Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-06-24

! Of life are such that you Snoulu pu l
Yourselves from the ordinary competition
4 and pursuits of life, or whether you snoulu
share in it, and by sharing in It not OF mere ere
! Iy improve your own condition., out illh.
prove the condition Of all your felioWs.
Now if we were to define the CONNER
/ cialism of this age we would descrlDc II as
| the tendency to regard the acQulslIlSoIl "
| wealth as the evidence of a SucceSSful lie.
/ Is that particular to these times! las
! there ever been an age when the success OF
/ life was not measured by It's acqulS3l-
| tions? | suppose that those good people
! who are alarmed at the cOmmerclaIlsm OF
our age would tell you that while IN these
| times men devote themselves to the gettlng
| Of money, in the militant ages men devoted
| themselves to the cultivation OF military
glory. Now military glory is perhaps the
/ most potent of all the phrases that nave
| worked mischief. There never has been
| war waged tor anything else than plunder,
] and plumber is the acquisition OF wealth.
| The phrase military glory has been in
yoked by rulers to enlist the sympathy OF
| the masses, and while they were deluded
! by the phrase of military glory, the puf-
| port which the men who made war were
always governed by was the desire for plum
| der and loot Is there in history the re-
salt of war which is not measured by the
booty that was won? Did not Caesar cul-
tivate popularity by undertaking to reDulld
Rome from the spoil of the yanqulsned
Gaui? Is there trophy or flag treasured
anywhere except one that has been cap
tured? The very names of ships that nave
though the foreign origin and context are
of mysterious significance to the captorS,
and they are preserved that all the world
shall know they are the fruit OF conquest
and not of industry. Military glory has
|, been the phrase which has perverted the
/! Judgment of men, and changed peoples
ment It is the gospel of hate. Under Its
influence men have been induced to under
I rake long Journeys, not upon missions OF
mercy, but of injury, to expose themselves
| to disease, to incur wounds, to suffer all
manner of privations, and even to suffer
! death. that their fellowmen might be in
spoiled, wounded, slain. We have seen ma
tions given up to it, and never with any
other result than their own destruction
We can see the country that was the great
est of Europe. We can behold in its fate
| the influence of pernicious phrases upon
popular judgment. We have seen that
| country, whose people overthrow a grinding
! tyranny under the stimulus of love of lib
erty, abandon it's ideals and seek to estab-
lish it's own military despotism on nations,
sacrificing its blood and its treasure, and
now 81 the end of the century we behold 1t,
still suffering from the intoxication which
led it on it's prlmacy gone. its possessions
forever, the lust of conquest still in its
blood, but the power of conquest gone for
ever from its arms. Here we see in south
hundred thousand Englishmen across the
seas and setting them at the threats of two
feeble republics. They are led there by the
"
and they have missed it, while the few
sparse troops opposed to them have gained
an Unreasonable glory in defending their
own soil
If you are to be good lawyers, if you are
to become prominent in your profession,
you must know what the spur OF necessity
is The man who undertakes profession
for any other reason than for necessity is
an amateur, and while an amateur is oftenI
excellent, he never reaches supreme dis
tinction. When, therefore, we wish you
K
ing a livelihood And if your true success
is in making a livelihood, the degree of your
success will be measured by the quality OIL
the livelihood you make. You cannot bel
successful and conspicuous in your profess
sion you cannot be honored by your fellow
citizens unless they regard that as a sign
of success taking the shape of an ample for
tune. If you ever get that fortune they
will not consider that an evidence of de-
pravity.
Gentlemen, my advice to you is to gol
forth into your profession and struggle for
all it's prizes. And if you ask me how is
success in that profession to be won, II
answer you in single word by merit. And
if you go further and ask what mean by
merit, will answer by another word hon.
esty. Be honest with yourselves, with yourl
community, your client, your adversary and
the court, and you have every element OIL
success that is necessary to achieve hap
piness, respect, fortune, and / mention
them in order of their Importance
Now it is very easy for man TO be hon
est with his neighbor; in fact, any man who
Is not is merely Sluplu. but II Is eAceeu-
ingly difficult for a man to be honest with
himself. And here, above all, is where
these dangerous phrases are apt to mislead
him. The number of persons VINO have rec
onciled Themselves to questionable acts by
vague and mysterious phrases is amply in
calculable. how many man has deluded
himself by igure of speech! How many
q man has bcasted of drunkenness by call
ing it good fellowship! do not believe
there would he any vice in the world if
every act had applied to it it's proper de-
scriptive Term. Be honest with yourselves
in deciding whether this is really the pro-
fession for which you are qualified. Every
man has got qualifications for some calling
or other The failures you see in life are
the men who have not chosen their proper
theaterS of industry.
1t is along this great pathway where the
good Samaritan is active, where the sue
cesSful man is he who renders the greatestI
services to his fellows, that the lawyer
must take his stand in the world. Mo-
gloomy isolation for him, but vigorous par
ticipation in all the activities and interests
OF life. He must help his fellow man along
the road, lessening its difficulties, taking
their burdens, which upon the shoulders
will crush you and down you but if placed
under your feet will help you up, leading
others forward to higher conditions and up
ward to nObler ideals and wider horizons.