Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1910-09-01

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the world. Let not him who 10 houseles
pull down the house Of another, but ID
him work diligently ana build one 10
himself. thus by example showing tina
hiS own shall DO safe from violence whe
built" II seems to me that In thes
words Lincoln took substantially the att
tude that We ought to take; he Shove
the proper sense Of proportion In his rela
tive estimates Of capital and labor, o
human rights and property rights. Abov
all In this speech, a. In many others. h
taught lesson In wis. kindliness an
charity; an indispensable lesson to US o
today. But this wise kindness and char
ity never weakened his arm or numbet
his heart. We cannot afford weakly Il
blind ourselves to the actual confiic
which faces us today. The issue 10 Join
ed, and we must night or fail
Equality Of Opportunity.
In. every wise struggle for human bet
terment one Of the main objects, and
often the only object, has been to achieve
In larger measure equality Of opportunity
In the struggle for this great end, ma
tons rise from barbarian to civilization
and through II peoples press forward from
one stage Of enlightenment to the next
One Of the chief factors In progress II
the destruction Of special privilege. The
essence Of any struggle for healthy lib
erty has always been and must always
be TO take from some one man or class
Of men the right to enjoy power, OF
wealth, or position, or immunity, which
has not been earned by service to his
or their fellows.
At many stages In the advance Of hu-
mainly this conflict between the men who
possess more than they have earned and
the men who have earned more than they
possess ID the central condition Of prog
resS. In our day II appears as the strug-
gle Of free mer to gain and hold the
right Of elf-governinent a. against tie
special interests, who twist the methods
OF free government into machinery for
defeating the popular will. At every
stage and under all circumstances the
essence Of the struggle 10 to equalige OPP
portunity, destroy privilege, and give TO
the life and citizenship Of every indivld.
ual the highest possible value both to
himself aAd to the commonwealth.
Practical equality Of opportunity for all
citizens, when we achieve It, will have
two great results. First, every man will
have a fair chance to make Of himself al
that In him lies, to reach the highest point
to which his capacities, unassisted by
special privilege of his own and unham-
pered by the special privileges of others
can carry him, and to get for himself
and his family substantially what he has
earned Second, equality Of opportunity
means that the commonwealth will get
from every citizen the highest service OF
which he 10 capable. No man who car
of another can sIva t. ~ oosnrInn, v
that service to which It is fairly en-.
uiied.
l stang Ior the square deal But when
say tnat am for the square deal
mean NOT merely that stand Tor tair
pay uncer the present rules OF the game
out thet stand Tor having those rules
changed 30 az to work for more sub
slanuel equahty OF opportunity, and OF
reWaro Tor equally good service.
This means that our governments, Ma
llonal ana state, must be freed from the
sinister influence or control Of special
interests. Exactly as the special interests
y cotton ana slavery threatened our po-
itical integrity before the Civil war, so
now the great special business interests
90 OFTEN control and corrupt the men and
methods OF government for their own
'front.' We must drive the special inter-
ssts cut o.. parties That ie one or o.
a ..i., .oeSy, VERY Speclal interest Is
.htltleu 70 Justce-iun, iair, ana com
''e.e-pu' nor one u enutleu 70 vote IN
.os yoee Oh ,ne Dench' 0r 70 rep
,t ess.aeon ~ NY Pubic oLnce' me Con-
~ suaran'ees protection 20 proper
y ~nu We mus ,hAhe tnat promise gooo'
out uoes hot give the rlsht OF suffrage
Nns corp0rauoh,
Property Should Be the Servant.
Thu tr,,a fr,srd ot proDsrtv the trua
IL he Trhn ,ns,rt. .hat rrorD
rtv .hsU X ths "srvart 40 80 ~
nsst.r AZ ths cowr,onwsa,th. 1ho ;n.,sts
MAJ thS creature ~ rsn'S rnsrinr shaIi
v the servant ana W.T. ths vrsstar ~ tha
ran M r."Aa a. TN a,t,-"- ~
rrItaS atAts" must .0activsiv cnr.rol ths
nirhTv "srrr,srcioI seSe.. ,,hioh thI,,
ava fhSmrsIvas ca,iaS into hs;nS
rh.ra nSr ~ ~ sc,an,S,,s ass,,-o, 80
,ornorst,ors WHILE thsir no,,t,osi sct,v,tv
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~ ~ Sona ~' ~ I"
W. mat bavo oo,rn,... 80 .W.o,,,,.
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