The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-12-03

tradition was fatal to spiritual progress
To misunderstood Jesus might mean
loss but il was no sin Is the thoug ght
Of the Nazarene. But TO stihe the voice
OF ones lnmost conviction for the sake
OF gain, or to placate authority, or for
anything in the universe. was TO make
a fatal blunder. This doctrine Is the
very cornerstone Of democracy.
Now the great verities OF religion
are essentially the same. though des-
cribed from different points OF view in
great virtues that are the foundation of
nobility In National character They are
ever the same but differently expressed
In various times and places.
Courage of Heroism.
Take, first. the virtue OF courage or
has been accepted by countless ages is.
what Will a man weigh against his life?
In the past men have died heroieally
mainly for TWO motives. for military
glory and for religious conviction In
every age men have died for their
friends and To protect their loved ones.
or have protected their homes and their
flocks with their lives. But not until
modern times. the era of democracies,
was /, clearly seen that this was the
greater beroism, And In democracy
ism OF the worker. To the credit of
our American manhood let 1t be snid that
craven fear or risk or danger is no
where much in evidence in our National
life. The miner in his dark tunnel. the
fisherman on the sea. the engineer with
hand on the throttle, the chemist in his
laboratory. the physician, nurse or mother
tenderly caring for those sick with ma
ignant and infectious disease all go
about their duty as a matter OF course
Take the men who chose fire-hghting
age they exhibit the country over is
worthy OF q panegyric. This is in
dustrial heroism, Modern life abounds
with op5por,unitiesS S, for its exercise.
peals TO us hut the military career no
longer attracts as formerly, while in
our democracy the most a man may
the laws Of his country in following the
tenets OF his faith. ;s a mild social
tracism. But In our industrial life there
courage TO play the heroic part And
heroism is always essentially the same
When man stakes his life against some
good he is a hero.
Someone has we'll said that democrscy cy
meant the kingdom of God within You.
II means that the average man must
Of himself and his fellows. All repre-
sentative government is based on the
righteousness of the average man.
Uncommon Man Leads.
OF course the uncommon man will al
ways lead, The success of a democracy
depends on the capacity of the average
man TO comprehend good leadership.
Otherwise the mob rules and the dema-
Gogue flourishes
In a democracy, man dominates law
and government. BY public opinion he
makes and unmakes laws. makes them
powerful or what we metaphoricalv call
a dead letter, He who makes or moulds
public opinion in a country like ours is
often more powerful than he who makes
laws or interprets them.
This being true, we see the Importance
or having something big and noble In
the way Of ideas for public opinion TO
express in its rough and ready way,
America is not as much submerged in
materialism as some of our foreign critics
think. but there is TO mistaking that our
danger lies In that direction II is for
MS TO prove that we become rich
without also becoming weak and wicked
With every other nation luxury and de-
generation have usually accompanied each
other. The same must be true with us
unless We retain our ideals.
Real National Peril.
That we are In the presence OF real
National peril is undenlabe Judge Lind
say OF The Juvenile court Of Denver tells
us that he discovered that the men who
oostructed him in his work did so be-
cause they valued things more than they
did ives. The case Of America before
sneibsa sne nigh court Ma1 OF heaven might be de-
that Is not lord OF Its dollars and the
thlngs dollars will buy has chosen the
PAIN OF degeneration.
Every Nation has a religion, more or
less independent OF Its churches Ii is
the religion OF its ideals, Let us make
a little study OF this religion of Amer
lean ideals.
Justice is another ideal unspeakably
precious in our National life IL is in
tlmately connected with courage as its
exercise often requires moral courage.
The buccaneers OF high finance have
been playing a merry game hitherto They
have been allowed the liberty Of license.
But there are signs enough that public
opinion is soon TO call halt. That there
has been duplicity and connivance TO de-
fraud we have long suspected Recent
inquirinG commissions and Investigations
have given us the needed proof The one
which sat in this city last week added It's
quota. Public opinion Is rapidly forming
which Will make a demand for justice
SO loud and clear that frightened poll
tcians viii be scared into a little genu-
lnely coercive and restrictive activity,
The Modern Newspaper.
In our American life we have another
ideal that peculiarly belongs to dem
ocracics. 1t is the Ideal OF knowlndge
IT Is not the old Ideal Of knowledge
which belonged 10 aristocracies and meant
knowing little Greek and Latin that
one might be distinguished from the hoi
poloi The Ideal of knowledge In n dem
ocracy inspires the average man to keep
the world. 1t is in our country and ought
10 be disgrace TO be unable 10 read
and write But the textbook of dem
oocracy is the newspaper for all men,
the magezl Inc for a large and increasing
number OF the more thoughtful while
The bound volume rs ever Is little used
except by the student
You have all looked over the morning
paper this morning and will read ii
more carefully this afternoon. You read
II with the confidence that II anything
or Importance has occurred In the whole
round world within The preceding twenty
10ur four hours IL will he chroniced there
The ideal Of knowledge In democracy
is TO keep informed to he up to date
And this ideal Is OF fundamental impor-
lance, Without 1T there could be no
lasting democracy
Faith Necessary.