East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-04-23


for every one il we make men feel
| that the same reward will come to
| those who shirS their work and to
| those who do it.
Practical Yet Progressive.
Let us, then, take into account the
actual facts of life and not be mis-
led into following any proposal for
| achieving the millennium, for recre-
| ating the golden age. until we have
subjected 1t to hard-headed eXamina-
ton. on the other hand, 1t is foolish
to reject a proposal merely because
it is advanced, by visionaries. If a
given scheme is proposed. look at it
on its merits, and in considering 1t.
disregard formulas. 1t does not mat
ter in the least who proposes it, or
why, If it seems good, try 1t. If it
proves good, accept il; otherwise re-
ject it, There are plenty of men call
ing themselves socialists with whom,
up to a certain point, it is quite pos
sible to work. If the next step is one
which both We and they wish to take,
why 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 to
take one step, this does not in the least
mean that it may not be highly dis
advantageous to take the next. 1t is
just as foolish to refuse all progress
because people demanding it desire
at some points to go to absurd ex-
tremes, as it would be to go to these
absurd extremes simply because some
| of the measures advocated by the eX-
tremists were wise.
The good citizen will demand lib
erty for himself and as a matter of
| pride he will see to it that others re-
ceive the liberty which he thus claims
as his own. Probably the best test
of true love of liberty in any country
is the way in which minorlties are
| treated in this country. 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. Persecution is bad be-
cause it is persecution, and without
| reference to which side happens at
the moment to be the prosecutor and
| which the prosecuted. Glass hatred
is bad in just the same way. and
without any regard to the individual
who, at a given time. substitutes 10y
atty to a class for loyalty to the ma
tion, or substitutes hatred of men be-
cause they happen to come in a GER
tain social category, for judgment
awarded them according to their con-
duct. Remember always that the
same measure of condemnation should
be extended to the arrogance which
would look down upon or crush any
man because he is poor, and to the
envy and hatred which would destroy
a man because he is wealthy. The
overbearing brutality of the man of
wealth or power and the envlous and
hateful malice directed against wealth
or power, are really at root merely
different manifestations of the same
quality, merely the two sides Of the
same shield. The man who, If born
to wealth and power, exploits and
ruins his less fortunate brethren Is
: at heart the same as the greedy and
violent demagogue who excites those
who have not property to plundei
; those who have. The gravest wrong
upon his country is inflicted by thai
man, whatever his station, who seek!
, to make his countrymen divide pri'
, marily on the line that separtes class
from class, occupation from occupa
, | tion, men of wealth from men of les
wealth. instead of remembering tina
| G. a,1 g- hot h nia1
judges each man on his worth as |
man, whether he be rich or poor
, without regard to his profession o
= to his station in life. Such Is the onl
true democratic test, the only tes
, that can with propriety be applied
: in a republic. There have been man!
republics in the past, both in wha
we call antiquity and in what we cal
the Middle Ages. They fell, and tn
prime factor in their fall was the fac
= that the parties tended to divide alont
" the line that separates wealth fror
poverty. It made no difference which
!, side was successful; it made n
: difference whether the republic fe
: under the rule Of an oligarchy or tn
rule Of a mob. In either case, whe
. | once loyalty 10 class nad Deen SUI
!. stituted for loyalty to the republi
the end of the republic was at hand
u There is no greater need today tha
- the need to keep ever in mind tn
fact that the cleavage between righ
- and wrong, between good citizenshil
and bad citizenship, runs at right an
= giles to, and not parallel with, tn
y lines of cleavage between class an
= class, between occupation and occu
patton. Ruin looks us in the face
, we Judge a man by his position in
:, stead of judging him by his conduc
:, in that position.
Tolerance is Necessary.
In a republic, to be successful
e must learn to combine Intensity {
conviction with broad tolerance {
U difference of conviction. Wide di1
Is ferences of opinion in matters of re
u ligious. political and social beli'
e must exist if conscience and intelle'
IT alike are not to be stunted, II thel
l. is to be room for healthy growt
% Bitter internecine hatreds, based
II such differences, are signs not of ca
W l~,,A Df