The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-04-23

comings, yet does in some shape, in
practical fashion, give effect to the
for better things. Woe to the empty
pnrase-maker, to the empty idealist,
who. instead of making ready the
ground for the man Of action, turns
| against him when he appears and
hampers him as he does the work.
moreover, the preacher of ideals must
| remember how sorry and contemplate
is the figure which he will cut, how
| great the damage that he will do, If he
| does not himself, in his own life, strive
measurably to realize the ideals that he
breaches for others. Let him remem-
Der also that the worth of the ideal
| cess with which it can in practice be
| realized. We should abhor the So
called practical men whose practical
| ity assumes the shape of that peculiar
baseness which finds its expression in
disbelief in morality and decency, iii
| disregard of high standards of living
| and conduct. Such a creature is the
| worst enemy of the body polite. But
| nominal opponent and real ally, the
| man of fantastic vision who makes the
| impossible better forever the enemy of
| the possible good.
Beware of Doctrinaires.
We can just as little afford to follow
| the doctrinaires of an extreme individ-
uaI1sm as the doctrinaires of an ex-
IRENE socialism. Individual ini-
| fiative, so far from being discouraged,
should be stimulated: and yet we should
| remember that, as society develops and
| grows more complex, we continually
| find that things which once it was de-
slrable to leave to individual initiative
| can, under the changed conditions, be
| performed with better results by COM
| mon effort. 1t is quite impossible, and
equally undesirable, to draw in theory
a hard and fast line which shall always
| divide the two sets of cases. This every
one who is not cursed with the pride
OF the closet philosopher will see, if he
| will only take the trouble to think
about some of our commonest phe~
| DOmena. For instance. when people
| live on isolated farms or in little ham
lets, each house can be left to attend
to its own drainage and water supply;
but the mere multiplication of families
| In a given area produces new problems
which, because they differ in size are
found to differ not only in degree but
In kind from the old: and the questions
Of drainage and water supply have to
be considered from the common stand
| point. It Is not a matter for abstract
| dogmauizirig to decide when this point
| is reached: it is a matter to be tested
| by practical experiment. Much of the
discussion about socialism and indi-
vidualism Is entirely pointless, because
of failure to agree on Technology. 1t
| is not good to be the slave of names.
am strong individualist by personal
| habit, inheritance. and conviction; but
| it is a mere matter of common sense
| to recognize that the state. the com
munity, the citizens acting together
| can do a number of things better than
| IL they were left to individual action.
| The individualism which finds it's ex-
| preston in the abuse of physical force
| is checked very early in the growth of
civilization, and we of today should in
| our turn strive to Shackle or destroy
| that ipcividualism which trimuphs by
| greed and cunning, which exploits the
weak by craft instead of ruling them
by brutality. We ought to go with
any man IN the effort to bring about
| justice and the equality of opportunity
| to turn the tool user more and more
into the tool owner. to shift burdens so
that they can be moro equtably borne.
The deadening effect on any race Of the
adoption of a logical and extreme So
cialistic system could not be over
stated; 1t would spell sheer destruction;
1t would produce grosser wrong and
outrage, fouler immortality. than any
existing system. But this does not
| mean that we may not with great ad-
vantage adopt certain of the principles
protested by some given set of men
who happen to call themselves social
lists; to be afraid to do SO would be to
make mark of weakness on our part.
Should Not Act a Lie.
But we should not take part in act
ing lie any more than in telling a
lie. We should not say that men are
equal where they are not equal, nor
proceed upon the assumption that
there is an equality where it does not
exist; but we should strive to bring
about a measurable equality, at least
to the extent of preventing
| the inequality which is due to
| force or fraud. Abraham Lincoln,
man of the plain people, blood of
their blood and bone of their bone,
who all his life toiled and wrought
and suffered for them, and at the end
died for them, who always strove to
represent them, who would never tell
, the doctrine of equality with his usual
| mixture of idealism and sound COM
mon sense. He said Ct omit what was
of merely local significance): IT think
the authors of the Declaration of In
! dependence intended to include all
| men, but that they did not mean to
declare all men equal in all respects.
| They did not mean to say all men
were equal in color, size, intellect,
moral development, or social capa-
city. They defined with tolerable dis
tinctness in what they did consider all
men created eQual-equal in certain
| inalienab1e rights, among which are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap
| piness. This they said, and this they
meant. They did not mean to assert
J the obvious untruth that all were then
actually enjoying that equality, or yet
that they were about to confer it i'm
mediately upon them. They meant to
| set up standard maxim for free So
ciety which should be familiar to all
constantly looked to, constantly lab
| ored for, and, even though never per-
fectly attained, constantly approx
| mated, and thereby constantly
spreading and deepening its influence.
| and augmenting the happiness and
value of life to all people, every
where
We are bound in honor to refuse to
listen to those men who would make
us desist from the effort to do away
| with the inequality which means in
| justice; the inequality of right. of OPP
portunity, of privilege. We are bound
| in honor To striva to bring ever near