The commonwealth., 1898-06-09
NOTHING FOR BOASPING.
BoASTERS ARE ALWAYS SMALL,
Present-Day Thoughts.
BY "NEMO."
Copyrighted by Dave C Tabor.)

copyrighted by Dave TabOr)
Those who boast most are those wh
otherwise would possibly be lost t
sight. The truly great never boast
they do not need to. It is the min
that is too small to understand its re
lation to other minds, that yaunteth II
self to be something great and be
cause it is so small it is usually aIon
in its self-glorifying opinion. To d.
and then to be content, whether tn
dong becomes known Or not, is to b
great. But to do some triflng thing
and then outrageously cackle about II
is not only to be small but to appea
small. It is better to abide by the so
Der estimate of our fellows than to con
fuse their minds and disgust them b,
our vain gloryings. Granting that ou
work has value some one will surel,
arise to express appreciation OF its hon
esty and simplicity. Even earth-worm
have had a Darwin to explain the po
tency Of their doings. But it no prais'
comes, what matter? The heart tina
feels its own purity OF intention, is no
| without an inner reward. The sures
way to downfall is to boast, because
the very se]f-confdence Of the boastel
prevents him from making the mos
ordinary and common-sense prepare
tions Tor difficulties yet to be faced anc
deeds yet to be done.
***
Let US give this thought a strong
and timely turn. Nationally we need
it !; tor by unfortunate chance many
men unprepared by study, unripe II
judgement, ignorant of history and its
ngs-blatant boasters-are, dur.
ing these days of national testing, writ
ing headlines and editorials for some
of the most-read American newspapers.
They are causing at home and abroad
a most unfortunate estimate of our ma
tional worth. and they not ouly threat
en- to but actually do make US look ri
diculous in the eyes Of the world. Nor
this only, but they sin against us all
and against the generation yet, to come,
by giving us false opinion of our
selves.
Our nation is too great and has too
much reserve possibility of future
greatness to be worthily led in its opln-
ions by writer's OF noisy headlines that
twist the capture of freighter into a
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 Dew
ey's victory at Manila became known,
one of these blind leaders In New York,
With readers that mum Der nearly a mil
lion, fairly frothed at the mouth as he
penned his editorial. A most moderate
line was that "Strange Asiatlc fishes
are now nibbiing at the mustaches OF
the naughty Dons and eve owae the
western hemisphere ; see !" This sure
is not the American spirit, yet 1t gets
remarked upon as such. Ii in any
faint measure / can interpret the real
American feeling, it was voiced In Ad-
m1ral Dewey's own message, when after
mentioning his victory in most ordinary
terms, he closed by saying that he was
taking good care Of two hundred OF
more wounded Spaniards.
*x*
One scribbler for paper that boasts
Il suppose because no news from Mars
and the distant stars can be gained tC
disproye the assertlon) circulation
"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 condition OF ar
illiterate man who knows nothing ex.
cept what has happened during his OWE
life time. From Semiramls to the
time of our own late war, there have
been dozen naval engagements tha
have affected the map OF the Worie
more than this one will. Allowing
that it is the first decided battle be
tween modern warships-though Chin
Peru, Brazil, Japan and China have
given us much knowledge in that al
rectlon-yet the spaniards were at oul
mercy from the outset. They Wer'
caught mapping to begin with, unequa
to us IN number OF guns and weight Q
metal though outnumbering us IN ship
and unprepared with trained gunners
The last man to oyer-estimate 1T as
conclusive test of modern warfar
/ Mr.. John Bevins, editor of the Press
Anthon, Iowa, says: Il have use
=, ,S-1.:..s, Nolic GhOlora and Id