The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-05
TWO NATIONAL IDEALS.
As Set Forth by Theadore Roosevelt and Will
liam Ellery Charming.

peoples Paper, Minneapolis, Mimi
1t us patent that the imperialist idol
of TODAY is Theodore Roosevelt. He
evoked far more enthusiasm at the Phila.
delphia convention than Mckinley did or
any one else. He is the tail of the ticket,
but the head of the procession. He is
called by the imperialist press THE typl-
cal American" We are told that me
is a preacher of the gospel of true
Americanism lives up to the creed he mas
evolved from his citizenship and serves
as an ennobling example to the young
manhood of the land"
What is this latest candidate for our
American pantheon of heroes? He is Drill
liant, dashing, bellicose, but good deal
of Bombastes Furioso He has shed
more ink and less blood, as DR.. Howard
S. Taylor of Chicago said, than any war
rior since Sancho Panza. He mas APP
propriated to himself the honor which be-
longed to two colored regiments, without
whose assistance at San Juan Roosevelt
and his rough riders would have been
cut to pieces.
He worships at the altar of the god of
Mars. He bids Christians believe that
war is ennobling, that peace is demon
alizing. He teaches that it does ma
ton good to be fighting and killing the
patriotic sons of another nation, mem
bers of the same family of man! He
holds up Germany, cursed with militia
rism till millions of her best citizens
have left their fatherland for this new
world, as good example for America,
and declares that Germanys course il
regard to foreign affairs ''offers an eX-
cellent lesson to us here"
He would have us believe that the
strenuous life" can only be developed anc
manifested upon the battleteld-that the
workshops of OUR land and the four walls
of dcmestice privacy offer no opportunl-
ty for heroism and self sacrifice. he
thinks the eagle of aspiration cannot soar
sunward in what he is pleased to call
1.-THE lethargy of peace" To the dove bear
ing the olive branch of peace, he prefers
the vulture feeding upon human carcasses
on the field of battle.
Have we fallen so low that this wor-
shipper of war can be held up as "a
preacher of the gospel of true American
ISM" IAN ennohling example to the young
manhood of the land? Is this swash-
| buckler our typical American? If so,
shame upon our recreancy to Lincoln and
Washington, our infidelity to Jesus
Christ!
Over against the teaching of Roosevelt,
the imperialist idol and IDEAL place the
testimony of William Ellery Charming.
Charming was one of the noblest Ameri-
cans that ever lived. 1t was we'll said
of him, ''He has the love of wisdom and
the wisdom of love-" His life was strenu-
Gus with sublime endeavor. He was
true master of the art of noble living.
What did Claiming teach concerning war?
He said: 'In war, the moral sentiments
of community are perverted by the ad-
mirati of military exploits. The mild
er virtues of Christianity are eclipsed by
the baleful luster thrown round feroci
Gus courage. The disinterested, the be-
nignant, the merciful, the forgiving, those
whom Jesus has pronounced blessed and
honorable, must give place to the hero
whose character is stained, not only with
blood, but sometimes with the foulest
vices, but all who's stains are washed
away by victory. War especially in
jures the moral feelings of people by
making nature cheap in their estimation,
and human life of as little worth as that
of an insect or a brute.
Again Charming said: Let us teach
| that the honor of a nation consists, not
| in the forced and reluctant submission
| of other states, but in equal laws and
| free institutions, in cultivated fields and
prosperous cities; in the development of
| intellectual and moral power, in the diff
| fusion of knowledge, in magnanimity and
| Justice. Let us never be weary in re-
| probating that internal spirit of conquest,
| by which nation becomes the terror and
| adherence of the world, and inevitably
! prepares a tomb-at best splendid tomb
| for it's own liberties and prosperity"
Let those who must burn incense ir
the nostrils of Roosevelt, who glorifies.
war and defames peace, who places
above the beatitudes of Christ that mere
physical courage in which a bulldog can
| beat him. For our part, we prefer to
walk with the wise Claiming, follower of
| the Prince of Peace.