Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1910-06-10

is the diminution In the birth-rate, in the |
rate of natural increase, now to larger |
or lesser degree shared by most OF the |
civilized nations of central and western
Europe, of America and Australia; a dim
mutton so great that IL 1t continues for the
next century at the rate which has OBJ
tanned for the last S years, all the more
highly civilized people will be stationary
or else have begun to go backward In
population, while many OF them will have
already gone very far backward.
There is much that should give us con-
cern for the future. But there Is much
also which should give us hope. No man
is moro apt to be mistaken than the
prophet of evil. I believe with all my
heart that great future remains for us;
hut whether 1t does or does not, our
duty is not altered. However the bat
tie may go, the soldier worthy Of the
name will with utmost vigor do his al
loted task. and bear himself as valiant
ly In defeat IN in victory. Come what
will, we belong to peoples who have not
yielded to the craven fear of being great
In the ages that have gone by, the
great nations, the nations that have ex-
panded and that have played mighty
part in the world, have in the end
grown old and weakened and vanished;
but SO have the nations whose only
thought was to avoid all danger, all ef-
fort, who would risk nothing. and who
therefore gained nothing. In the end the
same fate may overwhelm all alike; but
the memory Of the one type perishes with
1t while the other lea yes its mark deep
on the history of all the future of man
kind.
A nation that seemingly dies may be
born again. and even though in the
physical sense 1t die utterly, 1t may yet
hand down a history of heroic achieve
ment, and for all time to come may pro-
foundly influence the nations that arise in
Its place by the impress of what 1t has
done. Best of all Is 1t to do our part well,
and at the same time to see our blood live
young and vital in men and women 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 1t is ours to remember that IL we
choose we can be torch-bearers, as our
| fathers were before US. The torch has
| been handed on from nation to nation,
| from civilization to civilization through
| out all recorded time, from the dim years
| before history dawned, down to the bla-
| Zing splendor of this teeming century of
ours. 1t is dropped from the hand of the
| coward and the sluggard, of the man
| wrapped In luxury or love of ease, the
| man whose soul was eaten away by self
| indulgence; 1t has been kept alight only
| by those who were mighty of heart and
cunning of hand. What they worked at
| providing 1t was worth doing at ALL was
| of no less matter than how they worked
|
realm of the body. II their work was
| good, IL what they achieved was of sub
| stance, then high success was really
| theirs.
Strength With Morality.
In the first part of this lecture I drew
certain analogies between what had oc-
CURED to forms of animal life through
the procession of the ages on this planet,
and what has occurred and is occurring
to the great artificial civilizations which
| have gradually spread over the worlds
surface during the thousands of years
that have elapsed since cities of temples
and palaces first rose beside the Nile and
the Euphrates, and the harbors OF
Minoan Crete bristled with the masts of
the Aegean craft. But of course the
parallel is true only in the toughest
and most general way. Moreover, even
between the civilizations of today and
the civilizations of ancient times there
are differences so profound that we must
be cautious in drawing any conclusions
for the present based on what has hap
pened in the past While freely admit
ting all of our follies and weaknesses oi
today, 1t is yet mere perversity to refuse
to realize the incredible advance thai
has been made in ethical standards. I dc
not believe that there is the slightest nee.
essary connection between any weaken
ing of virile force and this advance II
the moral standard, this growth of the
sense of obligation to ones neighbor an(
of reluctance to do that neighbor wrong
We need have scant patience with thai
| silly cynicism which insists that lkindli
ness of character only accompanie:
weakness of character. On the contrary
just in private life many of the mer
of strongest character are the very meI
of loftiest and most exalted morality, 81
I believe that in national life as the age
go by we shall find that the permanent
national types will more and more tent
towards those In which, while the intel
| lect stands high, character stands higher
in which rugged strength and courage
| rugged capacity to resist wrongful ag
gression by others, will go hand in ham
with lofty scorn of doing wrong to 9th
ers. This is the type of Timoleon, o
Hampden. of Washington and Lincoln
These were as good men. as disintereste
/ and unselfsh men, as ever served
state; and they were also as strong me
as ever founded or saved state. Surel
? such examples prove that there is moth
> ing Utopian in our effort to combin
justice and strength in the same natior
= The really high civilizations must them
> selves supply the antidote to the self-in
. diligence and love of ease which the
1 tend to produce.
. Problems OF Modern Nations.
: Every modern civilized nation. has man
and terrible problems to solve within II
n
merely from juxtaposition of poverty an
!, riches but especially from the self-cor
a sciousness of both poverty and riches
n Each nation must deal with these maj
ters in its own fashion, and yet the spir
i in which the problem is approached mus
a ever be fundamentally the same.
= must be a spirit Of broad humanity;
brotherly kindness; OF acceptance of r,
: | sponsibility, one for each and each fC
a all; and at the same time a spirit as r.
4 mote as the poles from every form
n weakness and sentimentality. AS in We
h to pardon the coward Is to do cru
!, wrong to the brave man whose life h
n cowardice jeopardizes SO in civil affair
n 1t is revolving to every principle
, justice to give to the lazy, the vicious,
n even the feeble and dull-witted. rewaI
> which is really the robbery of VIII;
h braver, wiser ADLER men have earne
"a Tho only effective way to help any ma
r is to help him to help himself; and Il
q worst lesson to teach him is that he ca