698 State Papers and Addresses

the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we
esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven
knows how to put a proper prize upon its goods and it would be strange, indeed,
if so celestial an article as Freedom would not be highly rated. "

If freedom which to the patriots of 1776 was still an ideal to be achieved,
could command such a patriotic response from the men and women of that day,
certainly the freedoms that we have known, that have been so integral a part
of the warp and woof of our National existence these many years, demand of
us every sacrifice, every hour of toil that we can possibly give.

Already many hundreds of our American citizens have made the final sac-
rifice, in order that you and I and millions of people in America and throughout
the world may continue to breathe the free air of liberty. There is nothing
that you and I could be called upon to pay, or to sacrifice, that would be too
costly a price to pay for Freedom.

American citizenship, with all its unmatched privileges, is a possession of
such superlative worth that its defense is a sacred trust laid upon each one of
its beneficiaries. To possess it involves the sacred obligation to protect and
perpetuate it. No true patriot can, or would wish to, discard this responsibility.

The defense of our rights and our homes is a duty which rests upon every
citizen. Americans in every previous time of crisis have been ready to offer
their wealth, even to give their very lives, to uphold the sacredness of their
individual and National rights. Americans of today are no less ready to risk
their all, in order to safeguard, with God's help, the valued heritage that is their
American citizenship.