Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-06-10

'T believe that we of the great civ
ilized nations of today have a right to
feel that long careers of achievement
lie before our several countries. But
whether this be denied or granted by the
years we shall not see, let at least the
satisfaction be ours that we have carried
onward the lighted torch in our own day
and generation"
years ago, kave proved groundless. I be-
lieve with all my heart that a great fu-
ture remains to us, but whether it does
or does not, our duty is not altered We
belong to peoples that have not yielded
to the craven fear of being great. In
past ages the great nations have grown
old and weakened, but so have the ma
tons whose only thought was to avoid
! all danger, all effort, who would risk
nothing. and who therefore gained moth
ing The torch has been handed on from
nation to nation, from civilization to civil
lization, throughout all recorded time. It
dropped from the hand of the coward
and the sluggard, Of the man wrapped in
luxury or love Of ease, whose soul was
eaten away with self-indulgence. 1t has
been kept alight only by those who were
mighty of heart and cunning Of hand.
ETHICAL STANDARD ADVANCES.
"A profound difference between the
civilizations of today and those of an
Client times is the advance in the ethical
standard. We need have scant patience
with that silly cynicism which insists
that kindness Of character only accom-
panies weakness of character. On tho
contrary believe that In national life,
as the ages go by, we shall find that the
permanent national types will more ana
more tend toward those in which, while
the intellect stands high. character stands
Oh, oil n o.
q sist wrongful aggression will go hand In
hand with a lofty scorn Of doing wrong
to others.
EVERY modern civilized nation has
many terrible problems to solve which
arise from the self-consciousness of both
poverty and riches. 1t is revolving to ev-
cry principle of justice to give to the
lazy, the vicious, or even the feeble ana
dull-witted, a reward which is really the
robbery Of what drawer, wiser, ADLER men
have earned. The only effective way to
help a man is to help him to help him
self: and the worst lesson to teach him
Is that he can be permanently hSlped at
the expense of some one else. True Hber-
ty shows itself to best advantage In pro-
tecting the rights of others, and especlal-
Nv Of minorities. Privilege should not De
tolerated because it 10 to the advantage
Of a minority, nor yet because 1t is TO tne
advantage of a majority. NO doctrlnare
theories of vested rights or freedom OK
contract can stand in the way OF our
cutting out abuses from the body polite.
lust as little can we afford to follow the
aoctrinaires of an impossible-and Incl
aentally of a highly undesirable-social
revolution which, in destroying individual
rights, including property rights ana the
family, would destroy the two chlet
agents In the advance Of mankind, ana
the two chief reasons why either the
advance or the preservation OF mankind
ts worth while.
. I'm dealing with all these social prob
.ems. with the intimate relations OF the
family. with wealth in private and busi-
ness use. with labor, with poverty. the
one prime necessity is to remember that
though hardness Of heart is great eVil,
q n Is no greater AN evil than softness Oh
head.
.Rnt in addition to these problems the
] Enqlishnan and the American, both at
home and abroad. are brought into con-
/ tact with utterly alien peoples some Win
a civilization more ancient than our own
! others in or Just emerging from barpar-
tvr, The nroblems that arise here can
neither be solved by the foolish sentiment
tality of stay-at-home people, with cut
and-drted political nursey recipes, nor py
/ the raw brutality that would treat amen
u
races only as subjects for exploitation.
/ In the long ran there can be no JUSTIN
! cation for one race managing or controll
/ ing another unless the management ana
! control are exercised for the benent OF
that other race That is what our peo-
| ple have in the main done, and must
continue In even greater degree to 90; IN
india. Egypt and the Philippines alike
| Aa Regards every face, at home or ABROAD
we can not afford to deviate from that
great rule of righteousness which pios
us treat each man on his worth as a
man. This has nothing TO 90 WIN soc,S a,
! trte-roirgl,ne with what is called social
equality. 1t is merely to do with eie-
| mentary Justice.
! FAIRNESS BETWEEN NATIONS.
| THE other type OF duty Is international
| the duty owed by one nation to another
I hold that the laws of morality Whlcn
should govern individuals are just as blnd-
: ing concerning nations. The application
must be different because the indlvidual
II frrl,4 s.