Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-04-28

L
er as well as a scholar.
Individual Citizenship.
To-day, l shall speak to you on the
subject of individual citizenship, the
one subject of vital Importance to
you, my hearers. and to me and my
countrymen, because you and we are
citizens Of great democratic republics.
A democratic republic such as each
of ours-an effort to realize in its full
sense, government by, of and for the
people-represents the most gigantic
Of all possible social experiments, the
one fraught with the greatest posi-
bilities alike for good and for evil.
The success of republicans like yours
and like ours means the glory, and
our failure the despair, of mankind;
and for you and for us the question
of the quality of the individual citi-
ben is supreme.
Lauds Gallantry of French.
France has taught many lessons to
other nations; surely one of the most
important is the lesson he whole his
tory teaches, that a high artistic and
literary development is compatible
with notable leadership in arms and
statecraft. The brilliant gallantry of
the French soldier has for many CEN
turtles been %proverbial; and during
these same centuries at every court
in Europe the Free Masons of Fash
ion" have treated the French tongue
as their common speech; while every
artist and a. of letters, and every
man of science able to appreciate that
marvellous instrument of precision,
French prose, has turned towards
France for aid and inspiration. How
long the leadership in arms and let
tiers has lasted is %curiously illustrat-
ed by the fact that the earliest
terpiece in modern tongue is the splen-
did French epic which tells Of Ro-
lands doom and the vengeance Of
C~harlemagne when the lords of the
Frankish host were stricken at Ron
~cesvelles.
Mans Force and Courage.
Let those who have, keep, let those
who have not, strive to attain, a high
standard of cultivation and scholar
ship. Yet, let us remember that these
stand second to certain other things.
There is need of a sound body, and
even more need of a sound mind. But
above mind and above body stands
character, the sum of those qualities
which we mean when we speak of a
mans force and courage, of his good
faith and sense of honor. | believe in
exercise of the body, always provided
that we keep in mind that physical
development is a can and not an
end. I believe, of course, in giving to
all the people a good education. But
the education must contain much be-
sides book learning in order to be
really good. We must v remem-
Der that no keenness, and subtleness
of intelligence, no polish, no clever
ness in any way make up for the lack
of the great solid qualities. Self re-
s%traint, self mastery, common sense,
the power Of accepting individual re.
sponsibility and yet, Of acting in CON
junction with others, courage and res.
olution-these are the qualities which
make a masterful people. Without
them no people can contol itself, OF
save itself, from being controlled from
the outside. / speak to a brilliant as
semblage; / speak in a great univer
sity which represents the flower Of
the highest intellectual development;
| pay all homage to intellect, and tc
elaborate and specialize training OIL
the intellect; and yet I know l shall
have the assent of all you present
when l add that more important still
are the common plans, everyday quail
ties and virtues.
"Is Right to PrevaiI?"
In the next place, the good mar
should be both a strong and a brave
man; that is, he should be able tt
fight, he should be able to serve hi!
country as a soldier if the need arises
There are we'll meaning philosopher
who declaim against the unrighteous
ness of war. They are right, onl!
they lay all their emphasis upon thu
unrighteousness. War is a dreadful
thing, and unjust war is a crim'
against humanity. But it is such
crime because 1t is unjust, not becaus
it is war. The choice must ever be il
favor of righteousness, and this wheth
err the alternative be peace or wheth
er the alternative be war. The ques
ton must be, is the right to prevail
Finally, even more important thai
ity to work, even more important thai
ability to fight at need, is to remembe
that the chief of blessings for any ne
ton is that it shall leave its seed t
inherit the land. 1t was the crown G
blessings in Biblican times; and it
the crown of blessing now. TIL
t greatest of all curses, is the curse Q
} sterility, and the severest of all cor
t formations should be that visite
upon wilful sterility. The first esser
) tial, in any civilization is that tn
man and woman shall be father an
mother of healthy children, so that tn
race shall increase and no decrease
II this be not SO, If through no faul
Of the society there is failure to IL
t crease, it Is a great misfortune. ]
the failure is due to deliberate an
4 wilfull fault, then 1t is not merely
t misfortune. it is n Of those crime
of ease and self-indulgence, of shrinl
: ing from pain and effort and risl
which in the long run nature punishe
! more heavily than any other.