Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-04-23

if he is idle, at whichever end of the
social scale he stands, but an object
of contempt, an object of derision.
Like Whom, for Instance:
"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 a soldier if the need arises.
There are well-meaning philosophers
who declaim against the unriShteous-
ness of war. They are right only IL
they lay all their emphasis upon the
unrighteousness War is dreadful
thing. and unjust war is crime
against humanity. But it is such
crime because it is unjust. not because
il is war The choice must ever be IN
favor of righteousness, and TINS
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 question
must be. Is the right 10 prevail? Are
the great laws of righteousness once
more TO be fulfilled? And the answer
from strong and viriIe people must
be Yes, whatever the cost.
Race Suicide, Too.
FINALLY. even more Important Inan
ability to work, even more important
than ability to fight at need, is II IL
remember that the chief of blessings
for any nation is that it 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 steTility. and the severest
of all condemnatiOns should be that
visited upon wilruI sterility. The first
essential in any civilization is that the
man and the woman shall be father
and mother of healthy children. so
that the race shall decrease and not de-
crease. If this is not so, if through
no fault of the society there is failure
to increase, it is a great misfortune.
If the failure is due to deliberate ana
wilful fault, then it is not merely a
misfortune, it is one of those crimes
of ease and self indulgence, Of shrink
ing from pain and effort and risk,
which in the long run nature Furnishes
more heavily than any other If we
of the great republics, if we, the free
people who claim TO have emancipated
ourselves from the thraidom of wrong
and error, bring down on our heads
the curse that comes upon the wilfully
barren, then 1t Will be an idle waste
of breath 10 prattIe of our achieve
ments. to boast of all that We have
done. No refinement of life, no deli
cacy of taste, no material progress, /
no sOrdid heaping up of riches. no
sensuous development OF art and liter
AZURE, can in any way compensate for
the loss of the great fundamental vir-
tues; and of these great Fundamental
virtues, the greatest is the races /
power TO perpetuate the race.
Needs Two Sets.
I'm short, the good citizen in re-
public must realize that he ought to
possess two sets of qualities, and that
neither avails without the other He
must have those qualities which make
for efficiency; and he must also have .
those qualities which direct the eff
cheney into channels for the public
good. He is useless if he is inefficient. .
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 sluggish
is not impressive. There .
is little place in active life for the
timid good man. The man who 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. He is no
good citizen unless he has the ability
which will make him work hard and
which will make him fight hard. The /.
good citizen is not a good citizen IN !
less he is an efficient citizen.
rDays Line for souinIists.
There are plenty of men calling .
themselves socialists with whom. up
TO a time point. it is quite possible to .
work. If the next step IS one which .
both we and they wish TO take, whv .
of course take it. without any regard .
to the fact that our views as to the .
tenth step may differ. But, ON the
other hand. keep clearly in mind that, /
though it has been worth while &c take /
one step, this does not in the least F.
mean that it may not be highly disad- I.
vantageOus TO take the next.
The good citizen viii demand lib /
erty for himself, aud as a matter of .
pride he viii see to it that others re |
ceive the liberty which he thus claims F.
as his own. Probably the best test Of /
true love of liberty in any country is .
the way in which minorities are treat
ed in that county. Not only should .
there be complete liberty in matters
of religion and opinion, but complete .
liberty for each man TO lead his life /
as he desires, provided only that in so
doing he does not wrong his neighbor" /
Dinner by FniIerics.
Paris, April 23.-President and Nine.
Falieries last night gave dinner OF
40 covers at the Elysee palace in
honor of Theodore Roosevelt The en-