The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-07-23

tion than they are for an alien country.
By this same process of reasoning we
are led to believe that we should love
our neighbor's wife as our own (per-
haps this is not 80 difficult with man
who ould never tell his wife he loved
her); that our love of home, simply be-
cause it is oar home, should be no
greater than the shsme of our neighbor;
that our love AND atriotic interest for
our community bwn or state should
be only on an seuality with our love
for neighboringy community, town or
state. And that we should 'aeoeg,
NEVER, raise Our voices in extolling
their virtues or isnSefending their hon.
or against siandaDus foes. We are to
rem ain silent and say nothing good of
our friends when men speak evil of
them, simply because they are Our
friends. People are not so prone to
say good Of off,anythhg or anybody that
they need to be told to remain silent.
Yes,. if being distinctly human is to
be savage, then am one. 1t is this
kind of savagery that brings the shout
of joy to the lips of the care-free
youth and the silvery, joyous, unaffect-
ed laugh to the lips of the innocent
maid. 1t is this kind of savagery that
causes the busy railroad president to
put away the cares and vexations of
life, take himself to the side of the
gridiron where Yale and Harvard are
battling for supremacy, and throw
stiffness and formality to the winds.
He forgets his age, he forgets his busi-
ness, he forgets everything but that
one of the colleges is his Alma Mater
HIS, mind you. 1t may not be the
highest institution of learning; it may
not embraae the highest ideals of the
man; but he "impinges" the ears of
thousands of spectators with his cries,
in a wild endeavor to cheer the repre-
sentatiyes Of ELS college on to victory.
1t is so with all of us who acknowledge
the weakness of being human. We
cheer our ball teams, our bicycle riders,
our race horses, our athletes, our local
politicians, orators, congressman; our
president; anything that is ours we
cheer, and we do it because it is OURS,
because we have an interest in its well
fare and because. as is sometimes the
case, its interests are our interests; and
we wish to urge it to its best endeavors
that it may attain our highest ideals.
If this is egotisnl, then I am an egotist,
yet l love to see all men prosperous,
happy and contented.
Why doesn't our Moses have good
word to say for humanity once in a
while? His writings TEEN with pessi-
mistic utterances. He is ever on the
alert for open warfare and prances
about with a chip-on-his-shoulder-I.
am wiser -than-thou swagger that would
be ludicrous were it not so pitiful. Not
content with hurting his javelin OF
spleen at the living, he has recently
made an assault on poor old Solomon
who has been dead, to. these many
years.
His gibbous inanity reaches climax
in the following: "Once upon time
a man sang, My Country 'Tis of Thee
/ at 10 o'clock In the morning, and at
} O'Clock in the afternoon he killed hi
{ neighbor, and ran away with his neigh
! bor's wife. This happened in Florida).'
! Now I never supposed that the sing
ing of patriotic song proved or dis
> proved ones patriotism any more thar
7 the singing of religious songs Prov
7 our religion. But they have the effec
! of causing US to think upon the senti
: ments or lessons they are intended t.
4 teach. And, just as book of gospe
i hymns is an auxiliary to the Bible, 81
s is patriotic song help to patriotism
q Could the writer's of such songs as
t aMy Country 'Tis of Thee" "Columbi
Q the Gem of the Ocean" 'The sta
y Spangled Banner" ETC., ETC., or sue
: sacred congs as, "Jesus Lover of M
d Soul, "My Jesus l Love Thee, i" "Com
g Thou Fount of Every Blessing" etc
o etc., have forseen the dire results whic
It attended the singing of "My Countr
'Tis Of Thee" in Florida, surely the
) would never have been written, an
it much crime and bloodshed would hav
q been avoided. Now that we know th
It evil results of such mad act, let U
II take warning. I, for one, shall ceaa
p warbling that patriotic air in the II