The Penn's Grove record., 1912-04-26

L. W-- N@S<g
be just to his neighbor first
and to be kind to himself after
ward. This is getting the NOR
alities In their proper order.
l want no one to send me dollhouse
grapes or lace valentines till he has
settled up my just bill against him.
] prefer a living salary throughout the
year to a sumptuous donation party
at Christmas. In other words, JUS
tice takes precedence Of charity in
my desires and In those, l believe. OF
most right-minded men.
In the eighth century B. G.
there lived a prophet who put forth
a definition of religion that appears as
wonderful a definition of genius as the
art Of Phidias or the science Of Aris-
totle. The prophets name was Mi
cab, and here Is his definition: HE
hath showed thee, o man, what is
good; and what does the Lord require
of thee but to do justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God?"
The Lord demands first Of all that
men be just in their dealings with
their fellows. Withal justice is a
primal demand that men make Of each
other. the rich sometimes wonder
that the objects of their bounty rise
In revolt against various welfare
schemes designed to help the working
class. They cannot see why their kind
hearted plans fail to arouse enthusi-
asm in the bene1ciaries. The reason
in many cases is plain. W~orkingmen,
like everybody else, want Justice be-
fore they want kindness. One in par
ticular l remember well. His thought
was always along this line, and as
he would come into the saving institu-
ton where he was paying for his lit
tie home. each Saturday evening. he
never failed to impress those about
him with this particular idea.
Basic Demand for Justice.
With the spirit of the Kentuckian
he always pointed out that working
men would rather have a decent wage
than all the model tenements and
pleasure parks and band concerts that
the boss could devise.
Presiding on one occasion at a mass
meeting designed to aid some char
ity, Jacob Riis looked at a placard on
the wall which read, Charity cover
eth q multitude Of SINS" and ex-
claimed: IT'S time to take that cover
off,"
There is a widespread disposition to
agre with this sentiment. Millionaires
who bequeath magnificent sums to ed
ucation or philanthropy must expect
to have the gift horse looked in the
mouth. If what is given to the pub
lie represents sharp practice on the
part of the giver, If it is the fruit OF
extortion, legal or illegal, the ap-
plause is faint today, and it is going
to get fainter all the time. We are
becoming officially sensitive to the
way in which money is got, no less
than to the way it is given
1t is more fattering to ones self
esteem to play the role Of Lord or
Lady Bountiful than it is to stand for
even-handed justice to all. There are
philanthropists who could not pose
as almoners to the poor, as they have
done, if they had been willing to give
the poor a square deal in the first
place. Illustrations Of this general
principle are numerous. The Ease OF
Capt. Dreyfus Of the French army has
not wholly faded from the public
mind. After the victim had been par
doned and released from his cruel and
unjust Imprisonment the novelist Zola
wrote to Nine. Dreyfus: ut is revolt
ing to obtain pity when one asks for
Justice, and all seems preconcerted to
bring about this last iniquity. The
Judges, wishing to strike the innocent
in order to save the guilty, seek ref
uge in an act OF horrible hypocrisy
which they call mercy"
Foundation of Moral Structure.
Have you ever known parents who
would crush out a child's initiative, ig-
more his tastes, browbeat him general
ly, and then give him a party or cut
ing devised wholly after the aforesaid
parents own ideas and at which the
youngster was expected to be delight
ed, or appear as an migrate? 1t would
be more honest treatment for Robert
or Edith If they should be allowed
some slight expression of opinion in
regard to the matters vital to their
happiness.
Justice is not the whole Of the moral
structure that a good man will try to
build. but it is a mighty important
foundation stone. Until one is pretty
firmly grounded upon 1t he cannot de-
Gently add the upper stories of mercy
and of benevolence. - Washington
Star.