River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-06-09

while. 1t Is an evil and dreadful thing
TO beFcallous 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 softness of head.
But in addition to these problems the
most intimate and important of all
which TO larger or less degree affect all
the modern nations somewhat alike. we
or 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 to a nation which pos
sesses the greatest empire upon which the
sun has ever shone. / belong to a nation
which is trying, on a scale hitherto unex-
ampled, to work out the problems of gov
eminent for. of, and by the people, whils
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
homes across the seas, and the Ameri-
can, both at home and abroad, are
brought into contact with utterly alien
peoples, some with a civilization more an
cient than our own. others still in. or
having but recently arisen from, the bar
oarlSm which our people left behind ages
ago. The problems that arise are of we'll
nigh inconceivable difficulty. They cannot
be solved by the foolish sentimentality of
stay-at-home people. with little patent
recipes, and those cut-and-dried theories
or the political nursery which have such
limited applicability amid the crash of
elemental forces. Neither can they be
solved by the raw brutality of the men
who, whether at home or on the rough
frontier of civilization, adopt might as
the only standard of right in dealing with
other men, and treat alien races only as
subjects for exploitation.
No hard and fast rule can be drawn as
applying to all alien races. because they
differ from one another far more wide
ly than some of them differ from us. But
there are one or two rules which must
not be forgotten. In the long run, there
can be no justification for one race man
aging or controlling another unless the
management and control are exercised In
the interest and for the benefit of that
other race. This is what our peoples
have in the main done, and must con-
tinue In the future in even greater de-
gree to do, in India, Egypt, and the Phil
ippines alike. In the next place, as re-
CARDS every race, everywhere, at home
or abroad. we cannot afford to deviate
from the great rule of righteousness
which bids us treat each man on his
worth as man. He must not be senti-
mentally favored because he belongs to
given race; he must not be given i'm
munity In wrong doing, or permitted to
cumber the ground. or given other privi-
leges which would be denied to the
vicious and unfit among themselves On
the other hand, where he acts in way
which would entitle him to respect and
reward If he were of our own stock, he
is just as much entitled to that respect
and reward If he comes of another
stock, even though that other stock pro-
duces a much smaller proportion Of men
of his type than does our own. This has
nothing to do with social intermingling,
with what is called social equality. 1t
has to do merely with the question of do
ing to each man and each woman that
elementary justice which will permit him
or her to gain from life the reward
which should always accompany thrift,
sobriety, self-control, respect for the
rights Of others, and hard and intelli-
gent work to a given end. To more than
such just treatment no man Is entitled,
and less than such just treatment no man
should receive.
Duty of Nation to Nation.
The other type Of duty is the interna-
tional duty the duty owed by one ma
ton to another. I hold that the laws Of
morality which should govern individu-
ais in their dealings one with the other
are just binding concerning nations in
their dealings one with the other The
application Of the moral law must be
different In the two cases, because in
one case 1t has, and in the other 1t has
not, the sanction Of a civil law with force
behind it. The individual can depend for
his rights upon the courts, which them
selves derive their force from the police
power of the state. The nation can de-
pend upon nothing of the kind; and
| therefore, as things are now, 1t is the
highest duty of the most advanced and
freest peoples to keep themselves in such
a state of readiness as to forbid to any
barbarism or despotism the hope of ar
resting the progress of the world by stri-
king down the nations that lead in that
| progress. 1t would be foolish indeed to
pay heed to the unwise persons who de-
sire disarmament to be begun by the
very peoples who, of all others, should
not be left helpless before any possible
| foe. But we must reprobate quite as
strongly both the leaders and the peoples
who practise, encourage or condone,
| aggression and iniquity by the strong at
the expense of the weak. We should toll
| crate lawlessness and wickedness neither
| by the weak nor by the strong; and both
weak and strong we should in return
treat with scrupulous fairness. The for
| eign policy of great and Self-reSpecting
| country should be conducted on exactly
| the same plane of honor, of insistence
| upon ones own rights and Of respect for
| the rights of others, as when a brave and
| honorable man is dealing with his fell
| lows Permit me to support this state
| ment out of my own experience For
| nearly eight years I was the head of a
| great nation and charged especially with
| the conduct Of its foreign policy; and
| during those years I took no action with
| reference to any other people on the face
| of the earth that I would not have felt
| justified in taking as an individual in
| dealing with other individuals.
| I believe that we Of the great civilized
| nations of today have right to feel that
| long careers Of achievement lie before
! our several countries. To each of us is
| vouchsafed the honorable privilege Of do
ing his part however small, in that work.
| Let us strive hardly for success, even If
| by so doing we risk failure, spurning
| the poorer souls of small endeavor who
| know neither failure nor success. Let us
| hope that our own blood shall continue
| in the land that our children and chill
| dren's children to endless generations
| shall arise to take our places and play q
| mighty and dominant part in the world.
| 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. If we do this,
| then. as our eyes close, and we go out
| into the darkness, and other hands grasp
| the torch, at least we can say that our
| 1or+ hoe baar horne we'll and valiantiY.