St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-23

men; as yet we need, as every nation
| needs, to stand ready to defend our
! honor and our interests with the sword,
! if we are to occupy a place of note: in
! the world, and to do our work Well in
that grim and painful but necessary
struggle, through which ali of us, in
dividuals and nations alike, are NOV
! ing slowly forward toward the IN
| known goal which the future shrouds
from the most far sighted.
| Washington was not only one of the
worlds greatest men; he was also the
best of the worlds great men. The
| memory of such a man is a very
/ precious heritage to nation If cher
! ished Alright. He who reads of Wash
| ingtons deeds and remembers them
| that he may become wiser and better
citizen, is in fact paying good heed to
his memory. The politician and sol
! der who try to live up to the princ1-
pies which he illustrated by word and
! deed alike, are showing themselves fit
] to be called his countrymen.
Washington's whole life is meaning
less if it does not show that the dec
alogue and the golden rule should form
| the standard for public men above all
others; and he proved by what he ac-
! compliShed that it was no mere dream,
but the successful life work of our
greatest~man to make politics better,
to make craftsmanship purer, and to
make greater the alton which he had
in large part created.
Washington's name stands for rigid
honesty No talent in a public man
atones for dishonesty, and no COM
munity should tolerate in public life
a man concerning whose personal and
official integrity there is a reasonable
/ doubt Again, Washington's name
stands for exact truthfulness toward
friend and foe alike. He never hesitat-
ed to condemn in the strongest terms
whatever was evil; but he was incapa-
BILE of falSehood and SANDER
COURTEOUS AND FEARLESS.
Washington stood and now stands, for
the elemental moralitieS, for the ele-
mental principles of right, for the ele-
mental virtues of honesty, truth,
notwithstanding courtesy andfear-
lessness in denouncing and upholding
good. But besides this, he stood for
common sense and hard work. He did
the little things we'll when there were
no big ones to do. Like that great
American, the mighty son of Illinois
Abraham Lincoln-he never refused to
do the best possible, merely because he
did not think it was the ideal best He
was the greatest Of patriots, the great
est of reformers; but with him, both
patriotism and reform took an active
and practical shape. He did not merely
talk about what was to be done; still
less did he confine himself to mere
criticism of the doors. Whoever wishes
to achieve results in the field of civic
reform; whoever wishes to make our
civic life better and desires to see his
efforts bear practical fruit will do well
to try to saturate himself with some
of Washingtons practical common
sense, no less than with his courage
and his capacity for striving steadily
toward lofty and distant goal.
Now is it enough to have merely COM
mon sense and virtue? We must have
strength and courage as well. No man
is good citizen of the community who
lacks either the will OR the capacity to
wage rough warfare against 1aWleSs-
ness and against the foes of order, no
less than against the foes Of liberty.
The Inscriptions greed of some great
corporation or some individual in whom
the money getting faculty is unWhole-
sOmely developed, while the higher and
better qualities are completely afro
pllied may at times cause danger; but
the evil thus caused can always, under
a system of popular suffrage be reme-
died by the election of officers who are
just and decent. rl.t. VI.
Washington appreciated to the. full
that this government is government
of law, and that where the laws are de-
ministered, or are non-administered at
the will of some executive officer, it
mans that there has been progress
toward the overthrow Of true liberty.
Mob government is incompatible with
personal freedom, and anarchic V1o-
leMce is the handmade and bond ser
want of irresponsible tyranny.
A TRUE PATRIOT.
Finally it is not only that the true
patriotism shall war relentlessly
against the wrong-doer within the ma
ton, and shall be upright, honest and
fearless in the performance Of his or
binary civic duties; but further, that
he shall possess that high form. Of love
of country which shows itself in readi-
ness to support the country's inter
ests against the interests Of other ma
tions. Washington was soldier. He
won his prominence by the sword. 1t
is true that had he not been man of
the wisest and purest character he
never would have attained his high po-
sition, and would have been powerlcss
to do good to the country; but it is no
less true that he would have failed also
if he had been lacking in the splendid.
virile fighting qualities which ne
showed in his youth. There is an I'M
happy tendency among certain of our
cultivated people to lose sight of the
great, manly virtues, the power 10
strive and fight and conquer, not only
in time of peace, but on the field of
battle; exactly as there exists a ten
dency among our very wealthy people
to try all things by monetary stand
ard and to count the honor of the ma
ton as of little weight when compared
to the pecuniary loss which might be
caused by war
Wealth is a good thing, but it is i'll
to acquire it at the cost of losing the
power to see that there are other
things which are even better. Refine
ment and cultivation are also good
things; they are qualities which we
should strive in every way to acquire,
and we feel nothing but contempt for
the fool who jeers at education, but
this fool is partially justified by the
worse folly Of the man who really does
strive to shape education so that it
shall eliminate the manly qualities.
Cultivation and refinement are too
dearly purchased if they are bought
at the cost Of the loss of great fight
ing virtues, CT at the cost of the loss
of a spirit of intense Americanisnl.
Washington was an American in every
fiber of his body. His bringing up was
American. his inStinctS were American