Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1905-06-08

We should permit nothing but our
Hottest motives to lead us even to our
most humble duties. Let us cast our
ballot for school director with the
same care and in the same spirit that
actuates us in casting ballot for
president. Gentlemen, the social
problems that confront us are matters
that pertain to that higher individual
ity which God is slowly but surely
evolving out of the body social, and
he who makes of them matter OF his
own puny individual interests and
gets them confounded with private
business, cOrrupts our government
and degrades the standard OF true
citizenship. | recently read an arti-
Gle in a paper, it matters little what
paper or who wrote it, but it was
| painful and aggravating not because
of its opposition to a just plea for a
new court house. That is very insig-
niticant in comparison to its opposi-
| ton to that spirit that gave US our
great universities and grand state
| institutions of learning; that admir-
able spirit of sacrifice that Will build
| schools beyond our vision and kindle
| the light of knowledge in the far-away
| Philippines: that glorious spirit OF the
Revolution that made bloody foot
prints on the frozen soil of New Jer-
| sey that the infant Liberty might not
| be strangled by the hand of Tyranny.
Now in order to justify my serious
attitude I will quote from this article:
'Why not let the immediate district
| benefited bear the weight of their self
| imposed burden? Let Audubon citi-
Zens subscribe 800, 900 or $40, 900 for
new court house and then come to us
farmers for the balance OF the apprO-
priatiOn. But no, you want us to
build it for your enjoyment and en-
richment, and we farmers by necessity
shall stand afar off and view it, while
tOiling necessarily to meet the obi
cation, and many whose hard earned
money must be poured into the county
Golfers if this proposition carries,
NAV not even get to see the structure
more than once or twice year. Our
interest will not be served, our fami-
lies will not be made happier, our
homes and lands will not be enhanced
in value, etc. y
The puerile exageratiOns and the
ungrateful Indifference to the general
benefits all citizens enjoy from public
improvements make one imagine the
author of the above quotation to be a
peevish child clinging to the skirts OF
Progress, pulling back and whining
about something it can't tell what.
Shall we hold filthy dollar so close
to our eve as to exclude the beauties
of the world and blight the altruistic
within us? Shall we permit the inter-
estS of our immediate community to
blind US to the welfare of our county?
Shall we be so narrow as to let the
the county blind us to the good OF the
state? Shall we hug "Old Iowa" so
close as to make us forget the needs
of our nation? And now last but not
least let us watch else our patriotism
for America degenerates into national
selfishness and causes us to forget the
welfare of the nations of the world.
There are no sinister motives to in
lure any ones feelings behind this
article. 1t is mothered by a love for
a type of citizenship ever ready to
respond to the public's needs, which
is being poisoned by the prevalence
of such sentiments as predominant in
the article from which the above quo
tation is taken. | repeat that my in
terest in the new court house is lost
is alarm: for were such sentiments to
predominant for hundred years our
decline would be so conspicuous as to
invite foreign invasion, and but few
centuries more would pass until could
be seen the semi-civilized nomad
doing in his tent on the ruins of
American institutions.
When travelling through commun-
ity one can get fairly adequate con-
ceptiOn of the character of the people
by observing the buildings. If money
has been lavished on private dwellings
while the public buildings are old
and neglected and Accommodations
come high and with cold reluctance to
the lonesome stranger, we have pretty
sure evidence of a wOrm-eaten citizen
Shiw: and, vice versa, il the private
homes are modest, comfortable and
neat, and the public buildings are
adequate you will generally feel your
self in an atmosphere of hOme-like
generosity, while the citizenship is
not to be questioned. If we can de-
velOp a high standard of citizenship
we need not worry about public i'm
prOVementS. We can do this by re-
fusing to carry our narrow sectional
ism and prejudice over the sacred
threshold of the ballot booth. Let
our criterion of conduct ever be the.
increase of the sum total of human
happiness.
AN EVENING WITH APRIL.
| sit tonight and listen to
A choir of frogs in yonder slough
Where soft winds Groom.
Afar in April's smiling sky
Some cirrus beauties floating high
Throw DER the moon
A veil of iridescent mist
How sweet it is then to be kissed
BY Miss April
While whispering lowly face to face
of things above this mortal place!
| Divine her smile.
Fresh blossoms wreathed about her
/ Upon her breath their odors float
Oh, lovely maid!
I'll wait for you where wooes the
dove.
Come let us learn from them the love
That meier will fade.
Repose / reap where night winds
creep.
The Hartzell brothers shelled corn
for Geo. Mccall Thursday.
Mr.. Kneudsen's condition is still a
matter of serious concern. Heart
trouble.
Worth Hartzall Shelled and deli yer-