The evening times., 1899-04-27
American Ideals.

| A matter which will receive general at
tention from intelligent people during the
next two or three decades will undoubt-
! edly be the laws which determine the
| growth and decay of nations. A country
is very much like growing boy or girl;
it cannot learn everything at once. and
must take up first one study. and then
another. before it thoroughly understands
how to settle all its own problems. Like
the child, it has first to learn the general
truth that there can be no health, no
/ prosperity, no lasting happiness, unless the
i great laws which govern human rights are
| obeyed. Protection OF person and OF prop
| erty must be secured, and while every ma
tion has the right to battle for Its own
freedom from unjust oppression, just as
every human being has, it must not en-
gage in wars which have only selfish ag-
grandzement and the hope of plunder for
their purpose. Our grandfathers grasped
| the great idea that the only permanent
government is that created by the free will
of the people. The child, when very young.
must be compelled or coaxed to do its duty,
and locks forward to the time when, freed
from such influence. it will have no duties.
| When 1t reaches an age of intelligence.
however, it come to understand that every
human being of worthy character has self
imposed duties whose bond is much
stronger than the fear of pain or the hope
OF reward.
1t is exactly so with nations. For more
than a century We have gloried in the
consciousness of responsibility for our own
good conduct. We are not compelled to re-
spect good government by the fear of be-
ing tortured or imprisoned for life; the
real influence which leads every decent
man to refrain from crime Is self-respect,
and even II there were no states prison
and no gallows he would not think of COM
mitting highway robbery or killing his
neighbor. In places where public opinion.
that is. the consent of the majority, does
not support the law, the law becomes in
operative. Force may do something to re-
form such community. but not very
much. The respectable people Of the place,
those whose personal character makes
them leaders, must exercise their power,
not necessarily by force but by every other
means possible. II an ignorant man is
tCiu Dy MS Tlcu HtiSuUOT tHdt tue idtter
will shoot him il he pursues a certain
course. the innate peryersity of human ma
ture will lead him to do the forbidden
thing: but IL the whole intelligent portion
of the community expresses its contempt
for the thing judged undesirable, the in
1uence is likely to be strong and immedi-
ate. In short, We haye reached point in
the worlds history where, among civilized
nations, thought is more potent than force
as governing power. The government
Of the future will be more and more that
OF reason and less and less that Of the
emotions; and II thing can be proved to
the satisfaction of the people to be right,
or just. or beneficial. the people will choose
it in preference to Its opposite. Our de-
velopment will depend on our ideals.
Until the breaking out Of the Spanish
American war. the American people had
paid little attention to the causes which
affect the health and longevity of nations.
In fact, we had been too busy making our
own nation to be concerned with the rest
Of the world. We were convinced that We
had one thing which was indispensable to
the health Of a country-freedom-an we
found enough to do in securing that free
dom to those within our gates. Even Jet
that problem has not bean wholly solved,
and 1t will probably take fsw gsaerafiens