Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-02-16
The Outlook Of the Nations.

l
Teachers Institute at Ironton, Feb. 4th.
| 1882, by Thomas Callahan, and published
by request Of the Instituted
"Watchman, what of the night
what of the night?" And the watch
man answered, 1.-The morning cometh,
and also the night. If ye will inquire
which comes. first, and from what di-
rectiOn it is coming, and at what rate
of speed, and how near it is, and what
agencies are bringing it, enquire ye; but
return come, to perform the duties,
bear the sponsibilities, and bear the
responsibilities of the coming day"
1t is well, especially for those who
teach Others, to know the signs of the
times, that they may see what is duty
and how and why it should be done.
On the first day of January, 1882, for
the first time In eighteen centuries, the
sun arose on a world at peace. 1t is
true that. in more countries than one.
questions of internal policy required a
military force. but no nation was lift
ing up sword against another on that
day. In this We can see God turning
wars into peace unto the ends Of the
earth-breaking the bow, cutting the
spear asunder, burning the chariot in
the fire, and saying to nations in their
plottiRgs and rage, "Be still, and know
that 1 am God: [ will he exalted among
nations; I will be exalted i'm the EARTH"
Whilst we acknowledges that God is
the Prince of the kings-the Governor
among the nations; that the hearts of
kings are In the hands of the Lord and
He turneth them whithersuever He
will, as the rivers of water; that He
makes the wrath of man to praise
Him, and restraints the remainder there
of, yet under all these we can discern
human agencies-the workings of the
hopes and fears. the passions, and the
plans of men. Analyzing the present
peace by these tests, il resolves Itself
into four elements: Selfishness. Fear,
Jealousy, and Poverty. Seltishnsss is
in the fact that there is not to-day OH
the face of the globe even a fifth-rate
nation that does not have OH its hands
questions of internal administration,
which tax all its powers, and for the
solution of which q state of peace is
necessary. Let investigation in this
matter, like charity, begin at home.
1t is true that, by the most terrific
struggle the world ever saw, we have
reaffirmed and esta blished the unity
of ouT nation; and it is true also that,
in the hour of our exhaustion, we
needed to obey the law of the ancient
Greeks, which required victorious
General and successful statesman in
Nemesis, the goddess of retributive
justice. The settlement of the ,ques-
ton. OF our national unity left "a. AT
issue with God on the question of
emancipation. When Lincoln was re-
quested, i'm his Emancipation Procla-
nation, to recognise slavery as sin
against God, he answered that the
ministers of religion are not agreed
that it is a sin; and SO emancipation
was merely a military measure, in
spite of G"l's saying-"I will be ex-
allied in the EARTH"
'The mills of God grind slow,
But they grind exceeding small"
The close of the war found US face to
face with national debt of nearly three
billions of dollars, and q system of ma
tional banking founded thereon, with
its endless complications of finance.
After the blood, tears, and dust of the
conflict were wiped out of our eyes, we
might well pause and ask whether we
would not have gained, i'm both stabil-
secession i'm the Southern States, and
in their population, and
tn en- held the territory AS a fief of the
sword, and let the people come back
under our naturalization laws. This is
a question with which we as nation
are not yet done. But there is another
question as hard as any of these, i'm the
fact that, when We admitted four mill
ions and halt of our colOred population
to citizenship, and threw our doors wide
open to immigrants from foreign cOun-
tries, our civilization bit off more than
it could chew, digest, and assimilate
before it would sour. We cannot ge
hack OH our national acts, but we can
guard the future. Civil government is
in its very nature an ordinance of God;
but the mOdeuf its administration must
depend on the amount of intelligent
morality among its subjects. When
the citizens are highly intelligent and
n"ral, it is safe to distribute the pow
ers of government among the people;
but when they become as the horse or
mule, which have no understanding,
then their mouths must be held in by
the bit and bride of strong lnstitu-
tiuns. Tie question, then, is how to
telescope the powers of government 80
rs to reach this object without IL revOlu-
ton of violent character. A close stu
dent Of our political economy can see
that the States are qui tly gathering
the rights which did belong to the pei
pie. aud that the Federal Government
is quietly gathering up the rights which
formerly belonged to the States, and
that, in order to the accomplishment
of this two-fold object. there is perfect
agreement between the Northern Rad
ical and the Southern Democrat, and
that, i'm the meantime, both are busy
throwing tubs to the whale called the
public, or to Mr.. Buncombe ami his
wife. A close student Of our present
social status will see that we must to-
day face the question of a uniform law
of divorce-cOntrolling as it must the
whole marriage relation. and determin-
ing the Legitimacy of children, and the
rights of property acquired during
and that, i'm the near future,
we must face the question of uniform
system of common school education.
The solution of these problems requires
peace. All are interested, and no one
desires war.