The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-26
GOOD SOUND SENSE.

Writing in the Bachelor of Arts concern
Ing the Monroe doctrine, Theodore RoOsc-
vel, utters these virle and opportunc SEN
timtnts: Love of country Is an eie-
mental virtue, like love of home, OF like
honesty or courage. The useful member
of II community Is the nan who mrs,
and foremost attends to his own rights
and duties, ana who thereby becomes be-
ter fitted to do his share In the common
duties of all. The useful member of the
brotherhood OF nations is that nation
which realizes most fully its rights as
IA nation and its duties to its own cit!-
ZenS.
Every educated man who puts himself
out of touch with the current of Ameri-
can thought. and who on conspicuous oc-
casiOns ass,mes an attitude hostile to the
interest of America, Is doing what he
can to weaken the influence of educat ted
men in American life. 1t is an admira-
Bile thing to possess refinement and culti-
walton. but the price is too dear If tncy
must he paid for at the cost of the rugged
fighting qualities which make a man able
to do u mans work in the world. and
which make his heart beat with that love
of country which is shown not only in
readiness to try to make her civic life bet
ter. but also TO stand up manfully for her
when her honor and influence are at stake
in II dispute with a foreign power"
ILL
Speaking of this tendency In highly ed
ucated men. Mr.. Roosevelt goes on TO
misled by the sneers of those who always
write patriotism between inverted COM
mas. Timidity, sometimes, Is peculiarly
developed among educated men whose ed
ucation has tended to make them over
cultivated and over-sensitive to foreign
opinion. They are generally men who un-
dervalue the great fighting qualities. with
out which no nation can ever rise to the
honor. or Of national right or wrong, is
at stake, no question of financial interest
should be considered for moment. I'D.
,icaton should intensity. patriotism. and
striving to do good to the country from
within. but by readiness to uphold its
interests and honor, at any cost. when
menaced from without. There Is a gen
among certain educated people to lose the
power of doing efficient work as they
acquire refinement. The man who for
gets that real education must include
the cultivation Of the fighting virtues is
sure to manifest this tendency to ineffi-
cheney. II Is exhibited on a national scale
by the educated men who take the anti
American side Of international questions.
The anaemic man of retinemen. and culti-
walton. whose intellect has been educated
at the expense of his character, and who
shrinks from all those struggles through
which alone the world moves on to great
ness, is inclined to consider any express
sion Of the Monroe doctrine as truculent
and ill-advised.'
tit
Finally. he must have had the typical
Mugwump in his mind when he peined
his paragraph "a certain limited num-
ber of persons are fond of decrying pa
triOtism as a selfish virtue and strive
with all their feeble might to inculcate in
its place Il kind of milk-and-water cos-
mopolitanism. These good people are
never men of robust character or impOs-
ing personality. and the plea itself is not
worth considering. Some reformers may
urge that, In the ages, distant future, pa
triotism. like the habit OF homogeneous
marriage. will become n needless and OBJ
sOlete virtue: but just at present the man
who loves other countries as much as he
does his own H. quite as noXious a mem
her of society as the man who loves other
women as much as he loves his wife"