The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1905-02-16

he Is misleading himself. The capita
on which he lives Is confidence, ant
I nothing equals the confidence Of tht
o people unless 1t be their dlstrust whei
i once they find themselves betrayed
> They may follow for q time the ex
ploiters Of their artlessness, but then
. their friendly humor turns to hate
9 Doors which stood wide open offer an
impossible front Of wood, and ears
once attentive are deaf. And the pity
; Is that they have closed not to the
: evil alone, but to the good. This Is the
> crime of those who distort and degrade
! speech: they shake confidence general
y. We consider as a calamity the de-
: basement of tho currency, the lowering
: Of interest, the abolition Of credit.
There is misfortune greater than
} these-the loss of confidence, Of that
moral credit which honest people give
one anothaR and which makes speech
circulate like an authentic currency
Away with counterfeiters, spectators
rotten financiers, for they bring under
suspicion even the coin of the realm.
Away with the makers of counterfeit
speech, for because of them there is
no longer confidence in any one or any.
thing, and what they say and write Ia
not worth continental.
You see how urgent 1t is that each
should guard his lips, chasten his pen
and aspire to simplicity of speech No
more perversion of sense, clrcumlocu-
ton, reticence, regeneration! These
'-~------s----------. .--'...'
things serve only to complicate and be.
wilder. BE men. Speak the speech of
honor. An hour of plain dealing does
more for the salvation of the world
than years Of dupliclty.
A word now about national bias to
those who have a veneration for die
ton and style. Assuredly there can
be no quarrel with the taste for grace
and elegance Of speech / am of opin-
ion that one cannot say too well what
he has to say. But 1t does not follow
that the things best said and best writ |
ten are most studied. Words should |
serve the fact and not substitute them
selves for 1t and make 1t forgotten In |
Its establishment. The greatest things |
are those which gain the most by be-
ing said most simply, since thus they
show themselves for what they are.
You do not throw over them the veil,
however transparent, of beautiful dis
course, nor that shadow so fatal to
truth called the writer's vanity. Moth.
Ing so strong, nothing SO persuasive as
simplicity There are sacred emotions,
cruel griefs, splendid heroisms pas
slonate enthuslasms, that look,
movement, a cry, interprets better than
beautifully rounded periods. The most
precious possessions of the heart Of
humanity manifest themselves most
simply. TO be convincing thing must
be true, aud certain truths are more
evident when they come In the speech
OF ingenuousness, even weakness, than
when they fall from lips too we'll train
ed or are proclaimed with trumpets.
And these rules are good for each Of
us In his everyday life. No one can y
imagine what profit would accrue to J
his moral life from the constant obser- t
walton OF this principles BE sincere, |
moderate, simple In the expression of
your feelings and opinions In private
and public alike; never pass beyond
bounds, give out faithfully what Is
within you, and above all watch--that
Is the main thing.
For the danger In fine words Is that
they live from life of their own. /
They are servants Of distinction that 9
have kept their titles, but no longer a
perform their functions, of which roy G
nj courts offer us example. You speak a
well, write well, and all is said. How 0
many people content themselves with '
and believe that 1t exempts L
them from actlngl And those who lis v
Ten are content with having heard Il
them. So II sometimes happens that u
life may In the end be made up of few
Nell turned speeches, few fine books o
md few great plays, AS for practic. d
ng what Is 30 maglsterially set forth d
hat Is the last thing thought Of. And II
t we pass from the world of talent II
o spheres which the mediocre exploit, Il
here In a pellmell Of confusion we sec lc
hose who think that we are In the 10
world to talk and hear others talk Is
he great and hopeless rout of bab. nj
lers, OF everything that prates, bawIs IL
nd perorates and, after all, finds that a
here isn't talking enough. They all W
orget that those who make the least "
oise do the most work. An engine su
nat expends all Its steam In whistling di
as nothing left with which to turn
heels. Then let us cultivate silence. tic
II that We can save In noise we gain otl
power. an
These reflections lead us to consider sh
similar subject, also very worthy of i
tenuon. | mean what has been call ARK
the vice of the superlatIve." II thi
Q study the inhabitants of a country Is
notice differences of temperament, Ju'
which the language shows signs. on
ere the people are calm and phleg- 10
attic. Their speech Is JeJune, lacks de
'lor Elsewhere temperaments are
ore evenly balanced One finds pre- sic
sion, the word exactly fitted to the TO
ing, But farther on effect OF the otl
IN, the air, the wine perhaps-hot en-
ood courses in the veins, tempers are an
citable, language is extravagant, and TIC
e simplest things are said in the INC
rongest terms. al
If the type of speech varies with eli sp'
ate, 1t differs also with epochs. Com sis
re the language, written or spoken, NJ,
our own times with that of certain WI
her periods of our history. Under ''ie
e old regime people spoke differently ,nu W
an at the time of the Revolution, and ~, ~
Q have not the same language as the m 'i'u
en Of 1880, 1S4S or the second empire. ,tl''
general language is now charac- ee'
riZed by greater simplicity. We no ''H o','
|