Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-08-14

himself were the third party, he would
feel justly resentful. Pr a9ir
Too many lawyers are forgetting to-
day the high standard set for them in
the doctrine that the attorney is the
keeper of his clients conscience. And
these lawyers are prosperous, some of
them are the leaders Of the Bar and
as such they are admired by the most
of us. a.. ..:...
Conclusion. So. ...
I cannot here and now lead you
through all the ramifications of the
evils which are burning back OF the
smoke of modern criticism. I have
shown, think, that these evils, which
are undermining the foundation Of
American business and the institution
of American government, are founded
in the weakness of American stand
ards of greatness and If not checked
will ultimately undermine American
character. My point is that "Ameri-
can character" means your character
and mine, and it does seem to me that
the question of the day is What are
we going to do about it?'
My answer is suggested by your
commencement.
VS. must all go, where you are,
Back to Beginnings"
I thinks that the simplest reform
the hardest, but the first-is to make
up our minds not to do ourselves those
things which the other man is doing,
but which are wrong.
The next reform is to reform the
other man.
This is the reverse of the usual
process. The common procedure is to
try first to correct others. But we fail
because we soon see that if we push
that sort of reform to the last analysis,
we interfere with our own graft; or, If
our fundamental honesty is brave
enough, we realize that We are not fit
TO throw the nrSt SpOne.
So l say that we older men and
women must go "back to beginnings"
and, as for the younger men and
women, you whose commencement day
this is, you who are at the beginnings
TO you say: Stay there. You can
throw stones. Throw them, and
throw them straight and throw them
hard, and above all tings do keep your
selves fit to throw them always.
Don't pose, don't be frauds. Be
genuine. Be true to yourselves. Be
yourselves. Seek what you really
want Take no course in life simply
because other take it. Put on no
mans coat because it is becoming to
him. Make your point of view your
standpoint. Don't proclaim it as the
hub of the universe; 1t is only firing
line, but stand on it and fire.
Don't chase the easy dollar. Money
is good, but money will come if you do
your work WELL Give the world full
value, and the world will prize and
pay you for the character your honest
effort will have developed. And even
the bad world appreciates character.
Did you not notice a few weeks ago
one of the great financial institutions,
under charges of financial graft,
searched this country to find a man
of national reputation and of shining
purity of character?
Get that character and the reputa-
ton, get for yourselves the benefit Of
the exercise of mind and body that
comes from earning money, but let
your dollars be but the evidence of
the recognized value of your work in
the world.
Having that, however, having char
acter, require 1t of others. Help to
create a demand for honesty. Having
done your duty as a man or as
woman to yourselves, do your duty to
the rest of us-do the work Of mem.
Der Of society, of citizen Of the
world. ..u.. .!
In free democratic nation such as
ours, we-you who are at your COM
mencement and who have come back
here to the beginnings tell you that
we need men and women who not only
will not lie, or steal, or cheat, or
bride, but will make crimes criminal
and fraud and graft disgrace, even
though they are successful, even
though the wrongdoers live next door,
belong to our club, 60 to our church.
That may not in any wise be mis-
understood | say to you again that
this indictment of our business life is
not based upon an inherent, incurable
defect in our American character, but,
on the contrary, these evils are an out
growth of our American strenuosity in
the riotous race for the easy dollar
and the many dollars. I wish to dis