The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1906-04-20

1
| The material problems that face us
| today are not such as in Washing
| toms time, but the underlying facts OF
human nature are the same now as
| they were then. Under altered eXter-
| nal form we war with the same tend
| encies toward evil that were evident Ia
| Washington's time and are helped by
| the same tendencies for good. IL Is
about some OF these that l wish 10 say
a word today.
In Bunyans Pilgrims Progress
you may recall the description of the
man with the muck rake, the man who
| could look no way but downward, with
the muck rake in his hand; who was
offered a celestial crown for his muck
rake, but who would neither look up
| nor regard the crown he was offered,
but continued 10 rake TO himself the
filth Of the floor.
A Potent Force For Evil.
In pilgrims Progress" the man
with the muck rake is set forth as the
example of him whose vision is fixed
on carnal instead of on spiritual things
| Yet he also typifies the man who in
| this life consistently refuses TO see
aught that is lofty and fixes his eyes
| with solemn intentness only on that
which is vile and debasing. Now, il is
| very necessary that we should not
| finch from seeing what is vile and de-
basing There is filth on the floor. and
| il must be scraped up with the muck
n n,NI I'll
| where this service is the most needed
| of all the services that can be per-
formed. But the man who never does
anything else, who never thinks or
| speaks or writes save OF his feats with
the muck rake, speedily becomes not a
| help to society, not an Indictment to
good. but one of the most potent forces
| for evil.
There are in the body polite, eco
nomic and social. many and grave
| evils, and there is urgent necessity for
the sternest war upon them. There
should be relentless exposure Of and
attack upon every evil man, whether
politician or business man; every evil
practice, whether in politics, in bust
ness or in social life. | hail as a bene-
| factor every writer or speaker. every
man who on the platform or in book.
| magazine or newspaper with merci-
| less severity makes such attack, pro-
| vided always that he in his turn re-
members that the attack is of use only
| If il is absolutely truthful The liar
is no whit better than the thief. and If
his mendacity takes the form of SLAM
| der he may be worse than most thieves.
| 1t puts premium upon knavery I'M
truthfuily to attack an honest man OF
even with hysterical exaggeration 10
assail bad man with untxuth.
indiscriminate Assault.
Now, ii is easy to twist out of shape
what have just said. easy to affect to
misunderstood il, and If il is slurred
over in repetition not difficult really 10
misunderstood ii. Some persons are
| sincerely incapable of understanding
| that TO denounce mud singing does
not mean the Endorsement Of white
| washing, and both the interested in
dividuals who need embarrassing and
| ing like TO encourage such confusion
of ideas. One of the chief counts
against those who make indiscriminate
| assault upon men in business or men
in public life is that they invite re-
action which is sure TO tell powerfully
in favor OF the INSCRIPTIONS scoundrel
who really ought to be attacked. who
TO Io no.
sible, TO be put in the penitentiary. If
Aristides is praised overmuch as just,
people get tired Of hearing il. and over
censure of the unjust finally and from
similar reasons results in their favor.
Any excess is almost sure TO invite
reaction, and unfortunately the reac-
ton. instead OF taking the form of
punishment Of those guilty Of the ex-
cess. is very apt 10 take the form Ell
Their Of punishment of the unoifendng
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 al the
same time act as a profound deterrent
to able men of normal sensitiveness
and tend to prevent them from enter
ing the public service at any price
AS an instance in point / 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 utterly 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-
posure Of the politician who betrays
bis trust, of the big business man who
makes or spends his fortune In illegiti-
mate or corrupt ways. There should
be a resolute effort to hunt every such