The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-06-07

What they worke Ssoyiding it was
than how they worke> Der in the
realm of the mind orr oAl.m of
the body. II their work w. ~, IL
what they achieved was Of shSOcZ
then high success was really the,t
while admitting all our follies am
weaknesses Of today, 1t is yet mere
perversity to refuse to realize the in
credible advance that has been made
In ethical standards. I do not believe
that there is the slightest necessary
connection between any weakening 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 kindness of character only ac-
companies weakness of character. On
the contrary, just as in private life
many of the men of strongest charac-
ter are the very men of loftiest 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 intellect stands high, character
stands higher; in which rugged
strength and courage, rugged capacity
to resist wrongful aggression by 9TH
ers, will 60 hand in hand with q lofty
scorn of doing wrong to others. This
is the type of Timoleon, of Hampden,
of Washington and Lincoln. These
were as good men, as disinterested
and unselflsh men, as ever served q
state; and they were also as strong
men as ever founded or saved state.
Surely such examples prove that there
is nothing Utopian In our effort to
combine justice and strength in the
same nation. The really high civiliza-
tions must themselves supply the an
tidote to the self-inoulgence and love
Of ease which they tend to produce.
A Nations Problem.
EVERY modern civilized nation has
marry and terrible problems to solve
within its own borders, problems that
arise not merely from juxtaposition Of
poverty and riches, but especially
from self-consciousness Of both pow
erty and riches. Each nation must
deal with these matters in its own
fashion, and yet the spirit in which
the problem is approached must ever
be fundamentally the same. 1t must
be spirit of broad humanity; of
brotherly kindness; Of acceptance of
responsibility, one for each and each
for all; and at the same time spirit
as remote as the poles from every
form of weakness and sentimentality.
AS in war to pardon the coward is to
do cruel wrong to the brave man
whose life his cowardice jeopardizes,
so in civil affairs 1t is revolving to ev-
cry principle of justice to give to the
lazy, the vicious, or even the feeble
and dull-witted, reward which is re-
ally the robbery of what braver. wiser,
abler men have earned. The only eff
fective way to help any man is to help
him to help himself; and the worst les
son to teach him is that he can be
permanently helped at the expense Of
some one else. True liberty shows IT.
self to best advantage in protecting
the rights Of others, and especially
of minorities. Privilege should not be
tolerated because it is to the advan-
tage 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 as little can we afford
to follow the doctrinaires Of an i'm
possible-and incidentally of highly
ndesirable-social revolution which,
in destroying individual rights Un-
cluding property rights) and the fam
lily, would destroy the two chief agents
in the advance Of mankind, and the
two chief reasons why either the ad-
vance or the preservation Of mankind
is worth while. 1t is an evil and q
dreadful thing to be ~allous to sorrow
and suffering, and blind to our duty
to do all things possible for the bet
terment of social conditions. But 1t
is an unspeakably foolish thing to
strive for this betterment by means
so destructive that they would leave
no social conditions to better. In
dealing with all these social prob
lens. with the intimate relations of
the family, with wealth In private use
and business use, with labor. with
poverty, the one prime necessity is to
remember that, though hardness Of
heart is a great evil. 1t Is no greater
an evil than softness Of head.
But in addition to these problems
the most intimate and important of all
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 COM
plicated relations with one another
and with alien races. have special
problems and special duties of our
own. You belong to nation which
possesses the greatest empire upon
which the sun has ever shone. be-
long to a nation which is trying. on a
scale hitherto unexampled, to work
out the problem of government for.
of. and by the people. while at the
same time doing the international duty
of great power. But there are cer-
tain problems which both of US have
to solve. and as to which our stand
ards should be the same. The Eng
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