The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1910-04-23


itself The man who, for any cause
for which he is himself accountable,
has failed to support himself and
those for whom he is responsible,
ought to feel that he has fallen la
mentally short in his prime duty.
But the man who, having far surpass-
ed the limit of providing for the
wants, both of body and mind, of
himself and of those depending upon
him, then piles up a great fortune,
for the acquisition or retention of
which he returns no corresponding
benefit to the nation as a whole,
should himself be made to feel that,
so far from being a desirable, he is an
unworthy, citizen of the community;
that he is to be neither admired nor
envied; that his right-thinking fell
low-countrymen put him low in the
scale of citizenship, and leave him to
be consoled by the admiration of
those whose level of purpose is even
lower than his own.
1.-THE MONEY TOUGH"
In fact, it is essential to good citi.
zenship clearly to understand that
there are certain qualities which we
in a democracy are prone to admire
in and of themselvesfi which ought by
rights to be judged admirable or the
reverse solely from the standpoint OF
the use made of them. Foremost
among these l should include two
very distinct gifts-the gift of money
making and the gift of oratory
Money making, the money touch,
have spoken of above. 1t is a quality
which in a moderate degree is es
sential 1t may be useful when de
veloped to a very great degree, but
only if accompanied and controlled
by other qualities; and without such
control the possessor tends to de
velop into one of the least attractive
types produced by modern industrial
democracy So it is with the orator
1t is highly desirable that a leader
of opinion in a democracy should be
able to state his views clearly and
convincingly. But all that the orat
DRY can do of value to the commun
ity is to enable the man thus to eX
plain himself; if it enables the or
ator to persuade his hearers to put
false values on things, it merely
makes him a power for mischief
Some excellent public servants have
not the gift at all, and must rely up
on their deeds to speak for them;
and unless the oratory does represent
genuine conviction based on good
common sense and able to be trans
lated into efficient performance, theI
the better the oratory the greater the
damage to the public it deceives. In
deed, it is a sign of marked politica
weakness in any commonwealth il
the people tend to be carried away
by mere oratory, if they tend to va
divorced from the deeds for which
they are supposed to stand. The
phrase maker, the phrase monger, the
ready talker, however great his pow
err, whose speech does not make fol
courage, sobriety and right under
standing, is simply a noxious element
in the body polite, and it speaks i'll
for the public if he has influence over
them To admire the gift of oratory
without regard to the moral quality
behind the gift, is to do wrong to the
republic.
THE PRESS DISCUSSED.
OF course all that say of the orator
applies with even greater force to the
orators latter day and more influen
tial brother, the journalist. The pow.
er of the journalist is great, but he is
entitled neither to respect nor adj
miration because of that power UNI
less it is used Alright. He can do, and
he often does, great good. He can do
and he often does, infinite mischief
All journalists, all writer's, for the
very reason that they appreciate the
vast possibilities of their profession
should bear testimony against those
who deeply discredit it. Offenses
against taste and morals, which are
bad enough in a private citizen, are
infinitely worse if made into instru
ments for debauching the community
through a newspaper. Mendacity
SANDER, sensationalism, inanity, va
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