Mexico Missouri message., 1905-02-09

After having gorged themselves with
everything around them the reptiles
fall upon each other, and there remain
upon the field of battle two tails
And not the common people alone
feel this embarrassment, but the cult
/ waited also; almost everybody shares 1t.
In politics, finance, business, even in
science, art, literature and religion,
there Is everywhere disguise, trlckery,
wire pulling-One truth for the public,
/ another for the initiated. The result Is
that everybody is deceived. II is vain
| TO be behind the scenes ON one stage.
| a man cannot be there ON them all,
+ and the very people who deceive others
with the most ability are I'm turn de-
ceivcd when they need TO count upon
the sincerity Of their neighbors.
The result of such practices is the
/ degradation of human speech. 1t Is de-
| graded first in the eyes Of those who
manipulate it as u base instrument.
No word is respected by sophists,
casuists ana quibblers, men who arc
moved only 10y u rage for gaining their
point or who assume that their inter
| ests are alone worth considering.
| Their penalty Is to be forced TO judge
| others by the rule they follow them.
selves-say what profits and not what
| IS true. They can no longer take any
| one seriously-a sad state Of mind for
! those who write or teach. How light
! ~ must one hold his readers and hear
ers 10 approach them in such an attl-
| tudc, 10 him who has preserved
| enough honesty nothing is more repug-
/ nlut than the careless irony of an aC-
robat OF the tongue or pen who tries
/ TO dupe honest and ingenious men.
/ On one side Openness, sincerity, the
desire to be enlightened; on the other,
chicanery making game Of the public!
| But lie knows not, the liar, how far
/ lie is misleading himself The capital
/ on which lie lives Is confidence, and
| nothing equals the confidence Of the
| people unless it be their distrust when
/ 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.
| 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
/ ~. We consider as a calamity the de-
| basement Of the 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 another. and which makes speech
/ circulate like an authentic currency.
| Away with couuterfeiters, spectators,
| rotten financlcrS. 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 is
not worth Il continental
You see how urgent It is that each
should guard his lips, chasten his pen
and aspire TO simplicity of speech. No
more pcrversion Of sense, clrcumlocu-
ton, retcence, regeneration! These
things serve only to complicate and be.
wilder BE men. Speak the speech Of
honor IN hour Of plain dealing does
more for tie salvation Of the world
thGH ycn9s of duplicity.
\ word now about national bias 60
| those who have vcncrution for die
ton and style. Assurcdly there can
be no quarrel with the taste for grace
| ana elegance Of speech. ] am Of Opin-
ion that one cannot say too well what
he has TO say. Eut il 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 II and make it 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 50 strong nothing so persuasive, as
simplicity! There are sacred emotions
cruel griefs, splendid hcrOisms, pas
siOnatc cnthusiasms, that Il look, 0
movement, cry, interprets better than
beautifully rounded periods. The most
precious possessions Of the heart OF
humanity manifest themselves mos
simply. TO be convincing thing mus
be true, and certain truths arc more
evident when they come in the spcccl
OF righteousness, even weakness, than
when they fall from lips too well train
ed OF are proclaimed with trumpets
And these rules are good for each Of
US in his everyday life. No one car
imagine what profit would accrue Il
his moral life from the constant Obser
walton Of this principle: BE sincere
moderate. simple in the expression Of
your feelings and opinions I'm private
and public alike; never pass beyOnt
bounds, give out faithfully what Il
within yOu, and above all watch-tha
is the muiu thing.
For the danger in line words is tina
they live from life Of their own
They are servants of distinction tina
have kept their titles, but no lOnge
perform their functions, Of which roy
al courts offer us example. You speal
well, write well, and all Is said, How
many people content themselves witt
. speaking and believe that It exempt
them from acting! And those who lis
. ten are content with having heart
them. So It sometimes happens that {