Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-06-08

i've young and vital in men and wo'
men at to take up the task as we lay
it down, for so shall our seed innerlt
the earth. But If this which Is best
ia denied US, then at least it Is ours
to remember that IL we choose we can
be torchbearers. as our fathers were
before us.
The torch has been handed on from
nation to nation, from civilization 10
civilization, throughout all recorded
time from the dim years before his
tory dawned down to the blazing spien-
dor of this teeming century Of ours.
While freely admitting all Of our fol-
lies and weaknesses Of today, 1t Is YET
mere perversity to refuse to realize
the incredible advance that has been
made in ethical standards. do not
believe that there is the slightest nee
essary connection between any weak
ening of virile force and this advance
in the moral standard. this growth OF
the sense of obligation to ones neigh
Dor and Of reluctance to do that neigh
Dor wrong.
We need have scant patience with
that silly cynicism which insists that
kindness of character only accompa-
MES weakness Of character. On the
contrary, just as in private life many
of the men of strongest character are
the very men of loftiest and most ex-
allied morality so l believe that In ma
tional life as the ages go by we shall
find that the permanent national types
will more and more tend toward those
in which, while the intellect stands
high, character stands higher, In which
rugged strength and courage, rugged
capacity to resist wrongful aggression
by others, will 60 hand in hand with
a lofty scorn of doing wrong to 9th
erS.
Tho Greatest Empire.
You belong to nation which pos
sesses the greatest empire upon VINCE
the sun has ever shone. I belong to
nation which is trying on scale
hitherto unexampled to work out the
problems of government for, Of and
by the people. while at the same time
doing the international duty OF 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 or
the British isles, in his various homes
across the seas and the American both
at home and abroad are brought into
contact with utterly alien peoples,
some with a civilization more ancient
than our own, others still in or having
but recently arisen from the barba-
rism which our people left behind ages
ago.
The problems that arise are Of well
nigh uncomfortable difficulty. They
cannot be solved by the foolish senti-
mentality 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, wheth-
er at home or on the rough frontier OF
civilization, adopt might as the only
standard Of right in dealing with 9TH
er men and treat alien races only as
subjects for exploitation.
hold that the laws Of morality
which should govern individuals In
their dealings one with the other are
just as binding concerning nations IN
their dealings one with the other. The
application Of the moral law must be
different in the two cases, because In
one case it has and in the other it has
not the sanction Of civil law with
force behind it. 1t would be foolish
indeed to pay heed to the unwise per-
sons who desire disarmament to be
begun by the very peoples who OF all
others should not be left helpless be-
fore any possible foe. But we must
reprobate quite as strongly both the
leaders and the peoples who practice
or encourage or condone aggression
and iniquity by the strong at the ex'
pense Of the weak.
We should tolerate -laWlessness and
wickedness neither by the weak nor
by the strong, and both weak and
strong we should in return treat with
scrupulous fairness. The foreign pol
icy Of great and self respecting coun-
try should be conducted on exactly the
same plane of honor, Of insistence
upon ones own rights and Of respect
for the rights Of others, as when a
brave and honorable man is dealing
with his fellows. -.
Permit me to support this statement
out Of my own experience. For nearly
eight years l was the head Of great
nation and charged especially with the
conduct Of its foreign policy, and dur
ing those years took no action with
reference to any other people on the
face of the earth that would not
have felt justified in taking as an in
dividual in dealing with other individ-
uals. *
Try at Least.
/ believe that we Of the great CIV
ilized nations Of today have a right
to fee! that long careers of achieve