The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-01-08

Another French observer remarks on
 the slow changes and careful transit tinns which follow and reflect the natu- ral progress of events. A German wri- ter says, "The people are practical and
 always ask for the attainable; when they have. reached it they go on to de- mand more. To claim everything at once they esteem folly" MT. Bagehal,
 the English economist, speaks of our
 genius for politics, our moderation in action, singularly curious where super
 ficial speech Is so violent, a regard for
 the law such as no great people have
 yet evinced and infinitely surpassing
 them Sir Henry Name says the suc-
 cess of our institutions comes rather
 from skilfully applying the curb to pop
 ular impulses than from giving them
 rein, and MT. Bryce affirms that de
 mocracy is no exception to the general
 tendency of mankind to adhere to the
 customs they have formed and admire
 the institutions they have created.
 While we love novelty in amusement,
 literature, social life, in serious mat
 ters such as religion and the funda-
 mental institutions of government, no
 progressive and civilized people is more
 conservative The Federal Constitu-
 ton, he says, is to us an ark of the cov-
 enant wherever no man may lay rash
 hands. The difference between the
 English Constitution and ours Has been
 often commented on, and the advan-
 tages and disadvantages of mobility
 and immobility in changing.
 We pass on to one of the next char
 acteristies mentioned, the love of compe-
 tition characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon
 race and reaching here it's utmost pitch
 The author claims that the competitive
 spirit is inseparable from manly
 strength and self-reliance and to de-
 stroy it is to extinguish self-help, our
 noblest incentive. All are taught here
 that it is the business of every man to
 make his own living; that the commit
 nifty Is not bound to give him employ
 ment so long as he is able to seek it for himself, or food and shelter so long as he is able to work for it. He follows his own bent and nothing could be more offensive to him than the constant pres ence and intrusion of such bureaucra- cy as the German submits to.
 Public spirit is affirmed to be one of our foremost characteristics. The num-
 ber of persons is great who are influ- enced by special appeals of reform
 movements directed at particular abuses. Associations for the general improvement of mankind have little at- traction to practical American, but he is ever ready to take up a specific pro- bem in reform or philanthropy and to
 work heartily at it until it is attained. Optimism is a further constitutional trait named. The American has un- bounded faith in the country and the people and this hopefulness leads to a good-natured acceptance of the will of the majority The side which has the strongest arguments will finally win. | This spirit is reinforced by the omni- | present sense of humor. The forward look is prevailing. We believe in pro- | gress if in no other God. Our belief like the Hebrews-is in our manifest destiny. Despite the sneers of foreign critics we esteem ourselves, with good l reason, the special objects of the pro- | tecting care of Providence. The mis- sion of the republic brings enthusiasm l to all.
 Let us proceed now to apply this American spirit to the question of indi- vidualism. America is the paradise ot | the individual In no other country have such prizes been held out to pri- vate talent for the last century Least of all peoples have we had reason to put our faith in governmental machine | ry, even of our own devising, in prefer ence to individual initiative and volun- tary cooperation. The American pat ent system has fostered this individual enterprise and invention in a particular | ly successful way, as has the copyright law the products of authors. We have | boundless faith in the progress of in- vention and look to that quarter for re- | lief from many existing evils The American cares. however, little for the i theoretical individualism of close phi losophers. He establishes, by the state, 1 his public schools and public libraries | and maintains parks, and factory and l tenement house inspection If the phi.