Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-08-27

continually H., iney md American,
American communities emerging $rom
the pioneer stage. crude and without
genius or beauty
Genius is fine thing for nation.
but character is a still finer thing. and.
though beauty Is good. strength Is al
even greater good. The men who have
made this great republic of the west
what II is. and especially the men who
have turned il into q continental com
monwealth. lave possessed in the high
est degree the great virile virtues OF
strength. courage. energy and un-
daunted and unwavering resolution
Their typical leaders. of whom Abra
ham Lincoln. though the most excep-
tional. was the most typical. have pos
sessed keen intelligence and charac-
ter not merely strong. but lofty; a
character exalted by the fact that
great power was accompanied by
high and fine determination to use this
great power for the common good, for
the advancement of mankind.
Pioneer Days Over.
q few places. and the more complex
life of today calls for greater va
riety of good qualities than was need
ed on the frontier. There is need at
present to encourage the development
of new abilities which can be brought
to high perfection only by kind of
training useless in pioneer times. but
these new qualities can only supple
ment and never suppIant the old.
homely virtues; the need for the spe-
cial and distinctive pioneer virtues is
as great as ever.
In other words. as our civilization
grows older and more complex. while
1t is true that we need new forms Of
trained ability and 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 virtues include the power of
self help. together with the power of
Joining with others for mutual help
and, what is especially important. the
feeling of cOmradeship. of social good
fellowship. Any man who had the
good fortune TO live among the old
frontier conditions must in looking
back realize how vital was this feeling
of general comradeShip and social fel
IowShip
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 strikin2ly manifest
ed than in older communities, but
among the men who tried to lead hard
working. decent lives there was feel
ing of genuine democracy. which rep
resented 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 We're not equal. but
we did our best TO secure something
like an equality opportunity and an
equality of reward for good service,
and. moreover. each man expected to
be received. and on the whole was re-
ceived wherever he went on the foot
ing that his merits warranted.
Now. so far as possible. these quail
ties 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 strive for the general So
cial betterment of the people as q
whole and yet to encourage individual
liberty and set high reward on individ-