The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1909-09-30
4 PRESIDENTIAL PREACHER.

truths and homely sayings. Presi-
dent Roosevelt accomplished much
good during his terms of Office by
frequent addresses upon the import
ance of the every day virtues of life.
Last Sunday President Taft, speaking
to an immense audience in the great
Mormon Tabernacle at Salt Lake
City, spoke from the text: "a soft
answer turns away wrath, but griev-
Gus words stir up anger
In his address, or sermon, the Pres
ident called attention to the greater
politeness shown by the Oriental
races in contrast to our Anglo-Sax-
on manners. What he said was so
admirable in spirit and in expression
that it might well be read in every
home and every school in the land.
The substance of his advice was as
follows:
1--WE Anglo-Saxons are, we admit,
a great race, We have accomplished
wonders in hammering out against
odds that seemed insurmountable the
principles of civil liberty and popular
government and making them prac-
teal and showing to the world their
D enefits, But in so doing and in the
course of our life, it seems to me, we
have ignored some things that our
fellows of southern climes have stud
led and made much of, and that is
the forms of speech and the methods
OF every day treatment D etween them
selves and others. At first that
seems superficial to us, who prefer
no and yes and abrupt methods
and communications in the shortest
and curtest sentences, but we have
much to learn from people of that
kind of courtesy and politeness.
THE truth is that mans life in
his family, with his wife, with his
children, with his mother, with his
neighbors, is not made up of grand
stand plays and all that sort of
thing. 1t is made up of a series OF
little acts and those little self-rc-
straints are what go to make up the
mans character.
'And so l say that our friends of
the Southern climes and our Oriental
friends have touched point in phil
osophy, the philosophy of life, that
we may we'll learn from them and in
troduce into our lives more courtesy
and more politeness, more real gen.
uine desire to make everybody happy
by the little things of life, which, af-
ter all constitute all there is in life.
Now, andother corollary from the
text which | would like to draw is
that we ought to ascribe to our neigh
bors and to those with whom we come
in contact, as high motives as we can
We ought to avoid this acrimonious
discussion that consigns everybody
ton and to having the most corrupt
motives and ascribes to those who
stand with us only the purest motives.
Life is too valuable to waste in anger
and the charging and denunciation of
our fellow men when they don't de-
serve it.
THE truth is, this matter OF hatred
and resentment which accompanies
the attributing of bad motive to
those who differ from you is a waste
of nervous strength, of time, of wor-
ry, without accomplishing one single
good thing. l don't know how it has
been with you, but it has happened
time and again with me that some
man has done something that / did
not like, that l thought had person.
al bearing, and that / have said in
my heart: Times will change and |
will get even with that gentleman
Il don't profess to be free from
those feelings at all. But it has fire.
quently happened. / may say gener-
ally, that the time did come when |
when that time came it seemed to me
that / would demean myself and that
it would show me no man at all if l
took advantage. And so, my friends,
what ! am urging is less acrimony in
public discussion, more charity with
respect to each other as to what
moves each man to do what he does,
and not to charge dishonesty and
corruption until you have real rea-
son for doing So"
This address by the first citizen of
the land, reinforced by the knowl-
edge that the President practices
what he breaches, cannot fail to have
powerful effect for good. How
much trouble might be saved if we
were more courteous. How often we
hear the remark; 81 am lain,
blunt man, and say what l think. "
The individual rather prides himself
upon this quality as virtue, where
as it is really vice, as he puts 1t into
practice. For 1t really means a bru-
tai trampling upon the feelings and