Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1904-12-08

the common acceptation, the more ex-
clusively does he concern himself with
how he shall live and provide for his
children and his children's children.
Impossible to conceive of the fears OF
a man established in life-their num-
Der, their reach and their shades of re-
fnement.
From all this there has arisen
throughout the different social orders,
modified by conditions and varying In
intensity. a common agitation-a very
complex mental state, best compared
to the petulance of spoiled child, at
once satisfied and discontented.
IL we have not become happier,
neither have we grown more peaceful
and fraternal The more desires and
needs a man has the more occasion he
finds for conflict with his fellow men,
and these conflicts are more bitter in
proportion as their causes are less just.
1t Is the law of nature to fight for
bread, for the necessities. This law
may seem brutal, but there Is an ex-
cuse in its very harshness, and 1t Is
generally limited to elemental cruel
ties. Quite different Is the battle for
the superfiuous- ambition, priv
ilege, inclination, luxury. Never has
hunger driven man to such baseness
as have envy, avarice and thirst for
pleasure. Egotism grows more malef-
icent as 1t becomes more refined.
Do not the very slnews of virtue
lie in mans capacity to care for some
thing outside himself? And what
place remains for ones neighbor in a
life given over to material cares. to ar
tifcial needs, to the satisfaction of am
bitions, grudges and whims? The man
who gives himself up entirely to the
service Of his appetites makes them
grow and multiply - well that they
become stronger than he, and once
their slave, he loses his moral sense,
loses his energy and becomes incapable
Of discerning and practicing the good.
He has surrendered himself to the in
ner anarchy Of desire. which in the
end gives birth to outer anarchy. In
the moral life we govern ourselves; in
the immoral life we are governed by
our needs and passion; thus, little by
little, the bases of the moral life shift,
and the law of judgment devfates.
For the man enslaved to numerous
and exacting needs possession is the
supreme good and the source Of all
other good things. 1t Is true that in the
fierce struggle for possession we come
to hate those who possess and to deny
the right of property when this right
Is In the hands Of others and not in
our own, But the bitterness of at
tack against others possessions Is only
a new proof Of the extraordinary Inn
portance we attach to possession itself.
In the end people and things come to
be estimated at their selling price or
according to the profit to be drawn
from them. What brings nothing is
| worth nothing; he who has nothing is
nothing Honest poverty risks pass
Ing for shame, and lucre, however
filthy, is not greatly put to 1t to be
accounted for merit.
Some one objects, ''Then you make
wholesale condemnation of progress
| and would lead us back to the good old
times-to asceticism perhaps"
Not at all. The desire to resuscitate
| the past Is the most unfruitful and
| dangerous of utopian dreams, and the
| art OF good living does not consist in
retiring from life. But we are trying
| to throw light upon one OF the errors
| that drag most heavily upon human
| progress In order to find n remedy for
| it-namely, the belief that man be-
comes happier and better by the In
crease of outward well being. Nothing
Is falser than this pretended social
| axiom; OH tho contrary, that material
prosperity without an Offset diminishes
the capacity for happiness and de-
| bases character Is fact which a
| thousand examples are at hand to
prove. The worth of a civilization Is
the worth Of the man at It's center.
| When this man lacks moral rectitude
| progress only makes bad worse and
further embroils social problems.
| This principle may be verified In
| other domains than that OF material
well being. We shall speak only OF
| l1lucatlon and liberty. We remember
| when prophets In good repute an
| bounced that to transform this wicked
| world into an abode fit for the gods
| all that was needed was the overthrow
of tyranny, ignorance and want-those
| three dread powers so long In league.
Today other preachers proclaim the
same gospel. We have seen that the
| unquestionable diminution Of want
has made man neither better nor hap
| pier. Has this desirable result been
more nearly attained through the great
care bestowed upon instruction? 1t does
not yet appear so, and this failure Is
| the despair of our national educators.
| Then shall we stop the peoples ears,
| suppress public instruction, close the
| schools? By no means. But educa-
| ton, like the mass of our ages fnven-
tions, is after all only tool; every
| thing depends upon the workman who
uses 1t. So IL is with liberty. 1t is
fatal or life giving according to the
| use made OF 1t. Is 1t liberty still when
1t is the prerogative Of criminals or
needless blunderers? Liberty is an
atmosphere OF the higher life, and 1t Is
| only by u slow and patient inward
| transformation that one becomes capa-
BILE of breathing It,
| All life must have Its law, the life OF
| man so much the more than that of in
| ferior beings, In that 1t is more pre-
| cious and of nicer adjustment. This
| law for man Is In the first place an
external law, but 1t may become an
internal law. When man has once rec
ognized the inner law and bowed be
| fore Il, through this reverence and vol
| untary submission he Is ripe for liber-
| ty. So long as there is no vigorous
and sovereign inner law he is incapa-
BILE OF breathing its air. for he will be
| drunken with It, maddened, morally
slain. The man who guides his life
| by inner law can no more live servile
to outward authority than can the full
grown bird live imprisoned In the egg
shell But the man who has not yet at
tained to governing himself can no
more live under the law of liberty than
\ can the unfledged bird live without Its
| protective covering. These things are
! terribly simple, and the series of DEM
onstrations old and new that proves
them Increases daily under our eyes.
| And yet we are as far as ever from
understanding even the elements OF
this most important law. In our de-
mocracy how many are there, great
and small, who know from having per
sonally verified II, lived It and obeyed
| IL this truth without which a people Is