Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1904-05-10
AHs AMERlcANs coWARpsa

Eiiot -
fore the ST. Louis alumni of the uni.
yersity, in which he said he was forced
to the belief that the American people
were cowardly In that SO few OF them
dare to stand before the crowd; he OK
pressed bis surprise at the recent evil
dences Of timidity among American
business men which had come 70 his
A NAH does not have TO view the
panorama OF national life from the lof-
'ty vantage ground Of the venerable
President Eliot, 10 be impressed with
The supineness with which the aver
age American Or today bows before a
mysterious influence which some have
charitably called public opinion. We
believe II should be named with a diff
|ferent name, when this trouble which
arlicts the American Back-boue Is
oasefaly diagnosed. The same charge
has been made against us before and
On various grounds, HarpeF's Week.
III, commenting on the question raised
by Presidepts Eliot says that the VT
amy Of public opinion and Its over
riding Of individuals impressed Lowell
In 1860 when he wrote a friend that
1T was time to take the height Of the
Sun OF Righteousness and To quit
running BY "dead-reckoning'' and ad.
ding, Us II the effect OF democracy 70
make all our public men cowards?. An
ounce Of pluck now were worth a
kings ransom
But the breaking out of the war q
year later revealed the fact that neith-
er North nor South was lacking in
pluck or heroism under the stimulus
or the greatest struggle Of the ages.
|Certainly tho American has never been
Hound wanting IN the moral and ply.
steal courage which makes the daunt.
less soldier. But the courage of war
and the courage Of peace are as DIFF.
ferent as the night and the day.
Al generation ago Wendell Phillips
was concerned over what he observed
to be the effect of democracy upon
Individual character, and wrote his be.
lief that equality and freedom Of poll
lticai forms almost Invariably tend 70
make the individual subside into the
mass and lose his identity In the gem
Ieral whole. In a eauntry like ours
public opinion Is not only omnipotent,
II Is omnipresent. There Is no refuge
from Its tyranny; there is no hiding
from It's reach; and the result Is that
If you take the old Greek lantern, and
go about to seek among a hundred,
you will not find n single American
who dooA not fancy At least that he
has something to lose or something 10
gain In his ambition. his social life,
OF. his business. from the good opin.
ion and votes Of those around him.
And the consequence Is, that instead
lof being d mass Of individuals, each
one fearlessly hurting out his own
convictions. as a nation, compared to
othsr nations, We are a mass of cow.
ards. More than all other people we
are afraid OF each other
The characteristic Of the American
In the days before the war; may
have been, as Phillips believed, his
desire for Appreciation, to be on good
terms with his fellows. But we be.
Ieve the timidity of the present day
is 10 be accounted for on somewhat
different ground. The dominant
characteristic OF this nation. today. is
commercialism. There are those who
sacrince their convictions, or who re-
fuse To entertain convictions, because
OF their political ambitions. and the
fear OF losing votes. but we are not
a nation OF politicians. II were better
for US II we were more SO. We are
q nation Of business men, and the fear
of losing tho dollar Is responsible for
whatever OF weakness there may be
In the national backbone. Il is also
to blame for the corruption in munich.
pal. state and national life.
The charge OF President Eliot Ii
not without foundation. The average
American Is afraid 10 " "blurt ont
his convietions"-afraid to take an In.
dependent stand IN support Of his so.
ciai, Industrial political Or ethical
convictions, because thereby he ma.
be affected in his business, and we
use the word business not In the
restricted sense Of the buying and sell
ling IF goods, but as including also,
The professions N the broadcast mean.
ing The teacher, the preacher. the
editor, the lawyer; the butcher. the
baker and the candiestiek maker are