The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-04
YOU SHOULD, OR You MUST

Louis Nash, Is a worthy representa-
tive, and that school to which the
G b e belongs, is expressed in our
caption, indicating the difference in the
means to be employed to bring about
results as to whose benefcence we all
agree. No one disputes that this would
be a much better world If the golden
rule were the universal guide Of hui
man conduct, If selfishness were never
perverted into our over-reaching, and
If men would all consider how far the
exercise Of their rights might work in
jury to their fellows. Toward such a
condition both schools aspire, but differ
fundamentally as to the means by
which 1t may be gained. Broadly
stated, the sentimental school-and we
use the word in no satirical sense
would use means having behind them
the imperative you must while those
of the other school, holding their sem
timent in check, subordinating it to
the realities Of existence and the wis
dom gained from experience, would
reach the same end by the persuasive
you should"
Disciples of the sentimental school
do not reject moral suasion as an i'm
plement Of progress, but, impatient Of
the slow progress made by that
method, irritated by conditions exist
ing in spite Of it's efforts, they would
should" with the mandate you must"
issued by the imperial state and backed
by all it's powers. We are all agreed,
for instance, that humanity would be
better in soul and body were all men
habitualy sober; but the impatient
ones would make them 50 by prohibi-
ton Of the manufacture and sale Of
that which produces inebriety. Again,
we will all agree that conditions would
be improved if each bought what he
needed from his neighbor who made
1t rather than Of the remote stranger,
even If a higher price were paid than
the stranger asked. Aside from those
agreeing to this because of the advan-
tage it would be to them, those motived
by pure selfshness, the sentimental
lists would compel men to do what the
others merely agree they should do
The latter dissent from compulsory
methods in any Of these movements
for the betterment of morals or phys
ical conditions, because wherever they
are inefficacious they work injustice,
and because they infringe upon and re-
strict that freedom Of action which is
as essential to the growth of morals
as it is to the material development Of
men. These are conclusions drawn,
not from mere speculation, but from
the rich stores Of human experience.
1t will hardly be insisted that the NOR
ais Of the people Of civilized nations,
for instance, are not better now that
the state desists from making them it's
ward than they were when the state
held them in it's keeping. AS a whole,
mankind is better, more humane, more
charitable, less selfish, less cruel than
it was in the times when the state
OSSHlSu Il OlIG VI llo 1uI1SllO1S " GULL
pei acceptance of religious doctrine and
attendance upon it's teachings. Profess
sions Of faith and attendance at di-
vine service may not be as universal
now as then, but no one will seriously
question the great moral uplift since
the state has refrained from it's you
must" and restricted itself to the in
junction you should"
Mr.. Nash fails to understand our po-
sition if he thinks that we seem to
assume that because things are as they
are they must be right" If he is a
reader of the G 10 b e S editorial col
umns he must have seen it's constant
opposition to things that are, because
they are not right. 1t recognizes that
':they are" because of prior conditions
that can only be removed by convinc-
ing men that the conditions out of
which they sprung are wrong; by ap-
pealing to the sense Of right in men,
thus creating a public opinion that is
more powerful than statutes, because
men will do that which is right when
convinced that they should when they
will rebelliously refuse to do it if the
state should say to them, you must"