Transcription
6
The Manassas Messenger,
Tuesday, June 28, 1949
Manassas Messenger
In Prince William County, Virginia
Published Every Tuesday and Friday at the
MESSENGER BUILDING
Next to the Prince William County Court House
Manassas, Va
BENJAMIN MUSE Sr.
Publisher and Editor
JAMES H. PAYNE, Manager,
PAUL A. MUSE
Managing Editor
THE MESSENGER PRESS
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
In Prince William and
Fairfax Counties ......................$2.00 a Year; $1.25. 6 Months
Elsewhere ............................$2.50 a Year; $1.50, 6 Months
Member, Virginia Press Association and National Editorial Association
MEMBER AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS
"HANDS ACROSS THE SEA"
The greeting from Dumfries, Scotland, to Dumfries,
Virginia, which the Messenger is proud to carry in this
issue, are of more than passing significance.
The message comes to us from the descendants of
many of those whose kinsmen and neighors settled in our
county over 200 years ago and founded Dumfries, once the
county seat and by far the most notable town that has
ever flourished within these boundaries .
The ancestral thread has been broken many times
in these two centuries, but our kinship remains essentially
authentic and memorable. The great majority of us still
are descendants of pioneers who came, if not from Dumfries,
from other sections of the tight little islands of
Great Britain. The greeting from Dumfries to Dumfries
is a timely reminder to all of us that people in America and
people in Europe are brothers.
The writer has visited Dumfries, Scotland, and has
traveled extensively in Europe. Our strongest impression
was, not of the differences between us, but of the great
similarity of our peoples. Although they have some different
customs and they have had some different problems to
face, people over there are very much like ourselves.
In Dumfries, Scotland, they cling to certain ancient
titles and ceremonies which seem strange to us, but they
conduct their affairs of government and business very
much as we do. They have their squabbles and get over
them, in democratic fashion, just as we do. Nor is there
any lack of business enterprize: the booklets which we received, advertising Dumfries, would be a credits to any
American chamber of commerce. Above all, they love peace
and they worship God in much the same way we do.
There is one great difference, to be sure, between
Dumfries and all European communities and America now.
We were, perhaps, the foremost contender in World War
II, but our soil was entirely free from the havoc of war.
Nearly every community in Europe, on the other hand,
suffered and is still suffering from that great catastrophe.
They deserve our sympathy and our help, as well as our
admiration for their courage in time of adversity.
For Dumfries, Scotland, assuredly all of us in Prince
William County have a warm feeling of kinship and friendship,
and we wish for that ancient city every good fortune
in the years to come.Transcriber
Adam Kitchen