The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-08-27

successors won victory only by prov
Ing that they possessed the great, mas
terful qualities which lie at the foun-
dation of national greatness. There
are certain well meaning men OF intel
lectual cultivation. but lacking mental
and moral robustness. who complain
continually that they find American
life. and especially the life Of those
American communities emerging from
the pioneer stage. crude and without
genius or beauty.
Genius Is a fne thing for nation.
but character Is still finer thing. and.
though beauty is good. strength is an
even greater good. The men who haze
made this great republic Of the west
what It is. and especially the men who
have turned Il into continental com
monwealth, have possessed in the high
est degree the great virile virtues of
strength, courage. energy and un-
dannted and unwaverlng resolution.
Their typical leaders, of whom Abra.
ham Lincoln, though the most excep-
tional. was the most typical, have pos
sessed keen intelligence and q charac-
ter not merely strong. but lofty; a
character exalted by the fact that
great power was accompanied by a
high and fine determination to use this
great power for the common good. for
the advancement of mankind.
Pioneer Days Over.
The pioneer days are over. save In
| 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
trimming useless In pioneer times. but
these new qualities can only supple
ment and never supplant 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
It 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, II 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 comradeshlp, 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
lowship.
There were good men and bad mcr
in the new communities just as in tn,
old communities, and the conditions
on the frontier were such that The
qualities of the good and bad allk,
were rather more strikingly manifest
ed than In older communities. bu
among the men who tried to lead har'
working decent lives there was u feel
ing of genuine democracy. which rep
|
ideal which we certainly should d,
everything In our power to preserve.
We did not try to say that men were
equal when they were not equal. bu
we did our best TO secure something
like an equality of opportunity and AZ
equality of reward for good service
and, moreover. each man expected I,
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 brinI
about these qualities should be kept fl
the great states which are growin
out of the old frontier communities
We need to strive for the general SC
clal betterment OF the people as
whole and yet to encourage individua
liberty and set high reward on individ
ual initiative up to the point wher
they become detrimental to the gen
eral welfare.
In continually and earnestly strivin
for this betterment Of social and ecs
|
dustrial civilization we should wor
In the old frontier spirit of rugge
strength and courage and yet with til
old frontier spirit of brotherly con
radeship and good will.
do not mean that We should refrai
from hating wrong. On the contrary
would preach fiery wrath agains
wrong. But ! would not preach sue
wrath against the wrongdoer save 1
those cases where his wrongdoing rea
ly Is due TO evil moral attributes o
his part and not to wrong or falls
. system. OF which he is almost as muc
, the victim as the beneficiary.
) Sometimes wrong represents tn
deliberate wickedness Of the wrong
doer. in which case the remedy Is
uunish him. but sometimes 1t reprC