Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-05-11

Of breath TO prattls Of our schisysmsnts.
70 bcAse Of AZ that Ne have done.
No rshnsmsnt Of life, no dslicacy Of
tssts 40 Material psoszsss, NO sordid heap
Ing up Of rteAss, no ssnsuous dsvsloumsnt
Of art and literature, can in any way COM
psnsats for the loss OF the great funda-
msntal virtues, and Of thsss great funds.
mental virtues, the greatest 10 the racs's
power to psrpstuats the race.
MANS cHrEr DUTY.
Character must show itself In the mans
performances both Of the duty he owes him.
sell and Of the duty be owes the state. The
msn's foremost duty Il owned to himself
and his family, and he can do this duty
only By earning money, BY providing
what u essential to material we'll being.
Il b only after this has been done that be
can hope to build higher supsrstructurs
on the solid material foundation. It IL
only after this has been done tbst he can
help In movements for the general we'll
being.
II u mot good to excite that bitter
laughter which expresses contempt, and
contempt 10 what We feel for the being
whose enthusiasm TO benefit mankind IL
such that he 10 burden TO those nearest
him; who Wishes to do great things for
humanity in the abstract, but who cannot
keep his wife In comfort or educate his
children.
decline to recognise the mere multi
millionaire, the man Of mere wealth, % an
asset Of value to any country, and sspec-
tally - mot an asset to my own country.
II hs has earned or usss his wealth in .
way that makes him Of real benefit, Of real
use = and such 10 often the case - Why.
then he does become an asset of worth.
But It u the way in which II has been
earned or used, and mot the mere fact Of
wealth, that entities him to the credit.
There V need In business, % in most
other forms Of human activity, Of the
great guiding intelligences. Their places
cannot Be supplied BY any number Of les
ser intslligences.
1t il bad thing for nation to raise and
to admire false standard OF success, and
there can be no falser standard than that
set by the dedication OF material we'll be-
ing in and for itself.
The power Of the journalist Is great, but
he 10 entitled neither to respect nor ad-
miration because of that power unless it Is
used Alright. He can do, and he often does,
great good. He can do, and he often does.
infinite mischief. All Journalistic, all
writers, for the very reason that they ap-
preciate the vast possibilities Of their pro-
fession, should bear testimony against
those who deeply discredit it. Offences
against taste and morals, which are bad
enough in . private citizen, are infinitely
worse II made into instruments for de-
bauching the community through a news
paper.
Mendscity, SANDER, sensationaiism,
insnity, vapid triviality, all are potent
factors for the debauchery OF the public
mind and conscience. The excuse ad-
vanced for vicious writing-that the public
demands 1t and that the demand must be
supplied-can no more be admitted than II
it were advanced by the purveyors OF food
who sell poisonous authorizations.
UT AhE< ItoCSLhhOLD'
The homely virtues OF the household,
the ordinary workaday virtues which
make the woman q good housewife and
house mother, which make the man hard
worker, q good husband and father, good
soldier at need, stand at the bottom OF
character. But OF course many others must
be added thereto IL a state is to be not
only free, but great.
Good citizenship is not good citizenship
il exhibited only in the home. There re-
main the duties Of the individual in re-
iation to the state, and these duties are
none too easy under the conditions which
exist where the effort is made to carry on
free government in q complex industrial
civilization.
Perhaps the most important thing the
ordinary citizen, and above all, the leader
OF ordinary citizens, has to remember in
sheer doctrinaire.
Woe to the empty phrase maker, to the
empty ideaiist, 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 remember also that the worth
of the ideal must be largely determined by
the success with which it can in practice
be realized. We should abhor the So
called practical men whose practically
assumes the shape OF that peculiar base
ness which finds its expression in disbe-
lief in morality and decency, in disregard
OF high standards Of living and conduct.
Such creature is the worst enemy OF the
body polite. But only less desirable as a
citizen is his nominal opponent and real
ally, the man OF fantastic vision who
makes the impossible better forever the