Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-05-01
recent issue Of the st. Louis Globe

Democrat:
At time when sensational eff
Tort is whooped up along various lines
to unsettle confidence in the general
standard of morality, an event has oc-
CURED that gives a test of the pur-
poses and sentiment guiding the
American people. From a flood Of
published matter poured out during
the last year it would be inferred that.
society has been undermined by
mad race for illgotten wealth, and
that business Is mixture of greed
and fraud. The rule that from whom
that hath not shall be taken that
which he hath was proclaimed to have
become the new American keynote,
and the cynics and pessimists on ev-
cry side Joined in the dismal chorus.
The old fiber of honest American
character, 1t was said, had been brok-
en- down, and the cunning and rapa-
cious had obtained the upper hand
throughout the country. What proof
Is there Of the decentralization charged
under the sudden pressure of great
calamity? Looking back over the
crowded history of the past week it Is
impossible to see how more could
have been done than was done to res
cue and relieve in the highest spirit
of consideration for the claims of fell
low men. All who were in or near
the catastrophe exerted themselves
to the utmost, and throughout the
land money Is given without stint to
lessen the force of the blow as far as
human aid can accomplish it.
Calamity is mans true touch
stone, says the proverb. an idea that
runs through the literature of all
times and races. In few minutes
the force Of nature reduced the popu-
lation of great city to common
level Of danger and primitive wants,
and the whole country rallied to their
succor. Relief work will be carried
on and generously supported as long
as it is needed. The gifts will be
larger and the disposition to- help
more general than n any like vista
ton of the past. When people
spontaneously unite in good deed in
this manner it is an affront to COM
mon sense to talk of their decay into
a nation Of callous,. rapacious hustlers
for tainted wealth. Americas Arm
sense of integrity is not impaired in
the least, and the American heart Is
as responsive as ever to the noblest
impulses. The national honesty and
love of fair dealing is at its highest
mark, and the onward, upward march
goes forward steadily. One thing to
bear in mind is the growing multi
plicity of the interests of the country,
the rapid increase in population and
the shifting phases of industry, all Of
which give rise to new issues that
often present themselves as knotty
problems. But they will yield to the
unconquered, unconquerable stamina
of the American character.
"The man with the muck rake is an
infinitesimally small figure compared
with the man with relief in his hand
and earnest human sympathy in his
heart. There is legion seeking to
aid their fellow men for every one
trying to deceive and despoil. All
social wrongs have not been wholly
overcome, nor have fresh evils ceased
to arise from new circumstances but
the general tendencies are wholesome
and progressive If generosity in Civ.
ing is a criterion, and not alone in time
of disaster, this age, in America at
least, is without a parallel. All men
are not good, but the vast majority
are sound in truthful qualities and in
spired by upright principles. They
can also be depended on to settle
honestly the new questions that come
to the front, and to battle for the right
with the indomitable zeal that has
ever been part Of the national ideals.
Resting on this foundation, the coun-
try can overcome evil in any Of its
forms, one of which, at this time, is a
historical disparagement of every
thing and everybody"
There is nothing so comforting as a
feeling of security and of confidence
in ones fellow beings. Such an event
as the one at San Francisco brings
out the best that is in most men and
the worst that is in few. Fortunate
ly at San Francisco there was de-
tachment Of troops, well differed, 20
keep down any organized efforts OF
the bad element, and all over the ma
tion-all over the entire world in fact
the men whose good instincts have
been aroused are proving their mettle
and their manhood.