San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-10-03
PLAYING GOD.


Attention has frequently been called
to the fact that there were no private
soldiers who survived the late war.
Only generals and colonies and majors,
with here and there a captain or a
lieutenant, but not a private. Pri-
Yates are out of fashion in this latter
day consequence. Common people are
getting so uncommon that it is a re-
lief to find them. 1t is luxury to
run across an everyday kind of a per-
son. 1t grows tiresome to meet these
people who are on the upper shelf,
everlastingly. Do they never get down
in the dark of the moon to stretch their
legs? Perhaps they have no legs, only
limbs. In that case they do not need
stretching any more than the limbs Of
trees. Naturalness seems to have gone
out of date. Better pray and labor for
its return.
But seriously this straining after
the head Of the procession, the chief
seats at the feast the best pew in the
church, the highest office in the lodge,
the biggest piece of pie on the plate,
the highest title on the roster, has
grown monotonous. Worse, it has
made us as people ridiculous. We will
be putting our horses on stills next,
so that they will be a little farther
from the common dirt than the every
day nags. 1t has killed off the old SOL
diers of the late war, on both sides so
that a private cannot be found with
a searchwarrant. The virus has eaten
into the very substance of our life.
Our babes are born with it. From the
time that the little toddlers balance
themselves on their little pins and lisp
incoherently they ape their parents.
Here Is a case in point:
The fond mother of three children
was obliged to demonstrate with her
oldest boy because in the childrens
games he would always take the lead
and assign subordinate positions to
his little brother and sister.
The boy promised not to be selfish
in the future. A few days later the
mother, happening to go into the nur-
sery, saw the two younger children en-
gagged in amateur theatricals. The ell
der boy stood aside with arms fold
ed, modify watching them. I'VE are
playing Adam and Eve" said the
youngsters. The mother was much
gratified, as she supposed that in this
instance at least the boy had allowed
his brother the principal role. She
turned to the silent figure in the cor
ner, about to praise him. who are
yOu?" she asked. God" was the an
swer.
This is the trouble with this gener-
alton. We all want to play God"
Nothing less than this is going to suit
1t is this spirit that makes the scram-
BILE for place, for leadership, for profit,
for advantage so fierce. Competition
is the life of trade. This is all right.
Contention is the death Of peace. This
is all wrong. Leadership is a great
thing, and it is a laudable ambition to
aspire to lead. But when this aspir-
alton leads only to evaporation it is
not good thing. The born leaders
are scarce, but there are enough of
them to fill all the vacancies. When
man must be first or nothing, II is
usually we'll to put him down as moth
ing. The man with the genius Of
leadership in him never makes the mis-
take Of fighting for the head of the COL
umn.
The proportion of officers to men in
any company, civil or military, must
be proportionately small. This is a
natural condition that admits of no
criticism and of no change. 1t is so
in business, in government, in public
and private constructions, in the whole
round Of labor in all the affairs Of
men. 1t is the few the very few who
direct. The many are left to execute.
to follow directions. Even among the
so called officers, there are grades. By
comparison the subaltern is as much
a private to his general as the man
in the ranks to the subaltern. So in
business, the department overseer is
only private in the eyes Of the gem
eral manager. Graduation is the rule
all the way through, up or down AS
the commoner to the noble so the no
bic to the king.
1t might be supposed that in Demo-
cratic America, under popular form
Of government, that this itch for lead
ership, this contention for place, this
rush 70 lead the procession, would be
less marked than in the old monarch
ial countries where rank is everything,
but it is not. Here it is every one