The record-union., 1898-06-05
PRESENT DAY THOU6HTS.
BY "Nemo."
(copyrighted by Dave 4 Tabor,

sight. The truly great never boast;
they do not need to. 1t is the mind
that is too small to understand its re-
lation to other minds that vaunteth
itself to be something great; and be-
cause it is so small it is usually alone
in it's self-glorifying opinion. To do
and then to be content, whether the
doing becomes known or not, is to be
great But to do some trifiing thing
and then outrageously cackle about it,
is not only to be small but to appear
small. 1t is better to abide by the So
ber estimate of our fellows than to
confuse their minds and disgust them
by our vain gloryings. Granting that
our work has value, some one Will sure
ly arise to express appreciation Of it's
honesty and simplicity. Even earth
worms have had a Darwin to explain
the potency of their doings. But if no
praise comes, what matter? The heart
that feels it's own purity of intention
is not without an inner reward. The
surest way to a downfall is to boast,
because the very self-confidence of the
boaster prevents him from making the
most ordinary and common-sense pre-
parations for difficulties yet to be faced
and deeds yet to be done.
Let us give this thought a strong and
timely return Nationally we need it,
for by unfortunate chance many men
unprepared by study, unripe in judg-
ment, ignorant of history and it's teach
ings - blatant boasterS are, during
these days of national testing, writing
headlines and editorials for some of
the most-read American newspapers.
They are causing at home and abroad
most unfortunate estimate of our ma
tional worth, and they not only threat
Ell to but actually do make us look
ridiculous in the eyes of the world.
Nor this only, but they sin against us
all, and against the generations yet to
| come, by giving us a false opinion Of
ourselves.
Our nation is too great and has too
much reserve possibility of future
greatness to be worthily led in its opin-
ions by writer's of noisy headlines that
twist the capture Of a freighter into
notable achievement, or who magnify
skirmish into a naval engagement, or
who describe everything, either good or
bad, in terms that are never less than
superlative. The day that DeWey's
victory at Manila became known one OF
these blind leaders in New York with
readers that number nearly 1,OOO,OOO,
| fairly frothed at the mouth as he
| penned his editorial A most moderate
| line was that Strange Asiatic fishes
are now nibbling at the mustaches Of
| the naughty Dons"; and I'VE own the
Western Hemisphere; see!' This sure
| ly is not the American spirit, yet it gets
| remarked upon as such. If in any
4 q a;yt ,y,oo ipf fha real
American feeling, it was voiced in Ad-
| miral Dewey's own message. when.
| after mentioning his victory in most
| ordinary terms, he closed by saying
| that he was taking good care of 200
| or more wounded Spaniards.
| One scribbler for a paper that boasts
] q suppose because no news from Mars
and the distant stars can be gained to
| disproye. the assertion) a circulation
! 1.-The greatest in the universe" called
| the Manila exploit the greatest naval
! engagement in the history Of the
| world" Such a writer is in the condi-
| ton of an illiterate man who knows
| nothing except what has happened
during his own lifetime. From Semi
ramis to the time of our own late war
| there have been a dozen naval engage
ments that have affected the map Of
| the world more than this one will. AL
lowing that it is the first decided battle
| between modern warships - though
| Chile, Peru, Brazil, Japan and China
| have given US much knowledge in that
! direction-yet the Spaniards were at
| our mercy from the outset. They were
/ caught mapping, to begin with, un-
equal to us in number of guns and
weight of metal, though outnumbering
US in ships, and unprepared with train
| ed gunners. The last man to overesti-
mate it as a conclusive test of modern
| warfare would be brave Admiral
Dewey himself Boosting is excluded.
| but the thing to be thankful for is that
his courageous entry Of the harbor was
made justifiable, because the Spaniards
were not even able to explode their
submarine mines at the proper moment
| Of effectiveness. Had they succeeded in
damaging him, these very same jour-
| nails of. Unbalanced, ill-bred, brainless
| boy-men would have held ghost-dances
/ over the grave of his reputation.
| Before we accept the boasting stand
| ard as one to rally around let US bear
in mind that we are in combat with
seventh-rate power, whose finances are
in terrible condition, and whose un-
readiness is extraordinary. If our gage
Of battle had been thrown down in
| February of this year to some other
European power, whose ships and men
were absolutely ready for fight, we
should undoubtedly have had to mourn
many terrible disasters before we were
able to rally for effective defense and
| ultimate triumph. / say ultimate trl-
| umph in no boasting manner, but only
because our resources are so vast that
with war dragged out to any length
| we should undoubtedly win at this end
of the conflict at the last. We have
| done wonders in mastering and equip
| ping 100000 men and in instituting ef-
| fective coast projections in about
month, but it is well that they were not
needed within a week after the war
began.
| Then. again, let us ask ourselves
| what this war is about. By every Con-
| gressional declaration, we must sup
| pose 1t to be a deed of mercy toward
suffering and downtrodden people-oth-
| erwise would we certainly not have
chosen a famed and limping adversary.
Who ever heard of righteous merciful-
ness blowing blasts Of self-glorifica-
ton? Boosting! There is no room for
boasting! With the dignity and thor
| oughness of true greatness we are
striving to do a good deed. These vio-
lent interpreters of our doings who
| go ct;rL IN tho noSfri1S nf