The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-06-07
HIT ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN

HIT ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN
Senator A.. b kittredee delivered
the address on the occasion Of tile
exercises at WoonSocket on Decoration
Day. and the senator took occasion
to offer some advice to the young
of today at that time, aud which is
particularly Appropriate in view of
the way in which many Of the high
financiers and men generally in pub
lie prominence are travelling. 1t is
not a way that the senator would
advise Young men to 20 even II it
lead to riches. He places a high
standard of morality and honesty for
young men to attain. and the young
man or men who follow the teaching
as set forth in that address will
leave a mark Of the highest respect
in the community which he halls
from. In the curse Of his address
the senator submitted the following
fur the young men Of today:
We are surprised and shocked at
the revelations OF corruption in civic
affairs by men in public positions,
and we hang our heads in shame for
the public otfenses OF men in private
life; yet the cause Of it all is the
weakness Of human nature, the want
Of virtue and integrity in the in
dividual. The man who is dishonest
in bis personal dealings wants only
the opportunity Of public position to
become, in the pa1lance Of the day.
a public instead OF a private ''praf-
ter" We some times hear it sale Of
a public official. who has disgraced
his station. that he is personally
honest, personally a good fellow, etc.
Let lis remember that one cannot be
J personally honest and officially dis
! honest. There is NO such thing as
impersonal dishonesty. Let us re-
member that the cornerstone of Our
government structure is intelligent
personal integrity. Upon it depends
the endurance Of the republic.
In our form OF government the
personal equation cannot be ellIninat-
ed. Ours is neither a democracy nor
an o%ligarchy. It is essentially a
government through representation.
Our public officials are trustees with
constitutional OF statutory limita-
tions and personal responsibilities as
such. The principle Of representa-
tion in human government is
comparatively a recent discovery.
| Without it government ever has been
oppressive and the governed without
adequate means of redress. Our
government, national and state, is
predicated on tiduciary relations be-
tween the people and their public
servants, and the manner Of the
execution of the trust depends upon
AS his conception Of duty depends
upon his personal character, the SUE
cess OF representative government in
the last analysis depends upon the
intelligence and integrity OF the
individual.
The state was made for man; not
man for the state Government is
ordained for mans benefit and it
must not be used as a means to ex-
ploit either the community or the
Individual; nor, on the other hand,
should it be exploited by the ildivid-
ual or used AS a shield to protect him
who under takes to exploit it. The
CRATER In private life, though less
Conspicuous than his kinsman in
public station. is equally an "unde-
sirable citizens" in fact, in some
respects he is more dangerous to the
public welfare because of the less
likelihood of detection.
In the long run our public morals
reflect the composite character Of our
people and our legislation is nodded
hu Nn,ht3O nnininn If fh0k nNno pncifo
character is high, our public morals
will be wholesome. II public opinion
is formed by INTELLIGENT thought and
moral conviction, our legislature will
be wise and equitable.
Integrity Without intelligence will
accomplish little. On the other
han3, 1T may serve as a fruitful held
for exploitation by the CRATER Tue
individaul must have discriminating
judgment. He must be able to
Judge the true from the false, the
good from the bad.
This noisy horde denounce those
who point out their hypocrisy and
stand in the way of their advance
ment, and not infreQuently succeed
In injuring modest virtue before the
warm hearted multitude discovers
that %vociierous demagogy has been
made to 40 service TO promote am-
billions OF the unworthy. Paradoxical
as at first it may seem there is Moth
ing that the accomplished CRATER
likes better than to associate himself
with a crusade for moral hetterment.
To him it is an s'opportunity." 1t
matters not how shockingly he may
have offended morality, he expects
his noisy professions to cause him TO
be recognized as virtues champion
par excellence.
The success or failure of our ma
tiunal life depends npon our young
men and young INT There
should be incllcated in the youth of