The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1915-07-01
COURAGE AND COMMON SENSE.

There are some people who are them
selves so encrusted in selhshness and de-
sire for personal advancement; who look
upon politics as game played by astute
political gamblers with the offices and the
emoluments thereof as the stakes, that it
seems impossible for them to recognize in
others spirit of patriotism.
Such men cannot conceive how any man
can put the welfare of his country above
sordid personal gain; they cannot under
stand how strong, ambitious men can rise
to heights of self-forgetfulness, and seek
only the welfare of the toiIing masses.
The soldier who goes forth to battle and
lays his life on the altar Of his country is
to the self-styled practical man" a foolish
dreamer. The "practical' man figures on
the profit to be made out of war ships and
army supplies and calculates to turn an
"honest penny" out of the impracticable
man who dreams and sees visions.
And yet, if our nation was made up of
the so-called "practica'' men this country
would not hold the place she does to-day
among the nations of the world.
The strength of nation is not in her
armies or her navies; it is not in her COM
merce or her business. All these are de-
merits that the nation must estimate at their
true value and protect and foster. The
strength Of a nation is in the love of her
people-its safety, its growth and its pros
perity depend upon the dreamers-those
who forget self and look with the eyes Of
faith to a country they love with holy
passion.
And 'peace hath her victories no less
than war" Peace calls for self-sacrifice
and self-forgetfulness just as strongly as
does the bugles' blast. Peace calls the
unselfish and the patriotic to fight her bat
ties in the counsels of State, in the halls of
legislation and in the humber walks of life.
1t often requires more courage to respond
to the call of ones country and stand for
quiet development so that every man may
have his chance to stand against the as
saults Of the assembled armies of greed
and graft than it does to shoulder the mus
ket and march to the rafting drum and
sound of fife.
The control of this government for many
years has been in the hands of those who
sought to fasten on the people heavy bur-
dens so that those who controlled the gov
eminent could grow rich by exploiting the
people. The conditions brought about by
such control have permeated every avenue
Of life. There has been built up an aris-
tocracy of wealth that looks down on those
who toll and those who suffer. This spirit
OF arrogance and insolence has spread its
sinuous coils around every sort and kline
of people until many of those in places o.
trusts and power become its slaves anc
its devotees. Precedents founded on heart.
lessness and aping after royalty hold in it!
crushing grip thousands who hate the gall
ing yoke. Many have sacrificed honor
home and life to enable them to keep u,
appearances.
The example Of simplicity and sanity Sc
by President Wilson and Vice Presiden
Marshall along these lines has done no lit
tie good 1t has taught people that unde
this administration the question is not wha
= man has, but what the man is, and wha
he stands for.
1t has taught the country that the grea
questions of adjusting the affairs of thi
nation to the needs of the people-th
humbest as we'll as the richest-is the thin,
for which this administration was brough
into existence, and that it will be wrough
out with infinite patience and unselfis
labor
1t has begun to teach society that san
and healthful enjoyment of the social sid
of life is that which should be the standar
of society in a Republic such as ours, an
that the gaudy tinsel of display and of ex
travagance and vulgar show of wealth
no measure by which to judge social life.
These things go to the foundation of
people, and it takes courage to overtur
precedents and set up new Standards.
Judge William White Wilmington die
suddenly Friday morning, near Alexandra