. In the darkest moments of Valley Forge, in the gloom
of despair and defeat and treachery, it was Washington's fortitude, his glorious
example, that held his ragged armies together, and gave them the hope and
the will to carry on until victory was theirs.

There is an historic picture of this great leader in the State House at
Annapolis, a picture which it would be well for every loyal American to view
once in a while. It shows Washington standing with two of his Generals at
Valley Forge—a resolute, sturdy figure, physically strong and composed
mentally, a leader whose remarkable qualities of intellect and will have been
translated forcefully on the canvas by the famous artist who painted1 it.

To look at that picture today, and to realize what he did for the entire
world in leading the United States first out of the War, and then to a fuller
realization of the opportunities offered the new Nation, is enough to give us
quite a different, and larger concept of the mission he performed upon this
earth.

Were it not for George Washington, it is entirely possible, nay, even
likely, I would say, that this land now so free, now so important as the leader of
the democracies of the world, would be another Africa—colonized for gain by
the warring countries of the Old World, divided and distributed as the will of
the conqueror or emergency demanded. Lost to the World would be the land
of promise that has over a period of nearly one hundred and fifty years, opened
up a new hope of living in hundreds of thousands of oppressed peoples the
world over. Lost to the world, forever perhaps, would be the democratic
leadership and inspiration that yet may be the deciding factor in saving the
world from the degradation and despair that is the lot at least of the minorities
in the totalitarian states that are seeking so steadfastly to extend their in-
fluence, and the influence of their doctrines, throughout the world.

At any time, in any condition of the world, it would be a salutary thing
for us to pause a little while on this day set apart to Washington's memory,
and contemplate the changes that have been effected in the world because of
Washington's having lived. Most especially under conditions now obtaining
in the world, is it advisable for us not only to contemplate, but to study and
master so thoroughly that we may never lose it, the sturdy philosophy of
life and government that was Washington's.

Thanks to George Washington and his devoted followers, this great
America that we love is free today, free from oppressions of every kind, our
of punishment. But while George Washington and those who fought so val-
fellow-citizens have full liberty to exercise their Cod-given rights without fear
iantly with him, won for us these rights, it will depend entirely upon us