The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-05-30

A few years after the close of the Civil
war an insurance company sent an agent
to Robert E. Lee to get him to permit
the use of his name as president Of the
company He modestly declined, saying
that he knew nothing of the insurance
business But said the importunate So
icitor, you viii not be called upon to do
anythlngs all we want IS your name
All said Lee, that is all I have" If
the fttest IS simply the materially strong
tower OF strength, L viii com II INTO
dollars. I have the power by the simple
loaning Of it to become rich But he
knew that good name IS to be preferred
above great riches. That it is better tnan
gold; Yea. than much fine gold"
When the lost cause furled its flag at
Appomattox the great and magnanimous
Grant said to his prisoners: We do not
want to humiliate you we will not make
a triumphaI entry into Richmond; keep
your side arms: keep your horses; you
will need them in tllling your lands; you
have suffered enough. it is not right that
we should 1nfiict upon you unnecessary
suffering The sinister version of the
survival of the fittest would have said to
him. Now they are in your power;
strip them naked: take all they have;
take thelr horses, their swords all their
DelohslhSs5 put chalns upon your prs
Oners: march them bare-footed through
the streets OF Richmond, and II they muir
muir torture them Kill, burn, devastate
ness
Rather than torture rather than burn
rather than be cruel to his captives, the
silent old hero would have laid down his
brave life.
They who say that the fttest viii sur
vive make no mistake in so saying. But
when they assume that the fttest are
those who are simply the strongest they
err profoundly. For moral power is after
all the greatest power in the world, and
therefore the fttest. Not only because
best for man. but because Indispensable
to man, because without it the best types
of the race could not survive and with
out this and their ceaseless labors and
sacrifices the race itself could not sur
yive.
Think ye that the men who laid the
foundations of this republic in wisdom
and in justice expected to be rewarded
with paltry dollars puerile pomp or vain
glory or noisy nOtOriety or specious fame2
Nay, their greatest reward was the
thought that they had honestly earned
the love of their fellow men and that
they would deserve the grateful remem-
branee of pOsterity.
Tonight we sup with Pluto" said Lee
onidas, yet knowing their certain fate,
the three hundred defended the pass with
super COZ age 4 heit uL5ar dAIeleu
herolsm startled the Persian KING, VINO
fearing that all the Greeks were like
them, abandoned the invasion. And 50 by
this supreme sacrifice, these immortal
heroes saved their country.
Crockett and BoWe and Travis and Bon
ham and their companions eot4ld- have
saved themselves bv abandoning the
Alamo and retreating into the interior.
hut they decided to sacrifice themselves
to save Texas. Their epitaph says, fTher-
mopylae had one survivor, the Alamo
none"
at the Alamo? The moral part of man.
The devotion which could make the SUI
pr6me SacrlHce- rms DOunuleSS love OIL
man for man This longing and yearn-
ing for the love Of his fellowman is but
the manifestation of the divine within
hill- Honor, Just pride, truth. virtue
sympathy, compassion, justice. righteous
ness; these are of celestial origin and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against
them.
It was this fact which Theodore Roose-
welt had in view when at Minneapolis,
Mimi. on the 2nd day of September, 1901
he said: In continually increasing
number of cases we shall find it neees-
-7r7
in the past we have shackled force.
Truer words were never spoken. The So
called strongest whom we are told viii
rule are only strongest py reason q cuH-
ming. which the president says we must
shackIe The man who can combine I'M
der his single control the ocean service
Of the world may be ADLER than most OF
his feloWmen but this is no reason that
they shall be his slaves II IS reason,
on the contrary why he should serve
them as his talents enable him to do For
the mission of man is service TO his fel-
lOWmen. Each must serve according to
his degree and station or he must be an
instrument of evil.
requires no talent nor even superior cum
ning. It requires simply baseness. It l--
G Tires simply callOus Indifference to the
amount of misery which they who do it
may infiict. Simply Il hardened uaeon-
Germ for the suffering of millions who are
the victims Of such action. The men y hO
do these things are much worse than
common criminals their actions are
more injurious than common crimes. They
take advantage of changes in cOnditi ms
and opportunities to commit acts WIleh
trey know 10 pc nucn worse IN lRe ma
tune of things than well defined crimes,
SIMPLY because the law of the punitive
statute has not kept up with the develop
ments of the age and in terms forbidden
their evil deeds. And where the statute
has taken cOgnizance of them they tram
PIE under foot the laws made to restrain
them and mock at the law and the I'cO
pie Roosevelt was right. We shall IN a
constantly increasing number of cases
find it necessary to Shackle cunning IS IN
the past we have shackled force N this
ys1I vrta
all who are endowed with ordinary intelli-
| gence partake of some portion of The pro-
digIous store of learning eXtant; IN this
age Of unequalled material progress and
intellectual activity. there must and will
be a moral awakening and moral up
rising commensurate Win the ADVANCE
ment of the age in order to appropriate
to the benefit of mankind the vast ad-
vantages OF the world Wondrous ma
teria1 and intellectual development; and
the incalculable power over the forces of
nature now possessed by man but appro-
priated by the few.
The true soldier looks upon war only as
q means Of restoring peace and main
/ tanning justice. Hugo has said that in
| the Twentieth century war will cease.
| Whether this can happen we can not
4 know The awful horrors of war must
sicken even the truest soldier, and yet
there may arise conditions in which war
is inevitable. And when so the soldier
/ performs the highest duty which his
| country can command him to do and
earns the lastlng gratltude OF ms couhs
( trymen, and If he falls he falls covered
/ with laurels, 1amented by all true hearts,
/ wept with patriotic tears and crowned
! with the Wreaths Of fadelesS fame.
But what of capital2 In peace capital
reaps profits. In war capital reaps prof
/ it's But should not capital reap profits2
/ Certainly so long as it is invested in en-
I terprises it should have a fair return. But
! capital should not reap such profits as
will enslave labor Shall anyone ques-
! ton the profits of capital2 Yes, when
/ they grow SO great as to menace not only
/ the rights of wage-earners, but also the
peace and liberty Of the country.
Stone upon stone. brick upon brick,
/ plank upon plank, beam upon beam, with
/ patient stroke and faithful care and hon
/ est toll labor joins and builds the houses
which shelter US and our treasures In
/ pain and suffering and sorrow, unpaid
and oppressed, labor makes the raiment
with which for the most part we cover
and comfort and protect our bodies. With
I sturdy and constant industry through all
/ seasons and all weather under the burn
/ ing sun Of summer and through the frost
and storms of winter, the farmer gran
pies with the soil and its ponderous prod
/ ucts that We may have not only food, but