The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1910-06-09
Nations Born AGAIN.

/
profoundly influence the ,pations that
arise In its place by the impress of
what it has done.
Best Of all Is 1t to do our part wen
and at the same time to see our blood
live young and vital in men and We
men fit to take up the task as we lay
1t down. for so shall our seed Inherit
the earth. But if this which is best
is denied us. then at least it is ours
to remember that if we choose we can
be torchbearers, as our fathers were
before us.
The torch has been handed on from
nation to nation, from civilization to
civilization, throughout all recorded
time from the dim years before his
tory dawned down to the blazing SPLEEN
dor of this teemlng century of ours.
While freely admitting all of our fol.
lies and weaknesses of today, it 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-
mics 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 go hand in hand with
lofty scorn of doing wrong to 9th
ers.
The Greatest Empire.
You belong to a nation which pos
sesses the greatest empire upon which |
the sun has ever shone. belong to
a 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 of
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 Il 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 inconceivabe difficulty. They
,annot be solved by the foolish senti-
of stay at home people with
little patent recipes and tbose- cut and
Tried theories of the political nursery
which have such limited applicability
mid the crash of elemental forces s
Neither can they be solved by the |
'aw brutality of the men who. wheth i
n at home or on the rough frontier OF
civilization, adopt might as the only
standard of right in dealing with 9th
nd al n
subjects for exploitation.
hold that the laws of morality 6
which should govern individuals in [
heir dealings one with the other are Y
ust as binding concerning nations in
heir dealings one with the other. The
pplication Of the moral law must be
ifferent In the two cases, because In G
ne case 1t has and in the other 1t has s
lot the sanction of civil law with s
orce behind it. 1t would be foolish
indeed to pay heed to the unwise per :
ons who desire disarmament to be
theirs should not be left helpless be- II
ore any possible foe. But we must v
eprobate quite as strongly both the
,aders and the peoples who practice +
r encourage or condone aggression
nd iniquity by the strong at the ex-
ense of the weak.
We should tolerate lawlessness and
'ickedness neither by the weak nor
y the strong. and both weak and y
rong we should in return treat with q
,rupulous fairness. The foreign pol p
y Of great and self respecting coun- d.
v should be conducted on exactly the j
lme plane of honor, of insistence d,
pom ones own rights and of respect ri
n the rights Of others. as when a
ave and honorable man Is dealing
18th his fellows. II
Permit me to support this statement "
It of my own experience. For nearly W
ght years | was the head of q great W
ltion and charged especially with the nj
nduct of its foreign policy, and dur
9 those years | took no action with ~
ference to any other people on the W
ce of the earth that l would not ST
i've felt justified in taking as an in. hi
vidual In dealing with other individ- N
lis. 10
Try at Least.
believe that we of the great civ
zed nations of today have right
feel that long careers of achieve
ant lie before our several countries.
} each of us is vouchsafed the hon /.
able privilege of doing his part, how
or small in that work