Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-05-02
HIS world would be a delightful
place to live in if it were not
for the people. They really
CAUSE All the trouhIa Mans

cause all the trouble. Mans
worst enemy is always man.
He began to throw the responsibility
OF his transgressions on some one else
In the garden of Eden, and he has been
doing SO ever since.
The greater part of the pain, sorrow
and misery in life is purely human in
vention, yet man, with cowardly irrev-
erence, dares to throw the responsible
ny on God 1t comes through break
Ing laws-laws natural, physical, civic,
mental or moral. These are laws which
man knows, but he disregards He
takes chances. he thinks he can dodge
results in some way. But nature says,
He who breaks pays" There are no
0ead letter laws on the divine statute
books Of life. When a man permits a
rorchlight procession to parade through
q powder magazine, it is not courteous
Tor him to refer to the subsequent ex-
plosion as 'one Of the mysterious
workings Of Providence"
N1ne-tenths Of the worlds sorrow,
misfortune and unhappiness is pre-
ventable. The daily newspapers are
the great chroniclers Of the dominance
OF the unnecessary. Paragraph after
paragraph, column after column and
page after page of the dark story-ac-
cadents, disasters. crime, scandal, hui
man weakness and sin-might be check
ed Oft with the word ''preventaHle."
In each instance, were our information
tuu enough, our analysis keen enough,
we could trace each back to it's cause,
10 the weakness or the wrong from
which it emanated. Sometimes it is
carelessness, inattention, neglect Of
DUTY, avartce, anger, jealousy. dissipa-
don, betrayal Of trust, selfshness,
hypocrisy, revenge, dishonesty. any Of
4 hundred phases Of the preventable.
That which can be prevented should
be prevented. 1t all rests with the in
dvidual. The ''preventa Bile" exists in
three degrees-frst, that which is due
to the individual solely and directly;
second, that which he suffers through
the wrongdoing Of those around him,
other individuals; third, those instances
wherein he is the unnecessary victim
Of the wrongs of society, the innocent
legatee of the folly Of humanity-and
society is but the massing Of thousands
Of individuals with the heritage Of
manners, customs and laws they have
received from the past.
We sometimes feel heartsick and
weary in facing failure when the for
tune that seemed almost in our fingers
slips away because of the envy. malice
or treachery OF some one else. We bow
under the weight of sorrow that
makes all life grow dark and the star
of hope fade from our vision, or we
meet some unnecessary misfortune
with a dumb, helpless despair. 1T is
all wrong" we say. 1T is cruel, it is
unjust Why is it permitted?' And in
the very intensity Of our feeling we
half unconsciously repeat the words
over and over again in monotonous it.
alton. as it in some way the very rep
etition might bring relief, might some
how soothe US. Yet in most insta nces
it could be prevented. No suffering is
caused in the world by right. What
ever sorrow there is that is preventable
comes from inharmony or wrong Of
some kind.
In the divine economy of the uni
verse most Of the evil, pain and suffer
ing are unnecessary, even when over
ruled for good, and perhaps if Onr
knowledge were perfect it would be
seen that none is necessary; that all is
preventable. The fault is mine or
yours or the fault of the world 1t is
-1~ I'D Dpl1 fc01 iea
but the cohesive, united force Of the
thoughts, words and deeds Of millions
who have lived or who are living like
you and me. By individuals has the
great wrong that causes our prevent
able sorrow been built up; by individ-
uals must it be weakened and trans
formed to right. And in this, too, it is
to great degree our fault; we care so
little about rousing public sentiment, OF
lashing it into activity unless it con-
Germs US individually.
The old Greek fable Of Atlas, the
African king who supported the world
on his shoulders, has modern app1i-
cation. The Individual is the Atlas
upon whom the fate of the world rests
today. Let each Individual do his best,
and the result is foreordained. It is
but q matter Of the unconquerable
massing of the units. Let each ind1-
vfdual bear his part as faithfully as
though all the responsibility rested on
him, yet as calmly, as gently and as
unworried as though all the response
btlity rested on others.
Most accidents are preventable-as at
RaIaklava. "some one has bIundered-"
One Of the great disasters of the nine
teenth century was the Johnstown
Hood, where the bursting Of a dam
caused the loss of more than 5000
Hyes. The food was not a mere acct
dent; It was crime A leaking dam,
for more than year known to be un-
laafe, known to be unable to withstand