Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1910-06-09

the preservation OF mankind 10 worth
while. IL IL an evil and a dreadful thing
to be caiious 10 sorrow and suffering. and
blind TO our duty TO do all things possible
| for the betterment Of social conditions
| But IL Is an unspeakably foolish thing 10
| strive for this betterment by means 40
destructive that they would leave no so-
cial conditions TO better. In dealing with
all these social problems, with the init
| mate relations OF the family. with wealth
| in private use and business use. with Ia
| Dor. with poverty. the one prime necea-
| sity Is 10 remember that, though hard
| ness OF heart ~ great evil, IL 10 no
greater an evil than softness OF head.
But In addition 10 these problems the
| most intimate and Important of ali
which to a larger or less degree afrect Ali
| the modern nations somewhat alike. we
| or the great nations that have expanded.
| that are now In complicated relations with
one another and with alien race. have
special problems and special duties of our
own. You belong TO a nation which DOS
sesses the greatest empire upon which the
sun mas ever shone. belong to a nation
which is trying. on a scale hitherto unex-
ampied, TO work out the problems of gov
eminent for, or. and by the people. while
at the same time doing the international
duty OF great power. But there are
certain problems which both of us have
TO solve. and as 10 which our standards
should be the same The Englishman tha
man OF the British isles, in his yariou.
homes across the seas and the Ameri-
can, both at home and abroad. are
brought INTO contact with utterly alien
peoples, some with civilization more an
cient tnan our own. others still In, or
having but recently arisen from, the bar
barism which our people left behind ages
ago The problems that arise are OF we'll
nigh inconceivable difficulty They cannot
De solved by the foolish sentimentality Of
stay-at-home people, with little patent
recipes, and those cut-and-dried theories
OF the ponticaI nursery which have such
limited applicability amid the crash of
elemental forces. Neither can thew be
solved by the raw brutality of the men
VINO, whether at home or on the rough
frontier or civilization, adopt might as
the only standard OF right In dealing with
olner men. ana treat allen races only az
subjects for exploitation
No hard and fast rule can he drawn a.
applying to all alien races, because they
oiner from one another far more wide
~ than some OF them differ from us But
there are one or two rules which must
not De forgotten. In the long run, there
can De no justification for one race man
aging or controlling another unless the
management and control are exercised in
the interest and for the beneft OF that
other race. This Is what our peoples
nave In the main done, and must con-
tinue In the future In even greater de-
gree to DO, In India, Egypt, and the Phil
lppines ankle. In the next place, as re-
CARDS every race, everywhere at home
or abroad. we cannot AFFORD to deviats |
from the great rule OF righteousness
which bids us treat each man on his
worth as man. He must not be senti-
mentally favored because he belongs to
given race: he must not be given i'm
munity In wrong doing, or permitted TO
efts
leges which would be denied to the |
vicious and unf1t among themselves On
tne other hand, where he acts In a way |
whlch would entitle him to respect and
reward TX he were OF our own stock he |
Is just as much entitled to that respect |
and reward II he comes of another
stock. even though that other stock pro- |
ouces much smaller proportion OF men |
OF MS type than does our own. This has |
nothing to do with social intermingling, |
with what Is called social equality. II |
mas to do merely with the question of do |
ing TO each man and each woman that |
elementary justice which will permit him |
or her to gain from life the reward /
which should always accompany thrift |
sobriety. self-control. respect for the
rights OF others. and hard and intelli- |
gent work TO given end To more than |
such just treatment no man is entitled.
and less than such just treatment no man
should receive
Duty Of Nation to Nation.
The other type OF duty is the interna-
tlonal duty, the duty owed by one ma
ton to another. hold that the laws OF
which should govern individu-
ais In their dealings one with the other
are Just as binding concerning nations in
their dealings one with the other The
application OF the moral law must be
different in the two cases. because I'm
nd IL H..
not. the sanction OF civil law with force
behind II. The individual can depend for
MS rights upon the courts, which them
selves derive their force from the police
power OF the state. The nation can de-
,end upon nothing OF the kind: and
therefore,, as things are now, IL is the
highest duty OF the most advanced and
reest peoples TO keep themselves In such
! state OF readiness as to forbid TO any
'arbarism or despotism the hope Of ar
esting the progress OF the world by stri-
Ing down the nations that lead In that
progress. II would be foolish indeed to
'ay heed to the unwise persons who de-
Ire disarmament to be begun by the
cry peoples who, of all others, should
lot be left helpless before any possible
oe. But we must reprobate quite az
trongly both the leaders and the peoples
Who practise, or encourage or condone
ggression and iniquity by the strong at
he expense OF the weak. We should toll
rate lawessness and wicke dness neither
y the weak nor by the strong; and both
'eak and strong we should In return
reat with scrupulous fairness. The for
Ign policy Of a great and self-respecting
ountry should be conducted on exactly
he same plane OF honor, OF insistence
pom ones own rights and OF respect for
ne rights OF others. as when brave and
onorable man is dealing with his fell
'ws Permit me TO support this state
lent out OF my own experience For
early eight years ] was the head OF a
reat nation and charged especially with
he conduct Of Its foreign policy: and
uring those years took no action with
ference to any other people on the face
the earth that l would not have felt
lstifed in taking as an Individual in
ealing with other individuals.
] believe that we OF the great civilized
atoms of today have a right 10 feel that
ng careers OF achievement lie before
IT several countries. To each OF us il
,uchsafed the honorable privilege OF do
< his part, however small, in that work
ct us strive hardly for success. even IL
so doing we risk failure spurning
e poorer souls of small endeayor who
row neither failure nor success Let us
,pe that our own blood shall continue
the land. that our children and chill
oY,fo oh 70