Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1913-03-07
Ininas % be Accomplished.

We have i.etnized with some degree
of particularly the things that ought
to be altered. and here are some of the
chief items: A tariff which eats us of
from our proper part in the commerce
of the world. violates the Just princi-
pies of taxation and makes he govern
ment facile instrument III the hands
of private interests: a 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 redits:
an industrial system which. take it on
all its sides. financial as well as adj
ministrafve. holds capital in leading
strings restricts the liberties and lin
jpuortunities of labor and ex-
! renewing or conserving
,tlrces of the country; Il
ultural activities never
~ efficiency of great bust
SIS iiakingS or served as II
should i.e 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 I'M
reclaimed. forests INTENDED. fast dis
appearing without plan or prospect of
renewal, unregarded waste heaps at
every mine. We have studied as per-
haps no other nation has the most eff
fective 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.
Society's Duty to Itself.
Nor have we studied and perfected
the means by which government may
be put at the service of humanity il
safeguarding the health of the nation
the health of it's 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 car
be no equality opportunity, the first
essential of jus in the body polite.
if men and women and children be
not shielded in their lives. their very
vitality. from the consequences of great
Industrial and social processes which
they cannot alter control or singly
cope with. Society must see to it that
it does not itself crush or weaken OF
damage its own constituent parts. The
first duty of law is to keep sound the
society it 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 bust
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
neglected, fundamental safeguarding |
of property and of individual right !
This is the high enterprise of the new |
day: To lift everything that concerns |
our life as nation to the light that |
shines from the hearth fire of every |
mans conscience and vision of the |
right 1t is inconceivable we should dc |
this as partisanS: it is Uncomfortable We |
should do it in ignorance of the facts |
as they are or in blind haste. We shall |
restore. not destroy. We shall deal
with our economic system as it is apd
as it may be modified. not as ii nigh; |
be if we had a clean sheet of pape' |
TO write upon, and step by step w
shall make it what it Slonld lie. in thV |
+. ,lirt of those who question theii
,wn wisdom and seek counsel anc |
e-l,. splf i-fa
zion or the excitement of excursions |
ghither they cannot tell. Justice. ant |
My Justice. shall always be our motto |
Task Not Merely One Of Politics.
And vet it will be no cool process OF |
uere science. The nation has been |
!eeply stirred-stirred by a solemn pas |
sion. stirred by the knowledge of |
wrong. of ideals lost. of government
too often debauched and made an in |
strnment of evil. The feelings with |
which we face this new age of right |
aud opportunity sweep across our
heartstrings like some air out of Gods |
own presence where justice and mercy !
are reconciled and the judge and the /
brother are one. We know our task to |
be no mere task of politics. but a task |
which shall search us through and
through. whether we be able to under |
stand our time and the need Of our |
people. whether we be indeed their |
Spokesman and interpreters. whether |
we have the pure heart to comprehend
and the rectified will to choose our
high course Of action.
This is. not day of triumph; it Is
a day of dedication. Here muster not
the forces of party. but the forces OF
humanity. Mems hearts wait upon rs:
mems lives hang IN the balance; mems |
hopes call upon MS to say what We
will do. Who shall I've up to the gita
trust? Who dares fail to try: ! sum
mon all honest men. all patriotic. IL
forward l,,,lsiEy men IT. my side. TO
',at,.u.r me. | will not fail them If III
viii h-. g. axe" .".l Sustain, me