Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-03

progressive cities OF our land, and as 1t
is the Gate City, through which COM
merce and the multitudes shall pass In
the future, What is our duty to our city
and to ourselves and those who shall in
herit what we shall leave them? Shall
we have not only a progressive city, but
shall we have also an attractive, health
full. ennobling and Understanding city?
The moral effect Of a neat and beautiful
city and home is inestimable. l have never
In all my experience as public prosecutor.
as a Judge or as a citizen, known a per-
son who was a criminal at heart who
had a delicate sense OF the truly beautiful
in art or nature. They may err and do
wrong, but like the pole star, 1t guides
them back to a place Of honor and up
rightness. The beautiful and good are
handmaidens, inviting MAPS tenderest ma
ture to better and hciier living. The
spirit which prompts a love for beautiful
and attractive surroundings in home and
city causes kind and charitable thoughts,
which lead to kind deeds and fosters
b~rotherly love and the observance Of the
Golden Rule in our daily life. 1t APP
peals ever to the humanitarian. For 1t is
a straw indicating that commercialism is
not the only and ruling element in home,
city and national life. II means that life
Is not simply a means to an end and that
end wealth, and which. II ever reached, is
frequently too late, but that the object
OF life is to live honorably and uprightly
and to aid others and to enjoy our life
while the days are passing. In this ma
terial and matter-of-faet age we learn
that the end is the supreme object. Life
is much like a horse races with the wire
constantly In our minds eye. Get some-
thing. Get II quick. Get much. But little
is taught how TO live happily and health
fully while getting. Teachers and preach
ers to a great extent look and point to
the end. the goal. eternity. but say little
about making the best Of what God has
given us both In ourselves and our sur
roundings.
Mans Duty to Mankind.
Mans history is more than the words.
birth. life and death. You may work in
a garrett or bolt your food to save time,
but In SO doing you insult your Maker
and you win in due season reap your re-
ward. It is not what we can do, but what
we can do and achieve the greatest good.
We should not be like the astronomer who
fell in the we'll while gazing at the stars.
The time will come and must come when
Americans will live slower and thus be
healthier ana happier. England and Amer
lea pride themselves on leading the world
generally. But We are Inundated when
we learn that none Of the Nobel prizes
Of s250,000 offered to those contributing
to mankind most in art, literature and
works of peace were received by US, nor
did England win them. Germany n
France won both. And observe the
beauty Of design and architecture in Ber-
lin and Paris. Its love is implanted in
the natures OF their people. Greece will
be remembered and felt when the curtain
falls on the last scene of human endeavor
and activity because of its writer's, its
courts. its philosophers, its artists, its
art. its Olympic and its eloquenee, when
Sparta will long have been forgotten.
The influence Of environment on char
aeter is marked. The desire to improve
our homes and surroundings is apparently
contagious. Observe the residences in the
vicinity OF Hanscom park. as an illustra-
tion. to see the contsgion OF beautiful
lawns. That, you observe, suggests one
method Of creating a sentiment for civic
improvement. Follow the boulevard OF our
city and watch the spread OF attractive
ness in the home SURROUNDINGS along
their border, as II the magic wand Of inn
provement In passing by had touched them
into comeliness. Thus you see the same
| suggestions made around and about other