The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-12-12
The MARKS Of a Citi.en.

! We are all becoming more and more i'm
bned with the American spirit here in the
South. In some degree we are getting into
the hustle and mad rush of business Of the
northern part OF our country. That nervous
energy that drives TO action Is seizing on us
fast. The bsppy-go, easy lite Of half q cen
tuTy ago Is going, and the strenuous life Ia
fast taxing It's place. Each man for himself
and .the devil take the hindermost" seems
10 be the popular Shiboleth. Even II we be OF
. quiet and easy disposition. when we look
, around and see the activity, energy and push
everywhere display ed. the wild desire seizes
us 70 enter the fray and fight TO the finish.
II is this spirit that has made America what
] It H.. II Is . ~commendsble spirit but never.
theiess fraught with dangers. You must get
Into the hurly-brrly and mad dash II you do
mot wish TO sink. You have been basking Oh
the surface OF the bouyant seawater here In
this southland during the past, but the spirit
OF the times has robbed this water of It's salt
and now-kick. pull; work until your nerve.
Jingle, or the waters close over your head!
Just glance around and you will see the bob
bling bubbles from q head beneath the surface,
a head that had forgotten the Shiboleth and
paid the penalty.
We do not take time to think about what
we are doing, It Is q matter OF "sink or swim"
and we are taking care only to swim and mol
worrying about the consequences. We are
fast losing all altruistic principals. We en-
tirely forget them until we have made q pile
I or money and conscience at last finds q sensi.
tive spot, then we begin TO look around, and
like Rockefeller we warn young men about
becoming rich, and inaugurate a Sunday
School.
When we become thoroughly imbued with
this American spirit the Ego grows 10 be az
big az q mountains; the other fellow Ia invis
ible even with q microscope. He is utterly
forgotten. ignored, repudiated. The Ego
grows, It is cresoendo. it is loud, louder; ii
overtops everything. II becomes q terrible
maelstrom that swallows up all sentiment, all
%aitruistic spirit, and, sometimes, Integrity
and hon esty. Is 1t easy In bis day " get rich
by strictly honest principles? Yes. you say,
q man can get rich and yet use strictly hon.
eat business methods. Probably 80, then, are
all business methods stI honest when II
comes 10 q final analysis! When q man
Is engulfed In The mad grssping for lucre, is
Is not sometimes true that he fails to stop
and Rnalyz e some method that he may be
adopting, which under q critical analysis
would not pass AS strictly honest?
But leaving, all this out OF the question,
granting that all our business methods vii
stand the test; when a man has gone through
@ busy business life, and finished with credit
TO himself, from q monetary standpoint, II IL
only too often the Case that he has fallen fal
short OF what society should demand OF q
citizen. II we have lived only for ourselves,
for the Ego, We have been nothing more thai
leechers, parasites on The body polite. Fol
whatever purpose an ali wise Providence has
placed US here, We may be assured that Il.
did not intend ours 10 be the life Of q
parasite. There are obligations devolving on
each of Us which we are not performing and
which we are in a fair way 10 entirely for
get,
Most men drown all philautrophic spirit or
postpone obedience TO Its dictates until they
haye amassed wealth. Such a procedure Is
egregiously wrong. 'Unless we do something
to uplift, 10 help totencourage every day our
life is going to peia failure. Turn your minds
eve TO the past and take a glance at the men
VINO have nnished the race and gone. Select