Introductory Remarks By Commissioner Of Education Earl McGrath

Introductory Remarks* This is a time for fundamentals--for straight talk about freedom, democracy, and brotherhood--for clear thinking about the spiritual values that have made our Nation great. If we meen to preserve our heritage and save western civilization, we must grasp the full of individual dignity and equal opportunity, and we must put these ideas to work in our daily lives. Sham, hesitation, or double-talk will not suffice on this anniversary of Washington's birthday, for the hour is perilously late and the danger to our way of life is total and relentless. At this moment, the disciples of Communist Imperialism are beaming their Great Lies about the Free World, about the United Nations, and about the United States to every corner of the globe. Their "upside- down talk" makes mockery of our ins titutions and our beliefs. It is of crucial importance that we seize every opportunity to speak out against the evils of totalitarianism, and at the same time affirm our belief in and devotion to the ideals of democratic living. It is especially si ghificant, therefore, that today in Washington we are paying special tribute to four young people who speak for democracy. These high school students--two girls, age 16, and two boys, age 17--have shown that they know how to talk straight and think straight about the fundamentals and about the moral principles that really count in this free society of ours. They are about to receive scholarship awards honoring them as winners of the fourth annual "Voice of Democracy" contest. In this contest the United States Office of Education has taken a part since its inception in 1947. One and one-half *By Earl James McGrath, U.S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C. at the Voice of Democracy Awards Luncheon, Hotel Statler, Washington, D. C., February 22, 1951, 1:30 p.m. Published in School Life, Volume 33, No. 8, May 1951, p. 114.