Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-05

individual application. Our destines are so
interviewer that each exerts an influence
directly or indirectly upon Al others.
English the Best Language.
Sometimes this influence II unconsciously
exerted A. when. for instance. tAe good
or bad precedent set BY one nation In deal
ing with its own AFFAIRS II followed by
some other nation. Sometimes the infiu-
ence IL Incidentally exerted ~ when. for
example. . nation m the extension Of its
commerce introduces tn language and en-
larges the horizon Of the people with whom
1t trades This incidental benefit conferred
by the openin9 Of new markets must be
apparent to any one who has watched the
which have been introduced into Asia and
Africa through the medium Of the Eugifsh
language. This il not the mother tongue
OF very many OF the worlds leaders In
religion. craftsmanship, science and lftera-
ture, but 1t has received through transla-
ton the best that has been written and
spoken in other countries. He who learns
mis- language. therefore. is like one who
lives upon a great highway where he comes
Into daily contact with the world.
without dfsparaging other modern Ian
guageS 1t may be said with truth that
whether one travels abroad or studies at
home there is no other language SO useful
ut the present time as that which we en-
ploy at this banquet board, and the nation
which Is instrumental in spreading this
language confers an inestimable boon even
though the comforting of 1t be not included
In Its general purpose. England has rem
dered this service to the people of India,
and the United States Is rendering the
same service to the people Of the Philip
pines, while both England and the United
States have been helpful to Japan and
China In this way.
Captives and Civilization.
Rut fbn diva
themselves with the comforting of Incl
dental benefits. II they would justify their
leadership they must put forth conscious
and constant effort for the promotion OF
the welfare of the nations which lag be-
hind Incidental benefits may follow even
though the real purpose of a nation is a
wholly selfish one, for as the sale of
Joseph Into Egypt resulted in blessings
to his family and to the land of the Pha-
raohs, SO captives taken in war have some
times spread civilization and blacks car
ried away into slavery have been improved
by contact with the whites. But nations
cannot afford to do evil in the hope that
providence Will transmute the evil into
good and bring blessings out of sin. Ma
tons, If they would be great in the bet
ter sense of the term, must intend benefit
as well as confer 1t: they must plan adj
vantage and not leave the results to chance.
l take it for granted that our duty to the
so-called inferior races Is not discharged
by merely feeding them in times of famine
or by contributing to their temporary sup
port when some other calamity overtakes
them. A much greater assistance Is rem
dered them when they are led to a more
elevated plane of thought and activity by
ideals which stimulate them to self-de
velopment. The improvement of the peo-
pie themselves should be the paramount
object In all intercourse with the orient.
Among the blessings which the Christian
nations are at this time able. and in duty
bound. to carry to the rest of the world
may mention 6ve-education, knowledge, of
the science of government, arbitration as
a substitute for war. appreciation of the
dignity of labor and a high conception of
life.
Education First Always.
Education comes first: and in nothing
have the United States and England been
more clearly helpful than in the advocacy of
universal education. If the designs of God
are disclosed by His handiwork then the
creation Of the human mind is indubtable
proof that the Almighty never intended
that learning should be monopolzed by
few, and he arrays himself against the
plans of Jehovah who would deny intel
iectual training to any part of the human
race. 1t Is false civilization not a true
one, that countenances the permanent sep
aration of society into two distinct classes,
the one encouraged to improve the mind
and the other condemned to hopeless ignor-
o.
international politics which would make
the prosperity of one nation depend upon
the exploitation of another. While no one
Is far-sighted enough to estimate with ac-
curacy the remote, or even the immediate,
consequences of human action vet as we
can rely upon the principle that each in
dividual profits rather than loses by the
progress and prosperity of his neighbors,
so we cannot doubt that 1t is to the adj
vantage OF each nation that every other
nation shall make the largest possible use
of its own resources and the capabilities of
Its people.
Japan's Influence.
No one questions that Japan's influence
has been a benefcent one since she has
emerged from illiteracy and endowed her
people with public schools, open to all her
boys and girls. The transition from a po-
sition of obscurity into a world power was
scarcely more rapid than her transition
from a menace into an ally. China is en-
tertng into a similar experience, and I am
confident that her era of reform will make
her, not yellow peril but a powerful CO.
laborer In. the international VINEYARD In
India, In the Philippines. In Egypt and
even in Turkey statistics show a gradual
extension of education. and l trust I will
be pardoned If I say that neither the
armies. nor the navies nor vet the COM
merce Of our nations have given US so Just
claim to the gratitude of the people of
Asia as have our school teachers, sent
many of them. by private, rather than by
public funds.
English the Vehicle.
The English language has become the We
hicle for the conveyance of governmental
truth even more than for the spread of
general information for beginning with
Magma Charta and continuing through the
era of the American revolution and the
Declaration of Independence down to the
present, no language has been so much en-
ployed for the propagation OF that theory
of government which traces governmental
authority to the consent of the governed
Our own nation presents the most Illus
trious example known to history of a great
population working out its destiny through
laws of its own making and under officials
of Its own choosing, although, l may add
we scarcely go beyond England In recog-
nizing the omnipotence of a parliament
fresh from the people 1t is difficult to
overestimate the potency Of this conception
of government upon the progress of a ma
ton. and in turning the thought of the
world away from despotism to the possibll-
tiles of self-government the pioneers of
freedom made western civilization possible
An idea will sometimes revoluuonize an
Ill