East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-04-23

to the orators latter-day and more in
| fluential brother, the journalist. The
| power of the journalist is great, but
| he is entitled neither to respect nor
| admiration because of that power un-
| less 1t is used Alright. He can do, and
he often does, great good. He can do,
and he often does, infinite mischief
All journalists. all writers, 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 private citizen. are
infinitely worse il made into instru-
ments for debauching the community
through n newspaper. Mendacity'
slander sensationalism, inanity. vapid
triviality, all are potent factors for
the debauchery of the public mind
and conscience. The excuse advanced
for vicious writing, that the public de-
mands it and that the demand must
be supplied, can no more be admitted
than if it were advanced by the pur-
veyors of food who sell poisonous
adulterations.
Two Sets of Qualities.
In short, the good citizen in re-
public much realize that he ought to
possess two sets of qualities, and that
neither avails without the other. He
must have those qualities which make
for efficiency; and he must also have
those qualities which direct the eff
f1tA ,honnnlS nnhliP
good. He is useless If he is ineffi-
cient. There is nothing to be done
with that type of citizen of whom all
| that can be said is that ne is harm
| less. Virtue whicl. is dependent up
on a sluggish circulation is not i'm
| pressive. There is little place in ac-
| tive life for the timid good man. The
| man who is saved by weakness from
| robust wickedness is likewise render
ed immune from the robuster virtues
| The good citizen in a republic must
| first of all be able to hold his own. He
is no good citizen unless he has the
/ ability which will make him work
| hard and which at need will make him
| fight hard. The good citizen is not a
good citizen unless he is an efficient
| citizen
| The Moral Sense.
But If a mans efficiency is not
guided and regulated by a moral
sense. then the more efficient he is
the worse he is, the more dangerous
to the body polite. Courage, intel
lect. all the masterful qualities, serve
but to make a man more evil if they
ure used merely for that mans own
advancement, with brutal indifference
to the rights of others. 1t speaks i'll
for the community if the community
worships these qualities and treats
their possessors as heroes regardless
of whether the qualities are used
rightly or wrongly. It makes no diff
ference as to the precise way in
which this sinister efficiency is
shown 1t makes no difference wheth'
er such a mans force and ability be-
tray themselves in the career of mon
ey-maker or politician, soldier or ora
tor journalist or popular leader. Il
the man works for evil. then the more
successful he is the more he should
be despised and condemned by all up
right and far-seeing men. To judg'
man merely by success is an alb
| horrent wrong; and if the people a
large habitually so judge men. if the!
grow TO condone wickedness becaus
the wicked man triumphs, they shoV
their inability to understand that il
the last analysis free institutions res
: tupon the character of citizenship, an
that by such admiration of evil the,
prove themselves unfit for liberty.
The Homely Virtues.
The homely virtues of the house
hold. the ordinary workaday virtue
, which make the woman good house
, wife and housemother. which max
| the man hard worker, a good hus
a band and father, a good soldier a
r need, stand at the bottom of charac
= ter. But of course many others mus
, be added thereto If a state is to b
4 not only free but great. Good citi
zenship is not good citizenship II eS
= hibited only in the home. There re
main the duties of the individual
relation to the state and these dutie
are none too easy under the cond
= tions which exist where the effort
i made to carry on free government
e a complex. industrial civilization. Pei
haps the most important thing the oil
u dinary citizens has to remember
T political life is that he must not {
Il a sheer doctriniare The closet pm
II losopher, the refined and cultured II
dividual who from his library tel
how men ought to be governed undt
: ideal conditions, is Of no use in actui
G governmental work; and the ont
y sided fanatic, and still more the mo
! leader. and the insincere man who
: achieve power promises what by r
y possibility can be performed. are NJ
: merely useless but noxious.
! The citizen must have high ideal
p and yet he must be able to achie1
y them in practical fashion. No PEI
: manent good comes from aspiration
u so lofty that they have grown fanta
II tic and have befome impossible ar
e indeed undesirable to realize. III
! impracticable visionary is far less
Il ten the guide and precursor than 7
D is the embittered foe of the re-
i reformer Of the man who, with stun
blings and shortcomings, yet does
- sonoo rbape in nractical fashion, gi1