The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1910-05-13

on . vaster scale than ever before In his
tory. This Is so among the military mon
arches OF Europe
In our own Civil war Of the United
States the same thing occurred peaceful
people a. we are At that time more than
two generations had passed since the
War Of Independence. During the whole
Of that period the people had been en-
gagsd In no life-and-death struggle: and
yet. when the Civil war broke out. and
after some costly and bitter lessons At
the beginning. the fighting spirit Of the
people was shown to better advantage
than ever before. The war was peculiar
~ . war for a principle. Q war waged
by each side for an ideal. and while faults
and shortcomings were plentiful among
the combatants. there was comparatively
little sordidness OF motive or conduct. In
such q giant struggle. where across the
warp OF 30 many interests II shot the
wool OF 10 many purposes. dark strands
and bright. strands somber and brilliant.
are always intertwined: inevitably there
was corruption here and there in the Civil
war: but all the leaders on both sides.
and the great majority Of the enormous
masses Of fighting men. wholly disre-
garded. and were wholly uninfiuenced by.
pecuniary considerations.
Wealth and Politics.
Another striking contrast in the course
OF modern civilization as compared with
the later stages of the Graeco-R Roman or
classic civilization Is to be found in the
relations OF wealth and politics. In clas-
sic times. as the civilization advanced to-
ward its zenith. politics became a reeog-
nized means of accommodating great
wealth. Caesar was again and again on
the verge OF bankruptcy: he spent an
enormous fortune: ard he recouped him
self by the money which he made out OF
IL lila A,.sw, go
tablished imperial Rome on firm founda-
tons by the use he made of the huge
fortune he had acquired by plumber. What
a contrast Ii offered by the careers OF
Washington and Lincoln! There were a
few exceptions In ancient days: but the
immense majority of the Greeks and the
Romans, as their civilizations eliminated.
accepted money making on large scale
as one of the incidents OF successful
public career. Now all Of this Is In sharp
contrast to what has happened within
the last two or three centuries. During
this time there has been a steady growth
away from the theory that money-making
is permissible in an honorable public ca
reer
In this respect the standard has been
constantly elevated. and things which
statesmen had no hesitation in doing
three centuries or two centuries ago. and
which did not seriously hurt a public ca
reer even century ago. are now utterly
impossible. Wealthy men still exercise a
large and sometimes an improper. infiu-
cnce In politics. but II Is apt to be an in
direct influence: and in the advanced
states the mere suspicion that the wealth
of public men Is obtained or added to as
an incident of their public careers will
bar them from public life. Speaking
generally. wealth may very greatly infiu-
ence modern political life. but II Is not &C.
Quired In political life.
Optimistic for the Future.
Mr.. Roosevelt called attention to
the fact that hitherto every civiliza-
ton that has arisen has been able to
develop only few activities. its field
Of endeavor being limited in kind as
we'll as in locality, and each Of these
civilizations has fallen. What is the
lesson to us of today? he asked. Will
the crash come. and be all the more
terrible because Of the immense in
crease in activities and area? To this
he replied:
Personally, do not believe that our
civilization will fall. think that on the
whole We have grown better and not
| worse. / think that on the whole the flu
ture holds more for us than even the
great past has held. But. assuredly. the
| dreams of golden glory in the future will
| not come true unless. high of heart and
strong of hand. by our own mighty deeds
we make them come true. We cannot at
ford to develop any one set of qualities.
any one set of activities. at the cost of
| seeing others. equally necessary. afro
| phied Neither the military efficiency of
| the Mongol. the extraordinary business
ability of the Phoenician. nor the subtle
m nd n tell n Cd
| to avert destruction.
We, the men of today and of the fu.
| ture. need many qualities IL We are to do
our work well. We need first of all and
most important OF ALL the qualities which
| stand at the base OF individual. of family
| life. the fundamental and essential quail
| ties-the homeiy, every day, all-important
virtues. IL the average man will not
| work. II he has not In him the will and
| the power to be a good husband and IA
Their: II the average woman Is not good
housewife. good mother of many
healthy children. then the state will top
| pie. will go down. no matter what may
| be its brilliance OF artistic development
| or material achievement But these home
| iy qualities are not enough. There must.
| In addition. be that power of organization.
that power Of working In common for a
| common end. which the German people
have shown In such signal fashion during
II
| things of the spirit are even more impor-
| tant than the things of the body. We can
well do without the hard intolerance and
| arid Intellectual barrenness Of what was
worst In the theological systems of the
| past. but there has never been greater
need of high and fine religious spirit
than at the present time. So. while we
| can laugh good-humoredly at some OF
the pretensions of modern philosophy In
its various branches. II would be worse
| than folly on our part to ignore our need
| Of intellectual leadership.
Must Steer Middle Course.
Never has philanthropy. humanitarisa a
ism. seen such development as now: and
| though We must all beware of the folly
| and the viciousness no worse than folly,
| which marks the believer In the perfec-
tibility OF man when his heart runs away
with his head. or when vanity usurps the
place of conscience. yet we must remem-
Der also that II Il only by working along
| the lines laid down by the philanthropists
by the lovers Of mankind. that we can
be sure of lifting our civilization to a
higher and more permanent plane Of we'll
| hair fhar IN ad nv