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FRANKLIN BEFORE THE LORDS IN COUNCIL, LONDON, 1774

214

AN EMERGENCY CALL

252

PUBLIC SERVICE

332

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INTRODUCTION

BY

JAMES RUDOLPH GARFIELD, LL.D.

PUBLIC SERVICE covers a broad field of endeavor and activity. It is a duty resting upon every American citizen; he can not free himself from it, but he may woefully neglect it.

A serious mistake, commonly made, is to consider citizenship a right rather than a duty. We Americans are prone to lay great stress upon our rights and to forget or shirk our public duties. The truth is that duties come first, they are the foundation for the enjoyment of rights.

The rights of liberty and property depend upon the fulfillment of our obligations to our fellow men. Organized society requires the individual to subordinate many of his personal desires to the good of the whole community, and to assume duties for the public good.

Self-government - the democratic ideal toward which we are striving - is impossible unless the great majority of citizens honestly and wisely perform the duties of citizenship. Failure to fulfill these duties inevitably results in government by the few and the establishment of special privileges enjoyed by the few to the detriment of the many.

It is idle for men to clamor for rights if, through neglect or indifference, they fail to do their full share of public service for the common good. Rights will be permanently gained whenever duties are performed, not otherwise.

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