Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1910-06-10

Wnlcn TO a larger or less deRreo aIect all
the modern nations somewhat alike, we
of the great nations that have expanded,
that are now in complicated relations with
one another and with allen 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. I belong to a nation
which Is trying, on scale hitherto unex-
ampled, to work out the problems OF gov
ernment for, of, and by the people, while
at the same time doing the international
duty of a 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
barism 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
of 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 allen races, because they
differ from one another far more wide
ly than some of them differ from us. But
there are one OF 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 deviats
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 a way
| which would entitle him to respect and
| reward IL 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 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. II
| has to do merely with the question of do.
| ing to each man and each woman thai
| elementary Justice which will permit him
| or her to gain from life the reward
| which should always accompany thrift
sobriety, self-control, respect for TIL,
| rights of others, and hard and intelli
gent work to a given end. To more thar
such just treatment no man is entitled
and less than such just treatment no mai
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 O
morality which should govern individu
ais in their dealings one with the othe
are just as binding concerning nations Il
their dealings one with the other. TIL
application OF the moral law must b
different in the two cases, because 4
one case it has, and in the other it ha
not. the sanction of a civil law with fore
behind 1t. The individual can depend 70
his rights upon the courts, which them
selves derive their force from the polio
power of the state. The nation can de
pend upon nothing of the kind; an
therefore, as things are now, it is til
highest duty of the most advanced an
| freest peoples to keep themselves in sue
a state of readiness as to forbid to an
barbarism or despotism the hope of al
resting the progress of the world by str
king down the nations that lead in tha
progress. 1t would be foolish indeed I
pay heed to the unwise persons who de
sire disarmament to be begun by tn
very peoples who, of all others, shoul
not be left helpless before any possib
foe. But we must reprobate quite 9
strongly both the leaders and the people
who practise, or encourage or condor
aggression and iniquity by the strong
the expense of the weak. We should to
crate lawlessness and wickedness Meth,
by the weak nor by the strong; and bot
weak and strong we should in retuI
treat with scrupulous fairness. The 70
eign policy of great and self-respectir
| country should be conducted on exact
the same plane of honor, Of insistent
upon ones own rights and of respect fl
the rights of others, as when brave ar
honorable man is dealing with his fe
: lows. Permit me to support this stat
ment out of my own experience. F.
. nearly eight years I was the head of
great nation and charged especially wi
: the conduct of its foreign policy; al
during those years took no action wi
reference to any other people on the IA
of the earth that I would not have fe
justified in taking as an individual
dealing with other individuals.
!. I believe that we of the great civiliz
= nations of today have a right to feel til
long careers of achievement lie befo
our several countries. To each OF us
vouchsafed the honorable privilege of d
ing his part, however small, in that wor
. Let US strive hardly for success, even
t.. by so doing we risk failure spurnil
a the poorer souls of small endeavor WI
know neither failure nor success. Let
hope that our own blood shall contin
in the land, that our children and ch
/. drens children to endless generatio
!. /. shall arise to take our places and play
!, mighty and dominant part in the worI
:. But whether this be denied or granted
> tho years we shall not see. let at lea
. the satisfaction be ours that we ha
I carried onward the lighted torch in o
!, own day and generation. II we do tn
u u then, as our eyes close. and we go o
Il into the darkness, and other hands gra
!. the torch, at least we can say that o
a part has been borne we'll and valiantly