The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-11-14
THE CARRINGToN PUBLISHING co.
,al government and municipal atmos-


all Difference to the POSTMASTER, who,
am bound to say, is usually on the
right side of these questions, and in
dependent enough to speak out clearly;
1T cannot be settled by the paid agents
of Law and Order leagues alone, by
professional reformers, or political econ
omists, much less by politicians. 1t
can be settled by business men, the
men who have most at stake, Clean
and efficient government will come; the
enforcement Of law will come; whole
some moral conditions will come-as
public Improvements come-when busi-
ness men make q demand, and stand
together, and stand unfiinching, and
stand all the time in support of that
demand. I will not remind you that
these things are of interest to you as
related to taxation, for they are more
than a question of taxes. This is a
question of civic righteousness, of duty
to the age, of the example and atmos-
phere you are to bequeath your de-
scendants, Of devotion to the best things
in government and in the social order
for the sake of the best things. In
difference to these things so long as
business is not interfered with, and
taxation is not excessive is simply en-
couraging the vicious and the lawless,
and revealing a lamentable lack of civic
spirit. Ineed not remind you that clean
government attracts business and peo-
pie looking for a home; that the en-
forcement of the excise and gambling
laws is protection to you, removing
temptation from your clerks and work.
men and making their service of more
value. The question is of greater in
terest to you as men and citizens
Yourselves cherishing lofty ideals of
manhood and community life; demand
ing the best in government and in social
conditions you will create an atmos-
phere in which corruption and vice will
find it hard to thrive. The silent appeal
of lofty ideals made manifest in living
is irresistible The man who shows that
he knows what life means, that he has
a higher aim than gathering wealth,
and making a success in business, can
give the eager-eyed youth, looking
about them from the threshold of life,
a message that will be of infinite value
to them and to the future. You cannot
afford to be satisfied with the protec-
tion of property and of property rights;
safe business conditions and chance
| to get rich. AS men, as Americans,
and lovers of all that is best in Ameri-
can thought and life, you must stand
| in the very front of this battle that is
waging for lofty manhood, for stable
| institutions and a high moral purpose
in life.
| I am not a pessimist. T am hopeful
for man, and for republican irstitu-
| tions. I believe that 'ithe power not
ourselves that makes for righteousness"
is steadily working towards ultimate
victory. But I believe that men and
communities must work out their own
salvation by the intelligent application
of the principles that power has re-
vealed. There are forces laundering at
the gates of your New England civiliza-
! ton whose spirit is alien and hostile
the spirit of indifferentism, the spirit
Of secularism, the spirit of discomfort,
| fostered by the expressions of other
| lands, imported here by men who know
not what we are or the meaning of our
history and deposited in the very
bosom of New England cities. Doctrin-
aires, and theorists, and agitators are
mouthing strange, new creeds And
there will be a conflict. 1t will come,
and it will be between the real Amer
ican spirit and all that is hostile there
to. Old battles are to be refought, only
with new weapons and on larger fields;
the ideas that made us are to be re
stated, in new terms, but with the old
emphasis; everything worth preserving
is to be perpetuated, as it was first es-
tablished, through strife and sacrifice.
And the men who are bound by the
closest ties to what is best in our past
and present; the men who have the
largest interest in the stability
of American institutions must stand
like granite wall against the invasions
of destructive ideas and customs. This
nation is under great obligation to men
like you. Business men, by the conse-
Grafton Of their talents for money get
ting, and the wealth they have won,
have built and endowed our schools
and colleges; our hospitals and asylumsi
they have made possible our great ex-
positions, and maintained our mission
ary and philanthropic operations. By
rtheir patriotic sacrifices they have more
than once preserved the national credit
They must also consecrate themselves
to a high ideal of American manhood
to the cause of good citizenship, of clean
government of the enforcement of law
and the preservation of the moral order
or these things will fail among US
Speaking for the thousands who have
enjoyed the blessing of these institu-
tions, and for the nation which has
reaped the rich harvest of your skill
and courage, and generosity, I CRATE.
fully acknowledge this obligation, and
1 say make this other conservation and
you will put the world in your debt
forever.
Sometimes "the stranger that is
within your gates" free from super.
cilious complacency on the one side an6
from petty fault-finding on the ots-er
can perceive conditions, both advan
tages and needs, with a clearer eye thar
those who are born to them and are un
familiar with any other.
May I be allowed to say, this noble
, old city of yours, rich in history ant
traditions, beautiful for situation, re
nowned for culture. for wealth, for en-
terprise, and for educational advan
. tages, offers you a magnificent arena
+ it may be made the synonym of clear
= and co111hr,fo1,c y,oora1 oor,