The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-04

specialization In needs and interests
While We should. 50 long as We can Eafe-
h do 50. give % each individual ths
largest possibly liberty, a liberty which
necessarily includes initiative snd resp0n-
sibility, yet We must not hesitate to In
terfere whenever IL Is clearly seen that
arm comes from excessive individualism
We cannot afford 90 BE- empirical one way
or the other. In the country districts the
surroundings are such that a man can
usually work ont bis own fate by himsel.
20 The best advantage. In our cities. or
where men congregste IN masses. II Is
Cften necessary to work IN combination
That Il, through aEsociations-and here II
= that We see the great good conferred hy
labor organizations. By trade unions. or
course, II managed unwlsely, the very
power OF such , union or organization
makes it capable OF doing much harm
bat on the whole IL would oe hard TO over
estimate the good these ORGANIZATIONS have
done M the past. and still harder 70 esti-
mate Inc good they can 90 IN the future
honesty, and sanity
II IS not possible 10 lay down a hard
and Fast rule. logically perfect, as 20 when
the state shall and when the Individual
shalI be left unhampered and unhelped.
Duts Of Every Good Citizen.
"A word on the general question. In
the first place, in addressing an audience
like this. / do rot have 10 say that the
Law OF life is work. and that work in it.
SELF 50 far from being any hardship. Is
a great blessing. provided always it Is
carried on under conditions which pre-
serve a mans self-respect and which al
low him to develop his own character
and rear his children so that he and
they. as well as the whole community of
Hf-b h ~ srsa tEE-
move onward and upward The idler. rich
or poor. is at best a useless, and IS gen.
orally a noxlous member of the COM
To whom much has beer given
from him much Is rightfully expected:
and heavy burden OF responsibility rests
upon the man of means 10 justify by his
actions the social conditions which have
rendered IL possible for him or his fore
fathers TO accumulate and TO keep the
property he enjoys. He is not to be ex-
cused II he does not render full measure
Of service 70 the State and TO the COM
munity al large. There are many ways
In which this service can be rendered; in
art. IN literature. In phllanthrOphy, as a
statesman, or as a soldier; but IN some
way he is in honor bound 10 render II. so
that benefit may accrue 10 his brethren
who have been less favored by fortune
work. and work not only for himself but
for others If he does not work he fails
not ony in his duty TO the rest of the
but he fails signally in his
iuty TO himself There is no need OF en-
wing the idle Ordinarily we can afford
for when they fail 10 do .heir duty they
iail TO get from life the highest and keen
Est pleasure that life can give.
TO do our duty; that is the summing
up of the whole matter. We must do our
duty BY ourselves and we must DO our
zen whatever his condition, owes his first
service 90 those who are nearest to him,
who are dependent upon him. to his wife
and children; next he owes his duty TO
his fellow-citiZens: and this is the duty he
must perform both TO his individual
neighbor and TO the state. which is simply
a form of expression for all his neighbors
combined. He must keep his self-respect
and exact the respect Of others. II is
sminently wise and proper 10 strive for
such leisure in our lives as will give a
chance for self-improVement; but, woe
10 the man who seeks, or trains UP his
children 10 seek, idleness instead OF the
chance TO do good work. No worse wrong
,an be done by man to his children than
10 teach them TO go through life endaaVOr-
ng 10 shirk difficulties instead Of meet
ng them and overcoming them. You, men,
Try, not by seeking to avoid work, but by
ioing II well; not by fiinching from every
ilflculty, but by triumphing over each
as II arose and making out of il Il STEP
ping-stone to further triumph.
Lending a HeIpins Hand.
eve must all learn two lessons: the les
son of self-help and the lesson Of giving
help to and receiving help from our broth
n. There is not a man OF us who does
not sometimes slip: who does not some
times need helping hand; and woe to
him who, when the chance comes. fails TO
stretch out that helping hand Yet. though
each man can and ought thus TO be help
I'd at times, he is lost beyond redemption
Z he becomes so dependent upon outside
help that he feels that his own eXertions
are secondary. Any man at times will
stumble, and it is then our duty to lift
him up and set him on his feet again;
but no man can be permanently carried,
For If he expects TO be carried. he shows
that he is not worth carrying.
Before us loom industrial problems,
vast in their importance and their com
plexity. The last half century has been
lne Of extraordinary social and industrial
Development The changes have been fsr-
some of them for good and
some OF them for evil. It Is not given to
the wiSest of US 10 see into the future
with absolute clearness. No man can be
certain that he has found the entire So
uuon OF this infinitely great and intricate
problem, and yet each man OF US
u he would do his duty must
strive manfully so far as In him hes
10 help bring about that solution. II
IS not as yet possible 10 say what shall
be the exact limit of influence allowed
the state or what limit shall be set TO
mat right of Individual initiative so dear
10 the hearts OF the American d Ople. All
We can say is that the need has been
SHOWN on the one hand for action bv the
people, IN their collective capacity through
the state, in many matters: Thai i'm other
matters much can be done by associations
OF dlHefsnt groups of individuals. as in
trade unions ana similar organizations
ana that In other matters il remains now
rs true as ever that final success will be
Tor The man who trusts i'm the str1,oaIe
only 10 his cool hand, his brave near
and his strong right arm. There are
spheres In which the state can proneri,-
act, and spheres in which a compara:iveiiy
rec Held must be given 10 individual nj
The Hemely ViriHes,
Though the conditions of life have
grown so puzzling in their compiexify
though the changes have been so vast
yet We may remain absolutely sure of one
thing; that now, as ever in the past. and
as it ever will be in the future. there cg.n
be no substitute for the elemental virtues
Tor the elemental qualities to which We
allude when We speak of a man as not
only a good man, but as emphaticalIy a
man. We can build up the standard Of
individual citizenship and individual well
being, we can raise the national standard
and make 1t what it can and shall be
made, only by each OF us steadfastly
keeping in mind that there can be no sub
sutute for the world-old, humdrum COM
qualities of truth, Justice and
courage, thrift, industry, common sense
and genuine sympathy with and fellow
feeling for others. The nation is the ag-
sregate Of the individuals composing it.
and each individual American ever raises
the nation higher when he so conducts
himself as TO wrong no man, as 10 suffer
no wrong from others, and as 10 show
both his sturdy capacity for self-heIp and
bis readiness TO extend a helping hand 10
the neighbor sinking under a burden too
heavy for him 10 bear.