The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1910-04-29

must tdFu MS own lANtHNbbh, AAt
should be trained to do so, and should
be trained to feel that he occupies a
contemplate position If he does not
do so; that he is not an object OF
envy IL he Is idle, at which ever end
of the social scale he stands, but an
object Of contempt an object Of de-
rislon.
"In the next place, the good man
should be both a strong and brave
man; that is, he should be able to
fight, he should be able TO serve his
country as u soldier II the need arises.
There are well-meaning philosophers
who declalm against the unrighteous-
ness of war. They are right only IL
| they lay all their emphasis upon the
lunrighteousness War Is a dreadful
thing, and unjust war Is crime
against humanity. But II is such a
crime because It is unjust, not be-
cause It is war. The choice must
ever be in favor of righteousness, and
this whether the alternative be peace
or whether the alternative be war.
The question must not be merely, Is
there to be peace or war? The ques-
tion must be. Is the right to prevail?
Are the great laws OF righteousness
once more to be fulfilled? And the
answer from a strong and virile peo-
pie must be, Yes whatever the cost
Finally, even more important than
ability to work, even more important
than ability TO fight at need, is II to
remember thet the chief of blessings
for any nation is that 1t shall leave
its seed to inherit the land 1t was
the crown of blessings in Biblican
times; and It is the crown of blessings
now. The greatest OF all curses is the
curse Of sterility, and the severest of
all condemnatlons should be that visit
ed upon wilful sterility. The first
essential IN any civilization is that
the man and the woman shall be
father and mother of healthy chill
dren. so that the race shall increase
and not decrease. If this is not 50,
II through no fault OF the society
there is failure to increase, 1t is a
great misfortune. II the failure is due
to deliberate and wilful fault, then il
is not merely a misfortune, It is one
OF those crimes OF ease and selfindul-
genee. of shrinking from pain and
effort 10 risk, which in the long run
Nature Furnishes more heavily than
lany other II we of the great repub-
lies, If we, the free people who claim
to have emancipated ourselves from
the thraldom OF wrong and error
bring down on our heads the curse
that comes upon the wilfully barren
then IL 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 heap
ling up of riches. no sensuous develop
ment 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.
"1n short, the good citizen IN a re
public must realize that he ought to
possess two sets of qualities, and that
neither avails without the other. lie
must have those qualities which make
for efficiency; and he must also have
those qualities which direct the ef
ficiency into channels for the public
good He is useless If he Is inehici
ent There is nothing to be done with
that type OF citizen of whom all that
can be said is that he Is harmless
Virtue which is dependent upon a
sluggish circulation is not impressive
There is little place In active life
for the timid good man The man Is
saved by weakness from robust wick
edness is likewise rendered immune
from the robuster virtues The good
citizen in a republic must first OF all
be able TO hold his own lie is no
good citizen unless he has the ability
which will make him work hard and
which at need will make him fight
hard The good citizen IS not a good
citizen unless he Is an efficient citl.
zen.
There are plenty of men calling
themselves socialists with whom, up
to a time point. 1t is quite possible to
work If the next step Is one which
both we and they wish to take. why
Of course take II, without any regard
to the fact that our views as to the
tenth step may differ But, on the