Arizona republican., 1898-07-14
VARIOUS KINDS OF PATRIOTISM.

Deplorable or even discreditable as it may be, man is unquestionably still a fighting animal. Centuries of civili- zation have not subdued the primitive love of "a scrap In fact, the author of Lucille was quite certain that this civilized world is savage at heart. And the worst of it is that we cannot quite condemn it for being so. There is no doubt much that is evil in our combat i've instincts; but there is also much that is good in them. War may have it's ugly side, but it develops virtues from love of fighting, then, and partly from a genuine exaltation of feeling. the natural impulse of most men is to serve their country in the field when That alone seems to be patriotism. And
 in this belief they are encouraged by
 the general sentiment. Men wish to be thought brave, even if they are not easier to enlist than to stay at home.
 The spirit of adventure combines with love of country to drive them on. Sometimes, indeed, it is the spirit Of adventure that has the first place. There is glamour about the uniforms, the martial music, the waving flags,
 that stirs the dullest.
 Nevertheless there may be-there of oir patriotism consists in staying at home. Every man, though of proper age and in good health, does not make an ef- fective soldier. For him to enlist is,
 perhaps, simply to threw away ener- | gies which might have been effectively
 used elsewhere. It is not cowardice
 if he lets others do the fighting. The
 whole thing turns upon the question of duty. Of course if country were
 in immediate peril of an armed inva- sion the ordinary affairs of life would necessarily yield to the extraordinary. But in the ordinary course of warfare -a man has the choice to go or stay, and he. should not decide upon mere impulse. Especially is this true when he has those dependent upon him who will come to want in his absence. Thus
 the married man and the unmarried man stand in an altogether different position. The former has responsibili-
 ties which do not leave him a free agent; the latter has only himself to
 consider. It has been truly said that he who marries gives hostages to for
 tune. He must not leave those hos tages to be redeemed by others.
 A case recorded in the Boston papers shows how sometimes what passes for patriotism may be anything but pa triotic. A man who enlisted in a
 Massachusetts regiment left behind a
 wife and three children, with just
 money enough to pay months rent.
 That gone they are in danger of evic-
 tion. They cannot get another shel- ter; they hare not the means even to ! buy food. The woman could work if 1 she could leave her children As it is
 the family must be supported by the l charitably inclined or become public l charges. Nor is this an isolated case
 Now the husband and father who marches off to the front leaving those
 at home unprotected doubtless glories
 in his patriotism; but it is to be ques-
 toned if he is a patriot at all. Only
 the utmost emergency could justify | his diSrepard Of the ordinary d11tias nj life on the plea that his country need: him. She needs him, indeed, but as citizen, not as a soldier. For patriot
 ism is not necessarily antagonistic tt
 common sense.