The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1913-03-06

ceeding bounty Cf nature without
which our genius for enterprise would
have been worthless and impotent,
scorning to be careful shamefully
prodigal as well as admirably efficient
We have been proud of our industrial
achievements but we have not hith-
erto stopped thoughtfuily enough to
count the human cost, the cost Of lives
snuffed out. Of energies overtaxed and
broken. the fearful physical and spir-
itual cost to the men and women and
children upon whom the dead weight
and burden Of It all has fallen pitiless-
ly the years through. The groans and
agony Of 1t all had not yet reached
our ears. the solemn. moving under
tone of our life. coming up out Of the
mines and factories and out of every
home where the struggle had its init
mate and familiar seat. With the
great government went many deep se-
cret things which we too long delayed
to look into and scrutinize with can
did. fearless eyes. The great govern
ment we loved has too often been
made use of for private and selfish
purposes. and those who used 1t had
forgotten the people.
Duty Of Americans Outlined.
At last vision has been vouchsafed
us Of our life as a whole. We see the
bad with the good. the debased and
decadent with the sound and vital.
With this vision we approach new af-
fairs. Our duty Is to cleanse. to re.
consider. to restore. to correct the evil
without impairing the good. to purify
and humanize every process OF our
common life without weakening or
sentimentalizing it. There has been
something crude and heartless and un-
feeling in our haste to succeed and be
great. Our thought has been. LET ev-
cry man look out for himself: let ev.
cry generation look out for ITSELF
while We reared giant machinery which
made it impossible that any but those
who stood at the levers Of control
should have a chance to look out for
themselves. We had not forgotten our
morals. We remembered well enough
that we had set up policy which was
meant to serve the humblest as well ns
the most powerful. with an eye single
to the standards Of justice and fair
play. and remembered It with prid'
But We were very heedless and in .
hurry to be great.
We have come now to the sober Sec
ond thought. The scales OF needless
ness have fallen from our eyes. We
have made up our minds to square ev-
cry process of our national life again
with the standards we SO proudly set
up at the beginning and have always
carried at our hearts. Our work 10 q
work Of restoration. ,s.- -
Things to es Accomplished.
We have itemized with some degree
Of particularly the things that ought
to be altered. and here are some Of the
chief items: A tariff which cuts US OF
from our proper part in the commerce
of the world. violates the just princi-
pies Of taxation and makes the govern
ment a facile instrument in the hands
Of private interests; banking and cur
rency system based upon the necessity
of the government to sell its bonds fifty
years ago and perfectly adapted to con-
centrating cash and restricting credits;
an industrial system which. take 1t on
all its sides. financial as we'll as ad-
holds capital In leading
strings. restricts the liberties and lin
Its the opportunities Of labor and ex-
ploits without renewing or conserving
the natural resources Of the country;
body Of agricultural activities never
yet given the efficiency Of great busi-
ness undertakings or served as 1t
should be through the instrumentality
Of science taken directly to the farm
or afforded the facilities Of credit best
suited to its practical needs; water
courses undeveloped. waste places un-
reclaimed. forests INTENDED. fast dis
appearing without plan or prospect OF
unregarded waste heaps at
every mine. We have studied as per-
haps no other nation has the most ef-
fectve means OF production. but We
have not studied cost or economy as
we should either as organizers OF in
dustry, as statesmen or as individuals.
soeisty's Duty TO Itself.
Nor have we studied and perfected
the means by which government may
be put at the service Of humanity In
the health Of the nation,
the health Of its men and its women
and its children, as we'll as their rights
in the struggle for existence. This Is
no sentimental duty. The firm basis
OF government Is Justice. not pity.
These are matters OF Justice. There can
be no equality or opportunity. the nrst
Of justice in the body polite.
II men and women and children be
not shielded In their lives. their very
from the consequences OF great
Industrial and social processes which
they cannot alter, control or singly
cope with. Society must see to 1t that
It does not itself crush or weaken or
its own constituent parts. The
hrst duty Of law is to keep sound the
society 1t serves. Sanitary laws, pure
food laws and laws determining con-
ditions of labor which individuals are
powerless to determine for themselves
are intimate parts Of the very busi-
ness of justice and legal efficiency.
These are some Of the things we
ought to do and not leave the others
undone. the old fashioned. never to be
fundamental safeguarding
Of property and Of individual right
This is the high enterprise Of the new
day: To lift everything that concerns
our life a. a nation to the light that
shines from the hearth 6re Of every
Continued on Page Eight.