Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1906-04-20
CORNER STONELAID
WITH CEREMONIES
Members OF The Supreme Court, Diplomats,
Senators, congressman And Public At
tended Exercises And Listened To The
Address of President Roosevelt.

/ uldSdZlue VI newspaper WILL 1uclS u
| less severity makes such attack, pro-
! vided always that he in his turn re-
members that the attack is of use only
| if it is absolutely truthful. The liar
is no whit better than the thief. and
| if the mendacity takes the form of SLAM
der, he may be worse than most
thieves. 1t puts a premium upon
knavery untruthfully' to attack an hon
est man, or even with historical ex-
aggeration to assail a bad man with
untruth. An epidemic of indiscrimin-
ate assault upon character does no
good, but very great harm. The soul
of every scoundrel Is gladdened when
ever an honest man Is assailed, or
even when a scoundrel is untruthfully
assailed. t-'
Now, it is easy to twist out of shape
what 1 have just said, easy to affect to
misunderstood it, and, If it is slurred
over in repetition, not difficult really
to misunderstood it. Some persons
are sincerely incapable of understand
ing that to denounce mud Singing
does not mean the Endorsement of
whitewashing; and both the interested
individuals who need whitewashing,
and those others who practice mud
singing, like to encourage such con-
fusion of ideas. One of the chief
counts against those who make indis-
criminate assault upon men in bust
ness or men in public life, is that
they invite a reaction which IS sure to
tell powerfully in favor Of the un-
scrupulous scoundrel who really ought
to be attacked, who ought to be ex-
posed, who ought, If possible, to be put
in the penitentiary. If Aristides is
praised overmuch as just, people get
tired of hearing it.; and overcensure o.
the unjust finally and from similar
reasons results in their favor.
Any excess is almost sure to invite
a reaction; and, unfortunately, the
reaction, instead of taxing the form of
punishment of those guilty of the ex-
cess, is very apt to take the form
either of punishment of the unoffend-
ing or of giving immunity, and even
strength, to offenders. The effort to
make financial or political profit out
of the destruction Of character can
only result in public calamity. Gross
and reckless assaults on character.
whether on the stump or in newspaper,
magazine, or book. create a morbid
and vicious public sentiment. and at
the same time act as profound det-
terent to able men of normal sensi-
tiveness and tend to prevent, them
from entering the public service at
any price, AS an instance in point, I
may mention that one serious difficulty
encountered in getting the right type
of men to dig the Panama canal is the
certainty that they will be exposed,
both without, and, am sorry to say,
sometimes within, congress, to utter
ly reckless assaults on their character
and capacity. @
At the risk of repetition let me say
again that my plea is, not for immu-
nifty to but for the most unsparing ex-
posture of the politician who betrays
his trust, of the big business men who
| makes or spends his fortune in lille
ultimate or corrupt ways. There
| should be resolute effort to hunt
every such man out of the position he
| has disgraced. Expose the crime, and
hunt down the criminal; but remem-
| Der that even in the case of crime, if
| it is attacked in sensational, lurid
| and untruthful fashion, the attack
| may do more damage to the public
| mind than the crime itself. 1t is be-
cause 1 feel that there should be nc
| rest in the endless war against the
forces of evil that I ask that the war
| be conducted with sanity as we'll as
| with resolution The men with the
undertakes are often indispensable to
the well-being of society; but only if
they know when to stop raking the
| muck, and to look upward to the eel
estial crown above them, to the crown
of worthy endeavor. There are beau
tiful things above and round about
them: and if they gradually grow to
| feel that the whole thing is nothing
| but muck. their power of usefulness is
gone. If the whole picture is paint
| ed black there remains no hue where
by to single out the rascals for dis
| tinction from their fellows. Such
painting finally induces kind of NOR
al COLOR blindness: and people affected
by it come to the conclusion that no
man is really black. and no man real