Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1910-06-09

In the little republic OF Holland, as ir
the great empire Of Rome. II was not
death which came. but transformation
Both Holland and Italy teach US tina,
races that fall may rise again.
Danger Of Race Suicide.
| There ave questions which we of the
great civilized nations are ever tempted to
s ASK Q, .he future. IL our time of growth
drawing to an end? Are we as nations
| soon TO come under the rule OF that great
law OF death which Is itself but part OF the
great law OF life7 None can tell. Forces
that we can see and other forces that are
hidden or that can but dimly be appre-
hended are at work all around us, both
Tor good and for evil. The growth In lux
| ury, In love OF ease. In taste for vapid
and frivolous excitement, IL both evident
and unhealthy. The most ominous sign
Is the diminution in the birth-rate, In the
rate OF natural increase. now to a 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 II II continues for the
next century at the rate which has OBJ
tained for the last % years. all the more
mighty civilized people will be stationary
OF 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-
Germ for the future. But there IL much
also which should give US hope. No man
- more apt to be mistaken than the
prophet OF evil. I believe with all my
heart that a great future remains for us
nut whether II 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
ioted task, and bear himself as valiant
~ In defeat as in victory. Come what
Will we belong to peoples who have not
yieioed 10 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 a mighty
part In the world, have I'm the end
grown old and weakened and vanished:
but so have the nations whose only
thought was to avoid all danger, all ef-
Tort, who would risk nothing and who
therefore gained nothing. In the end the
same rate may overwhelm all alike: but
the memory OF the one type perishes with
IL while the other leaves it's 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 tho
physical sense II die utterly. It may yet
mana down history of heroic achieve
ment. and for all time TO come may pro-
ioundiy influence the nations that arise in
It's place by the impress OF what Il has
done. Best OF all is II to do our part well,
and ar the same time to see our blood live
Dung 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
IL this, which Is best, IL denied us then
at least IL Is ours to remember that IL we
choose we can be torch bearers as our
iathers 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
Ia -
zing splendor of this teeming century OF
ours. II 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; II has been kept alight only
by those who were mighty OF heart and
cunning of hand. What they worked at,
providing II was worth doing at all. was
or no less matter than how they worked,
whether In the realm OF the mind or the
realm OF the body. II their work was
good. II what they achieved was of sub
stance then high success was. really
theirs.
In the first part of this lecture drew
certain analogies between what had &C.
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 |
that have elapsed since cities of temples |
and palaces first rose beside the Nile and |
me Euphrates, and the harbors OF |
Minoan Crete bristled with the masts of |
he Aegean craft. But OF course the |
parallel Is true only in the toughest
ina most general way. Moreover even |
between the civilizations of today and |
he civilizations of ancient times there
ire differences so profound that we must
pc cautious In drawing any conclusions
or the present based on what has hap
,ened In the past. While freely admit
ing all or our follies and weaknesses OF
oday, II Is yet mere perversity to refuse
o realize the incredible advance that
las been made in ethical standards. do
lot believe that there is the slightest nee |
ssary connection between any weaken
ng OF virile force and this advance in
he moral standard, this growth of the
ense OF obligation to ones neighbor and
4 reluctance to do that neighbor wrong.
We need have scant patience with that
lily cynicism which insists that kindli-
ess OF character only accompanies
weakness OF character. On the contrary
ust as In private life many of the men
strongest character are the very men
loftiest and most exalted morality. SO
believe that In national life as the ages
o by we shall find that the permanent
auonai types Will more and more tend |
owards those In which, while the intel
'ct STANDS nigh, character stands higher: |
I which rugged strength and courage.
ugged capacity to resist wrongful ag-
ression by others. will go hand in hand |
18th lofty scorn OF doing wrong to 9TH
re-. This Is the type or Timoleon, of
lampden. OF Washington and Lincoln.
hese were as good men, as disinterested
no unselhsh men, as ever served |
-ate and they were also as strong men |
> ever founded or saved a state. Surely
ich examples prove that there is moth
~ Utopian In our effort 10 combine
lstice and strength in the same nation.
he really high civilizations must them
lives supply the antidote to the self-in-
llgence and love OF ease which they I
nd to produce. !
Problems OF Modern Nations.
Every modern civilized nation has many :
nd terrible problems TO solve within its
Nn borders, problems that arise not | ,
erely from tuxtaposition OF poverty and | !
ches, but especially from the self-con- :
iousness of both poverty and riches. ,
ach nation must deal with these mat /,
RS In Its own fashion. and yet the spirit 7
which the problem is approached must | ;
er be fundamentally the same IL /,
'ist be spirit OF broad humanity: of | !
otherly kindness OF acceptance OF re- :
onsibility. one for each and each for 1,
!; and at the same time a spirit as re- 4
ote as the poles from every form OF :