Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1910-05-18

little gordldnesS OF motive or conouct. In
such giant struggle, where across tho
wool Of SO many purposes, dark strands
and bright, strands somber and brilliant,
are always intertwined; inevitably there
was corruption here and there in the Civil
war; but all the leaders on both sides,
and the great majority Of the enormous
masses Of fighting men, wholly d1sre-
garded, and were wholly uninfluenced by,
pecuniary considerations.
Wealth and Politics. i
Another striking contrast In the course
Of modern civilization as compared with
the later stages Of the Graeco-Roman or
classic civilization is to be found in the
relations Of wealth and politics. In clas-
sic times, as the civilization advanced to-
ward its zenith, politics became recog-
nized means of accommodating great
wealth. Caesar was again and again on
the verge of bankruptcy; he spent an
enormous fortune; and he recouped him.
self by the money which he made out OF
his political-military career. Augustus es-
tablished imperial Rome on firm founda-
tons by the use he made Of the huge
fortune he had acquired by plumber. What
a contrast is offered by the careers OF
Washington and Lincoln! There were
few exceptions in ancient days; but the
immense majority Of the Greeks and the
accepted money-making on a large scale
as one Of the incidents Of a successful
public career. Now all of this is in sharp
contrast to what has happened within
the last two or three centuries. During
this time there has been steady growth
away from the theory that money-making
Is permissible in an honorable public ca
reer.
In this respect the standard has been
constantly elevated, and things which
statesmen had no hesitation in doing
three centuries or two centuries ago, and
which did not seriously hurt a public ca
reer even century ago, are now utterly
impossible. Wealthy men still exercise q
large, and sometimes an improper, 1nfiu-
ence in politics, but it is apt to be an In
direct influence; and In the advanced
states the mere suspicion that the wealth
of public men is obtained or added to as
an incident of their public careers will
bar them from public life. Speaking
generally, wealth may very greatly influ-
ence modern political life, but it is not ac-
quired in political life.
Optimistic for the Future.
Mr.. Roosevelt called attention to
the fact that hitherto every civilian
ton that has arisen has been able to
develop only few activities, its field
of endeavor being limited in kind az
well as in locality, and each Of these
civilizations has fallen. What is the
lesson to US Of today? he asked. viii
the crash come, and be all the more
terrible because of the immense in.
crease in activities and area? To this
he replied:
Personally, I do not believe that our
| civilization will fall. think that on the
whole we have grown better and not
| worse. I think that on the whole the fu-
ture holds more for us than even the
| great past has held. But, assuredly, the
| dreams Of golden glory in the future will
| not come true unless, high Of heart and
| strong Of hand, by our own mighty deeds
we make them come true. We cannot af-
ford to develop any one set Of qualities,
any one set OF activities, at the cost Of
seeing others, equally necessary, afro
| phfed. Neither the military efficiency OF
| the Mongol the extraordinary business
ability Of the Phoenician, nor the subtle
and polished intellect Of the Greek awaited
! to avert destruction.
We, the men of today and of the fu.
ture, need many qualities If we are to do
our work well. We need, first Of all and
most important of all, the qualities which
stand at the base of Individual, of family
life, the fundamental and essential quail
| ties-the homely, everyday, all-important
virtues. If the average man will not
work, II he has not in him the will and
the power to be a good husband and IA
thsr; T the average woman is not good
healthy children, then the state will top.
pie, will go down, no matter what may
| be its brflliance of artistic development
or material achievement But these home
1y qualities are not enough. There must,
| In addition, be that power Of organization,
that power Of working in common for a
| common end, which the German people
have shown in such signal fashion during
the last half-century. Moreover, thu
| things Of the spirit are even more impor-
tant than the things of the body. We can
we'll do without the hard intolerance and
arid intellectual barrenness of what was
worst in the theological systems of the
| past, but there has never been q greater
need Of high and fine religious spirit
than at the present time. So, while wa
can laugh spontaneously at some OF
the pretensions of modern philosophy In
its various branches, it would be worse
| than folly on our part to ignore our need
| of intellectual leadership.
Must Steer Middle Course.
Never has philanthropy, humanitarian
ism, seen such development as now" and
though we must all beware Of the folly
| and the vicfousness no worse than folly,
which marks the believer in the perfec.
tibility of man when his heart runs away
with his head, or when vanity usurps the
place OF conscience, yet we must remem.
Der also that 1t is only by working alona
the lines laid down by the philanthropists
by the lovers of mankind, that we can
| be sure Of lifting our civilization to q
| higher and more permanent plane of we'll
being than was ever attained by any pre-
ceding civilization. Unjust war is to b<
abhorred; but woe to the nation that does
not make ready to hold its own in time
Of need against all who would harm it;
and woe thrice over to the nation In
which the average man loses the fighting
edge, loses the power to serve as sol.
| der If the day Of need should arise. -
| It is no impossible dream to build up q
civilization in which morality, ethical de.
velopment, and true feeling of brother
hood shall alike be divorced from false
i sentimentality, and from the rancorous
and evil passions which, curiously enough,
so often accompany professions Of senti.
mental attachment to the rights of man;
in which high material development in
the things of the body shall be achieved
without subordination of the things Of
the soul; in which there shall be genu.
inc desire for peace and Justice without
loss of those viri1e qualities without which
no love Of peace or justice shall avail any
race; in which the fullest development OF
scientific research, the great distinguish.
ing feature of our present civilization,
shall yet not imply a belief that intellect
can ever take the place Of character-for;
from the standpoint of the nation as OF
the individual, it is character that Is thu
one vital possession.