Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-08-31
the spirit which was accountable Cor
the successful solution OF the problems
OF Lincoln's time.

the spirit which was accountable Cor
the successful solution OF the problems
OF Lincoln's time.
LLincOln's Forecast.
OF that gene.aUlon OF men to whom
we owe so much the man to whom We
owe the most is. of course, Lincoln.
Part of our debt to him is because he
forecast our present struggle and saw
the way out. He said:
81 hold that while man exists 1t Is
his duty TO improve not only his own
condition, but to assist In ameliorating
mankind" And again: Labor is prior
to and independent of capital. Capital
Is only the fruit Of labor and could
never have existed but for labor. La
Dor is the superior of capital and de
serves much the higher consideration
Capital has its rights which are as
WORTHY of protection as any other
rights. Nor should this lead to a war
upon the owners OF, property. Proper
ty is the fruit OF labor; property is de-
sirable, is positive coed in the world.
Let not him who is houseiess pull
down the house Of another, but let him
work diligently and build one for him.
self, thus by, example showing that his
own shall be safe from violence when
built"
Lincoln took substantially the attitude
that we ought.to take. He showed the
proper sense Of proportion In his reia-
tive estimates OF capital and labor, of
human rights and property rights.
Above all, In this, speech. as In many
others. he rtaughtS lesson in wise
kindnness- and, ehaFfty-an indispensa-
BILE lesson to Us ofatoday. But this
wise ktndiiness and charity never
weakened his arm or numbed his
heart
We cannot afford weakly to blind
ourselves to the actual conflict which
faces us today The issue is Joined,
and we mustefgbts or fail.
In every wise struggle for human
bettermentg one of the main objects
and often the. only object has been to
achieve in larger Smeasure equality of
opportunity. In the struggle for this
great end nations rise from barbarism
to civilization, and through it peoples
press forward from one stage of en-
nghtenment to the next
One of the chief factors in progress
is the destruction Of special privilege.
The essence Of any struggle for
healthy liberty has always been and
must always be to take from some one
man or class Of men the right to enjoy
power or wealth or position or i'm
munity which has not been earned by
service to his or their fellows.
Struggle for Self Government.
At many stages in the advance or
humanity this conflict between the
men who possess more than they have
earned and the men who have earned
more than they possess is the central
condition of progress.
In our day It appears as the struggle
Of free men to gain and hold the right
Of self government as against the
special. interests who twist the meth
DDS of free government into machin-
cry for defeating the popular will.
At every stage and under all circum-
stances the essence of the struggle is
to equalize opportunity, destroy priv
ilege ana give to the life and citizen
ship of every individual the highest
possible value both to himself and to
the commonwealth.
Practical equality of opportunity for
all citizens when we achieve it will
have two great results. First, every
man win have a fair chance to make
of himself all that in him lies, to reach
the highest point to which his capaci-
ties, unassisted by special privilege of
his own and unhampered by the spe-
cial privileges of others, can car
ry him and to get for himself
and his family substantially what he
has earned; second. equality of op-
portunity means that the common
wealth will get from every citizen the
highest service of which he is capa-
BILE. No man who carries the burden
of the special privileges of another can
give to the commonwealth that serv-
ice to which it is fairly entitled.