The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1910-06-10

- es 49, - hN%0
rate OF natural Increase. now 10 . larger
or lesser degree shared by most Of the
civilized nations Of central and western
Europe. OF America and Australia: . dim
mutton % great that II II continues for the
next century ~ the rate which has OBJ
tanned for the last 3 years. all the more
highly civilized people will b stationary
or else have begun TO 20 backward In
population. while many of them will have
already gone very far backward.
There ID mach that should give us on
Germ for the future. But there n much
also which should give us hope. No man
10 more apt to be mistaken h the
prophet OF evil l believe with all my
heart that . great future remains for us.
hut whether II does or does not. u
duty II not altered. However the bat
tie may 60. the soldier worthy Of the
name will with utmost vtEor do his al
loted task. and hear himself A. valiant
~ In defeat ~ In victory. Come
viii. We belong TO peoples who have not
yielded to the craven fear OF being great.
In the ages that have gone by. the
great ~nationa, the nations that have ex-
banded and that have played . mighty
part In the world. nave In the end
grown old and weakened and vanished;
but 40 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 perishcs with
II while the other Iea ses Its mark deep
on the history OF all the future OF man
kind
A nation that seemingly dies may bs
born again; and even though In the
physical sense IL die utterly. II 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 IL has
done Best OF all In II TO do our part well.
and at the same time to see our blood live
Young and vital In men and women At TO
take up. the task as we lay II down. for
30 shall our seed inherit the earth. But
II this. which Is best. In denied us, then
at least II 10 ours TO remember that II 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 bia-
zing splendor OF this feeming century OF
ours. II IL dropped from the hand OF the
coward and the s~luggard. OF tho man
wrapped In luxury or love of ease. the
man whose soul was eaten away by self
Indulgence. X has been kept alight only
by those who were mighty OF heart and
cunning OF hand. VIVA: 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. IL 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 analogfes between what had oc-
Cured to forms OF animal life through
n vAsnn~.ntA~ -
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 OF
today, II Is yet mere perversity To refuse
TO realize the incredible advance tina
has been made In ethical standards. I do
not believe that there il the slightest nee
$50 SoHttCIIlOu DekWctn any Nedken-
Ing OF virile force and this advance in
the moral standard. this growth OF the
sense OF obligation to ones neighbor and
OF reluctance to do that neighbor wrong.
We need have scant patience with that
silly cynicism which insists that kjndii-
ness OF character only accompanies
weakness OF character. On the contrary.
just as In private life many OF the men
OF strongest character are the very men
OF loftiest and most exalted morality, SO
l believe that In national life az the ages
go by we shall find that the permanent
national types will more and more tend
towards those In which, while the intel
lect stands nigh, character stands higher.
In which rugged strength and courage,
rugged capacity to resist wrongful ag~
gression by others. will go hand In hand
with a lofty scorn Of doing wrong to 9TH
ers. This Ii the type OF Timoleon. OF
Hampton, OF Washington and Lincoln.
These were as good men. az disinterested
and unselhsh men, as ever served =
state: and they were also as strong men
as ever founded or saved q state, Surely
such examples prove that there Ia moth
Ing Utopian In our effort TO combine
justice and strength In the same nation.
The really high civilizations must them
selves supply the antidote 10 the self-in-
diligence and love OF ease which they
tend to produce.
Problems OF Modern Nations.
Every modern civilized nation has many
and terrible problems 10 solve within It's
own borders. problems that arise not
merely from Juxtaposition OF poverty and
riches. but especially from the seif-con-
seriousness OF both poverty and riches.
Each nation must deal with these mat
tiers In It's own fashion. and yet the spirit
In which the problem Is approached must
ever be fundamentally the same. il
must be a spirit OF broad humanity. OF
brotberly kindness. Of acceptance OF re-
sponsibility. one for each and each for
all, and at the same time a spirit as re-
mote as the poles from every form Of
weakness and senttmentality. As in war
10 pardon the coward is 10 do cruel
wrong to the brave man whose life his
cowardice jeopardizes. so in civil affairs
it Is revolving 10 every principle OF
justice to give TO the lazy. the vicious. or
even the feeble and dull~wftted. a reward
which Is really the robbery OF what
Drawer. wiser. ADLER men have earned.
The only effective way 10 help any man
is TO help him 10 help himself. and the
worst lesson To teach him is that he can