The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-05-31

are uOI WOTuS IQdC can u6 bulely lSuoleu, they have too much intelligent discontent behind them. The American king is not dead; and though he seems to sleep, he will awake; the men who do wrong who gated power for purely personal or .partizan purposes, will do we'll to keep wholesome fear of him before their eyes, they cannot escape his wrath the day Of judgment 9en iT their candor, are trife pessimistic.
 These are not the worst times our coun- try has seen, the last days of degenera1tte, Bryce correctly diagnosed our condition when he wrote: What opinion chiefly nedes in America, in order to control the the part of men of, vigorously independent minds; a more sedulous effort on their part to impress their views on the masses That. need is being felt and met; vision, is fful men are lifting their voices on every hand interreting the will of the people, champloning their cause, and directing purpose 5 @ and finding Intelligent expression; and already the dawn of better day is brightening the east, This is not the hour to decry OUT times, or to tibe at our people: l like better the hopeful ring of Richard Watson Gilders recent lines:
 'He speaks not well who doth his time de-
 plore,
 Ignoble and unfit for lofty deeds.
 All times were modern in the time of them, And this no more than others. Do thy part Here in the living dsy, as did the great Gazing long back to this forthcoming hour, Say: Then the time when men were truly Though wars grew less, their spirits met the test
 Of new conditions conquering civic wrong; Saving the state anew by virtuous lives; Guarding the country's honor as their own, And their own as their country's and their sons;
 Defying leagued fraud with single truth; Not fearing loss; and daring to be, pure. When error through the land ragged like pest,
 They caught the madness caught from mind to mind.
 By wisdom drawn from cid, and counsel And as the martyrs of the ancient world | Gave Death for man, so nobly gave they Those the great days, and that the heroic There speaks the true American spirit; and there, if It could be writ large" on tion:
 ''Do thy part
 Here in the living day, as did the great Who made old days imnortal!"
 Now let us hear some words spoken at the beginning ''In proportion as tue struc- ture of a. government gives force to public oRnG%n it is that BPola Pnbe 0pntGSn tSa
  words of George Washington; they testify | clearly to the purpose of the fathers in the I peculiar structure of the government, and 1 indicate the calm judgment of one who ! knew that purpose as to the best means of | making it efficient
 l But how Is public opinion to be enlight- ened? The answer Is not hard to find: By l the general diffusion of. knowledge. That l Is stating a truism, and one whose state ment may seem especially unnecessary in community prlding itself upon being aTn l t,,En tda+,1n nxx1 n@, nnI Q,1f{ is a truism which even here has not attain ed the authority in the thinking Of many men to which 1t Is entitled. That method of evolving sentiment is too slow. a process | our politics and parcel out our offices; more than that 1t does. not produce partizans and pliant tools; 1t does not recruit. the rouslng meetings, impassioned harangues 1 upon inconsequent issues, and promises of 1 reward when they come into their kingdom, are better suited to their purposes.
 Public opinion may be enlightened by | alities and great events. Scenic displays have recognized place among educational forces. The popularizing of history and bi- ography, monuments anniversary and me- morial days. patriotic societies--when they are not made to emphasize class distinc- tions---foster civic pride, waken ambition, rect Enowledge Of what has been, Even ap. peals to the imagination are harmless, tho l they sometimes smack of fulsome eulogy, Jlngoism. and hero- worship; the facts are coming out, and facts are always the safe corrective of vain imaginings. What Pro- l lessor Sloan has been doing for Napoleon, 1 Nicolay and Hay have done for Lincoln, Horace Porter has done for Grant, Paul Leicester Ford has done for Washington, and Blaine and John Sherman have done for the congress and the parties. We are beginning to see real men < real history is and the new vision is more inspiring and helpful than the old Let us not begrudge our infrequent holidays; let our orators still enjoy some measure Of poetic license; | let our patriotic societies continue their valuable work; let the Grand Army of the Republic, steadily pursuing its present pol icy, show less solcitude about pensions and more anxiety to preserve facts for the in- struction of our youth and they will do a service to their dead comrades themselves, and the nation which will eclipse all their deeds on the field; let us have more days like this, not mere holidays, but days of calm and loving remembrance, days on which the press, the pulpits, and the schools shall call attention to men, to events, to principles, and to dangers. Let all these potent Influences work together in the edu. cation of the people, and you will develop an intelligent and sensitive public opinion, and clothe 1t with the authority proposed for 1t in the structure of the government
 The press must refuse the dictation of
 machines" cease to infame party passion eousness. and patriotism, and the pulpit must insist upon it's right to be heard upon all great public questions. We do not want q political church; God forbid! We have no place for a partizan pulpit; we have nc standing room for a carping, scolding min
 istry, or for a priesthood that presumes tc control voters or to dictate to the state Ii
 need hardly be said that, aside from the ] ethics of the matter, as party lines are now
 drawn and congregations are constituted
 neither church nor pulpit can speak in the name of any platform or policy, but bott must speak in the name of what is pure il all parties, in the name of the people; they
 can and must demand the coronation ot conscience; they cannot go on repeating an
 cient rituals, retailing pious platitudes fighting dead pharisees, leaving great saving
 principles to the tender mercies of dema
 gogues and retain the respect of thoughtfu
 have strong and unequivocal words spoker
 upon personal and civic righteousness. II
 condemnation of the greed and corruption
 that skulks behind honorable party names
 In denunciation of the drawing of natiopa political lines through municipal affairs
 and of every movement, combination, ol 1 appeal that weakens the public conscience
 or blinds the public eye
 Beloved, however you may regard m,
 treatment of it. this theme Is not unimpor
 tant, nor Inappropriate to this day aDf place. If we cannot, or do not evolve aDi
 maintain an enlightened and ethicalIy pur,
 public opinion there Is little hope for in,
 republic. No question of finance of tempo
 rary depression, of international cOmDIica
 tions is comparable to this In a govern
 ment whose structure gives such force ant
 authority to public opinion, you. and neI