To the editor:

I am mindful of the words of a very patriotic American, Ceferino Balbin, who was Secretary-Registrar of the Scottish Rite Masonic Bodies in Tampa, Fla. On Aug. 13, 1917, he announced that he had just been drafted and was arranging to go to the ‘front’ imminently. He had a wife and two children; was a strong believer in the draft-system and did not believe in the ‘exemption’ clause. He said: “If we all expect to derive benefits, we all ought to fight. Of course we can’t all fight at one time, but we all ought to be ready to answer the call, when needed.”

Mr. Balbin added: “I believe it is the duty of every male person, whether citizen or stranger, to become a ‘Soldier of Freedom’.” That should be the current universal policy throughout our nation today.

Ceferino Balbin fur

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