The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1910-05-06

ability to work, even more important
than ability TO fight at need. is 1t to
remember that the chief Of blessings
for any nation is that il shall leave Its
seed to inherit the land. The greatest
of all curses Is the curse of ster1lity
and the severest of all concentrations
should be that visited upon willful
sterility
| The first essential in any civilization
Is that the man and the woman shall
be father and mother of healthy chill
lren. so that the race shall increase
and not decrease If this Is not So II
through no fault of the society there
is failure to increase, it is a great mis-
fortune. If the failure is due TO de-
liberate and willful fault, then 1t is
not merely a misfortune; 1t is one OF
those crimes of ease and self indul-
gence. of shrinking from pain and eff
fort and risk. which in the long run
nature Furnishes more heavily than any
other
If we of the great republics. If we.
the free people who claim to have
emancipated ourselves from the thral-
dom of wrong and error. bring down
on our heads the curse that comes
upon the willfully barren, then 1t will
be an idle waste of breath to prattle
of our achievements, to boast of all
that we have done.
No refinement of life, no delicacy Of
/ taste. no material progress, no sordid
heaping up of riches. no sensuous de-
velopment of art and literature, can In
any way compensate for the loss Of
the great fundamental virtues. and Of
these great fundamental virtues the
greatest is the races power to per-
petuate the race.
Mans Chief Duty.
Character must show itself In the
mans performance both of the duty
he owes himself and of the duty he
owes the state The mans foremost
duty is owed to himself and his fam
lily. and he can do this duty only by
earning money, by providing what Is
essential to material well being. 1t
is only after this has been done that
he can hope to build higher super
structure on the solid material foun-
dalton. 1t is only after this has been
done that he can help in movements
for the general well being.
1t is not good to excite that bitter
laughter which expresses contempt,
and contempt is what we feel for the
being whose enthusiasm to benefit
mankind is such that he is a burden
to those nearest him. who wishes to
do great things for humanity in the
abstract. but who cannot keep his
wife IN comfort or educate his chill
dren.
| decline to recognize the mere null
timillionaire. the man of mere wealth.
as an asset of value to any country.
and especially as not an asset to my
own country. If he has earned or
uses his wealth In way that makes
him Of real benefit. of real use-and
such is often the case-why. then he
does become an asset of worth. But
1t is the way In which 1t has been
earned or used and not the mere fact
Of wealth that entities him to the
credit.
There Is need in business as In most
other forms Of human activity. of the
great guiding intelligences. Their
places cannot be supplied by any num-
Der of lesser intelligences.
1t is bad thing for nation to raise
and to admire a false standard Of sue
cess, and there can be no falser stand
ard than that set by the dedication of
material well being in and for itself.
The power of the journalist is great,
but he is entitled neither to respect
nor admiration because of that power
unless it is used Alright. He can do,
and he often does. great good. He can
do, and he often does, infinite mis-
chief All journalists, all writers, for
the very reason that they appreciate
the vast possibilities of their profes-
sion. should bear testimony against
those who deeply discredit it. Of
lenses against taste and morals. which
are bad enough In a private citizen.
are infinitely worse IL made into in
struments for debauching the COM
munity through a newspaper.
Mendacity. SANDER. sensationalism.
inanity. vapid triviality, all are po-
tent factors for the debauchery Of the
public mind and conscience. The ex-
cuse advanced for vicious writing. that
the public demands 1t and that the de-
mand must be supplied, can no more
be admitted than If 1t were advanced
by the purveyors of food who sell poi
sonous authorizations.
Virtues of the Household.
The homely virtues of the household
the ordinary workaday virtues which
make the woman a good housewife
and house mother. which make the
man a hard worker, a good husband
and father. good soldier at need
stand at the bottom of character But
of course many others must be added
thereto If a state is to be not only free,
but great.
Good citizenship is not good citizen
ship If exhibited only in the home
There remain the duties of the indi
vidual In relation to the state. and
these duties are none too easy under
the conditions which exist where the
a. n Rsx.a.