The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-12
Albert Void Given Second
Prize in Feature of Grad
uation Week.
B. Albert Wold.)

(By Albert Wold.)
The true grandeur of humanity lies
IN moral elevation. sustained. enlight-
lened and decorated by the intellect of
man" In that statement. once made
y Charles Sumner. is found the full
meaning ofthe new spirit of liberalism
which is today permeating the
thought and inspiring the actions of
the human race. The dynamic driving
force behind that spirit Of liberalism
Is the faith of humanity in the broth
erhood of man. 1t is the desire in the
hearts of men to be Of service to. and
to uplift their fellowmen. 1t is the
morning star p%resaging the dawn of a
new tomorrow, the era of true social
christianity.
ihe movement is n of peace. In
this respect it differs essentially from
the ideas of the past which have been
the formative factors giving rise to
succeeding and more advanced civil
cations. The movements of the past
We're but few in number but one and
all they occasioned bloodshed an APP
palling degrees: Who can read of the
introduction of christianity and not
nude at the wanton butchery of
christians in the Roman arena? Who
can read of the Renaissance and not
think of the bitter feud between sci
ence, literature and religion? We
read of the reformation and picture
to ourselves the bigoted warning of
the creeds. We read of the political
revolutions and think of the fall Of
the Bastile and red reign of terror.
The crusade Of today, however, is GO
ing forward under a banner of peace:
but nevertheless a banner of relent-
less righteousness. 1t stands for the
uplifting of mankind through moral
elevation In politics. commerce and
social affairs. education and religion.
The shackles of creed and conserva-
tlsm, orthodoxy and ecclesiastical
dogma are being broken-not in the
blood shed and bitter hatred of the
middle ages but in a spirit of under
standing. a spirit of liberalism inspir-
led by. a keen conception of the duty
and every man owes his fellow
man.
Pioneers Liberalists.
The frontiers men and pioneers of
the early days of the nation were the
hlghest opponents of the spirit of lib
eralism. Theirs was a spirit of true
serVlce-of rugged Righteousness tenn
pered by sympathy. love and patri-
ot1sm. The westward trail was an ar
duous one. The long trial thai start
ed at the A~lleghannies. blazed its way
through the virgin forests, crossed the
OHIO. the Mississippi; traversed the
great plains. penetrated the Businesses
Oh the Rockies and the Cascades and
matted only at the shoreline of the
broad Pacific was Il trail marked by
loneliness and suffering. Bloodshed
was an everyday occurrence; death
stalked that trail and thousands of
bleaehed human skeletons mutely told
their stories to the eager followers.
me weary trail was not Travelled in
the quest of fame, nor was the lure
of gold the magnet that drew the
pioneers on. for the pre-eminent in
stinct in the ambitions and aspirations
Oh n pioneers was the establishment
anu maintenance of Il homo. 1t mat
tered no that. the home was humble.
me prairie kingdom Of the west grew
cau n and all of the true
pioneers of the Westward trail were
lmpelled by a comman law, the UNI
written law that all men should stand
upon a common basis. upon q ground
of service. Men moved in a bond Of
brotherhood: a spirit of frank fellow
snip prevailed. neither the glory that
was Greece no the grandeur that was
Rome" could hope to even approach
the purity or the nobility of that de-
mocracy. that brotherhood.
Later history tells a different story.
me buffalo grass has disappeared:
wheat n corn has taken its place.
mere once the young Indian brave,
saudN in his war paint, went through
the evolutions of his medicine dance
IN the midst Of the tepees of his tribe
mas now for years been rumbling the
machinery of factories and shops.
The Oregon trail. the prairie schooner,
the plodding, persistent pioneer-all
nave been sinking into forgetfulness
and %obscurity. Nature has given way
to men, machinery and money. Some
ninety millions of people, migrants
from the four corners of the world
nave reared the superstructure of the
nation upon the pioneers trail. The
Old World has bowed to the American
flag; the Old World has accepted us as
the most democratic of nations, as tho
most powerful. as the most attractive,
1t is true that the goal of well nigh
infinite wealth has been attained, but
then. is not true too that the spirit of
the pioneer. a spirit of service and
brotherhood. has been left behind in
the mad race? Has humanity attain
ed its true grandeur: has not the early
day standard of high morals and
ethics been pushed downward i'm the
meteoric onsweep of moneyed prog
ress?
Something Wrong.
The immediate past has seen a
grand and a beautiful nation STEPPED
In a trough of sordidness. On every
and municipal %corruption; on every
hand has been seen systematic and
ruthless plumber and ravage of pub
lie lands and forests. Why the miser-
able shops and factories and mills
where struggling women are worn
down by long hours of labor; and
white faced children are cheat
ed out of the flower of youth? Why
the appalling growth of the divorce
evil; why the unutterable tragedy of
the white slave traffic: why the con-
gested quarters, the reeking tene-
ments. the waits of the gutter?
Something must have been wrong.
Yes! something has been wrong. The
individual has been placed above the
mass. The schools. the handspring
OF democracy" have trained the indi-
cess: the churches. the conservors of
the teachings of Christ. have it seems
forgotten social OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
sized only the salvation of the individ.
ual. Can it be said that as a nation
we have merited Thomas Carlyl's
criticism that the beginning and the
end of what is the matter with us to-
day is that we have forgotten God?".
But we of today know that q new
spirit is abroad in land. More than
ever before does the question of. right
and justice enter into the deliberations
and actions of men. The great hui
movements of the day arc
impelled by a ground swell Of right
The new 6 of liberalism
is one of light and law. the light that
is liberty and knowledge unconfined,
the. law that is justice, impartial, re-
and enforced. Never before
men been moved as they are to-