Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-06-08

hand down history of heroic achieve
ment, and for all time to come may pro-
foundly influence the nations that arise in
its place by the impress of what 1t has
done. Best Of all is it to do our part well.
and at the same time to see our blood live
young and vital in men and women fit to
take up the task as we lay 1t down; for
so shall our seed inherit the earth. But
If this, which is best, is denied US, then
at least 1t Is ours to remember that II we
choose we can be torch-bearers, as our
fathers We're before us. The torch has
been handed on from nation to nation,
from civilization to civilization through
out all recorded time, from the dim years
before history dawned, down to the bla-
zing splendor of this teeming century Of
ours. 1t is dropped from the hand of the
coward and the sluggard. OF the man
wrapped in luxury or love of ease. the
man whose soul was eaten away by self
Indulgence; it has been kept alight only
by those who Were mighty of heart and
cunning of hand. What they worked at.
providing it was worth doing at all. was
of no less matter than how they worked.
whether in the realm Of the mild or the
realm Of the body If their work was
good. If what they achieved was of sub
stance. then high success was really
theirs.
Strength With Morality.
In the first part OF this lecture I drew
CcASdiii dIldIo5leS between WIldl lidu OC-
Cured to forms of animal life through
the procession of the ages on this planet,
and what has occurred and is occurring
to the great artificial civilizations which
have gradually spread over the worlds
surface during the thousands of years
that have ELAPSED since cities Of temples
and palaces first rose beside the Nile and
the Euphrates, and the harbors of
NIinoan Crete bristled with the masts Of
the Aegean craft. But Of course the
parallel is true only in the toughest
and most general way. Moreover, even
between the civilizations of today and
the civilizations of ancient times there
are differences so profound that we must
be cautious in drawing any conclusions
for the present based on what has hap
pened in the past. While freely admit
ting all Of our follies and weaknesses of
today. it is yet mere perversity to refuse
to realize the Incredible advance that
has been made in ethical standards. I do
not believe that there is the slightest nee
essary connection between any weaken
ing Of virile force and this advance in
the moral standard, this growth of the
sense Of obligation to ones neighbor and
OF reluctance to do that neighbor wrong.
We need have scant patience with that
silly cynicism which insists that kindli-
ness of character only accompanies
weakness o.c character. On the contrary,
just as in private life many Of the men
of strongest character are the very men
of Hottest and most exalted morality, so
I believe that in national life as the ages
go by we shall find that the permanent
national types Will more and more tend
towards those in which, while the intel
lect stands high, character stands higher;
In which rugged strength and courage
rugged capacity to resist wrongful ag-
erosion by others, will go hand in hand
with a lofty scorn Of doing wrong to 9TH
ers. This is the type Of Timoleon, of
Hampden. of Washington and Lincoln
These We're as good men. as disinterested
and unselfsh men, as ever served a
state; and they were also as strong men
as ever founded or saved state. Surely
such examples prove that there is moth
ing Utopian in our effort to combine
justice and strength in the nation.
The really high civilizations must them
selves supply the antidote to the sef-in-
diligence and love of ease which they
tend to produce.
Problems Of Modern Nations.
Every modern civilized nation has many
and terrible problems to solve within it's
own borders, problems that arise not
merely from juxtaposition of poverty and
riches, but especially from the self-con-
seriousness Of both poverty and riches.
Each nation must deal with these mat
tiers in it's own fashion, and yet the spirit
in which the problem is approached must
ever be fundamentally the same. It
must be a spirit OF broad humanity; of
Drotnerly klnuness; OF acceptance or re-
sponsibtlity. one for each and each for
all; and at the same time a spirit as re-
mote as the poles from every form of
weakness and sentimentality. AS in war
to pardon the coward Is to do cruel
wrong to the bravo man whose life his
cowardice jeopardizes, so in civil affairs
it is revolving to every principle of
Justice to give to the lazy, the vicious or
even the feeble and dull-wtted a reward
which is really the robbery of what
Drawer. wiser, ADLER men have earned.
The only effective way to help any man
is to help him to help himself: and the
worst lesson to teach him Is that he can
be permanently helped at the expense Of
some one else. True liberty shows itself
to best advantage in protecting the rights
Of others. and especially of minorities
Privilege should not be tolerated because
It is to the advantage Of a minority, nor
yet because it is to the advantage of
majority. No doctrinaire theories of
vested rights or freedom of contract can
stand in the way Of our cutting out
abuses from the body polite Just lit
tie can we afford to follow the doctrin-
aires of impossible--and incidentally
Of a highly undesirable-social revolution
which, in destroying individual rights
dncluding property rights and the fam
fly, would destroy the two chief agents in
the advance of mankind, and the two
chief reasons why either tho advance or
the preservation Of mankind Is worth
while. 1t Is an evil and q dreadful thing
to be callous to sorrow and suffering and
blind to our duty to do all things possible
for the betterment Of social conditions
But 1t is an unspeakably foolish thing to
strive for this betterment by means so
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 la
Dor, with poverty, the one prime neces-
sity Is to remember that. though hard
ness Of heart is a great evil, it is no |
greater an evil than eoftness of head
But in addition to these problems the |
most intimate ami important OF ali !
which to a larger or less degree affect all |
the modern nations somewhat alike, We |
OF the great nations that have expanded, |
that are now in complicated relations with |
one another and with alien races. have |
special problems and special duties of our |
own. You belong 60 a nation which pos |
sesses the greatest empire upon which the |
sun has ever shone. belong to q nation |
which fs trying. on scale hitherto unex- |
ampied. to work out the problems Of gov |
for. of, 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 to which our standards
should be the same. The Englishman, the
man OF the British isles, In his various 7
homes scross -the seas. and the Ameri. J