The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-08-27

republic of the west what it is. and
the men who have turned
1t into a continental commonwealth,

nave possessed IN the highest degree
the great virile virtues of strength,
courage, energy, and undaunted and
unwavering resolution. Their typical
leaders-of whom Abraham Lincoln,
though the most exceptional, was the
most typical-have possessed keen in
telligence, and character not merely
strong, but lofty, a character exalted
by the fact that great power was ac-
companied by a high and fine deter
mination to use this great power for
the common good, for the advance
ment Of mankind. The pioneer days
are over, save in few places; and
the more complex life of today calls
for greater variety of good qualities
than were needed on the frontier.
There is need at present to encourage
the development of new abilities
which can be brought to high perfec-
tion only by kind of training useless
in pioneer times; hut these new quail
ities can only supplement, and never
supplant the old, homely virutes; the
need for the special and distinctive
pioneer virtues is as great as ever. In
other words, as our civilization grows
older and more complex, while it is
true that we need to develop men
whose lives are devoted wholly to the
pursuit of special objects, it is yet
also true that we need a greater and
not less development of the funda-
mental frontier. virtues. These vir-
tues include the power OF self-help
together with the power of joining
with others for mutual help, and
what is especially important, the feel
ing of comradship, OF social good-fel-
lowship. Any man who had the good
fortune to live among the old from
tier conditions must, in looking back.
realize how vital was this feeling of
general comradeship and social fell
lowship. There were good men and
bad men in the new communities just
as in the old communities, and the
conditions on the frontier were such
that the qualities of the good and bad
alike were rather more strikingly
manifested than in older communi-
ties; but among the men who tried to
lead Woodworking, decent lives, there
was feeling of genuine democracy,
which represented an approach to the
American ideal which we certainly
should do everything in our power
to preserve. We did not try to say
that men were equal when they were
not equal, but we did our best to Sc
cure something like an equality of op-
portunity and an equality of reward
for good service; and, moreover, each
man expected to. be received, and, on
the whole, was received. wherever he
went, on the footing that his merits
warranted.
Preserve the Old Qualities.
Now, so far as possible these quail
tiles and the conditions that bring
about these qualities should be kept
in the great states which are growing
out of the old frontier communities.
We need to striTa sar the general So
cial betterment Of the people as a
whole, and yet to encourage individ-
ual liberty and set high reward on
individual initiative up to the point
where they become detrimental to the
general welfare. In continually and
earnestly striving for this betterment
of social and economic conditions in
our complex industrial civilization,
we should work in the old frontier
spirit of rugged strength and courc re,
and yet with the old frontier spirit
of brotherly comradeship and good
will. do not mean that we should
refrain from hating wrong: on the
contrary, l would preach fiery wrath
against wrong But | would not
preach such wrath against the wrong
doer; save in those cases where his
wrong-doing really is due to evil NOR
al attributes on his part. and not to a
wrong or false system, of which he is
almost as much the victim as the ben
eficiary. Sometimes wrong repre-
sents the deliberate wickedness of the
wrong-doer. in which case the remedy
is to punish him; but sometimes it
represents the effects of false So
cial system, in which case the right
course is to alter what is false in the
system. Both principles need to be
kept in view as guides to our conduct,
and it is necessary sometimes to work
in accordance with one and sometimes
in accordance with the other.
A Statue for Remington.
Before ending l wish to say word
on something which l believe should
especially interest all men who live in
the open country, and especially all
men who during the past thirty years
have lived and worked on ranches. or
have done their life work in the Wild
er parts of our land, on the great
plains or among the mountains. The
phase of our national life in which
the stockman. the mining prospector,
the frontier farmer and their associ-
ates were the chief characters, was
not only a very important but also a
very picturesque phase. Often such
a phase passes without any great art
ist arising to commemorate it. The
old-time backwoodsman. for instance,
the man of the back country who liv-
ed in the eastern forests through
which the waters ran eastward to the
Atlantic and westward to the Missis-
sippi. passed away without any paint
er or sculptor arising who possessed
at once both the keenness of vision
to see what vital and picturesque
figure the backwoodsman was. and
the genius adequately to present that
figure. The artists who saw the pic
turesqueeness of the backwoodsman
lacked the genius adequately to COM
memorate it; while the artists of real
ability unfortunately had their eyes