Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-03

The country IL an unconscious uhbon'
The next century will see IL growing
| conscious.
| TTHE work of the next generation of
i Americans will be to give meaning to
| the word United" In the name OF their
country. The "singularly complete work
that was performed by the processes of
blood and iron at the time of the civil
war" to which President Wilson re-
ferred in his Arlington address on Mem.
orial Day. will have to be performed
again by the processes Of thought and
feeling Our unity, except i'm moments
of peril. is unconscious and unconfrmed.
The sun rises and Congress governs, and
we realize the Importance of neither until
a storm threatens.
The President was speaking of the un-
fortunate citizens who have grown for
getful of their allegiance to this country
when he spoke of the new union, when
men shall not think of what divides
them, but shall recall what unites them.'
But the "hyphenate" is not the only sub
traction mark in the United States. Three
years ago his voice was not heard in the
land, but the deep division was there. 1t
was bridged, physically, by railroads and
by political systems. The war has blown
up the bridges. The Spanish-American
war was the sign and symbol Of re.
united nation. Will another war be nee
essary before the country heals the new
wounds? ....
Possibly not, because the wounds,
though real, are not physical, and 1t is
even, possible that the emotion of the
present campaign, a battle of thought
and feeling in itself, will be the healing
agent. The reason why we are not united
is that we have not thought The CAM
paign should make us think.
The signs of disunion are easily read |
1t is perhaps not to be wondered at that |
New York does not fear Japanese In
vasion, military or economic, as much as
California fears 1t. Conversely, the agi- |
tation for preparedness which looks |
toward Europe is hardly so enthusiastic |
in Oregon as 1t is in New York. Texas |
seems Indifferent to both and is deeply |
concerned with the troubles in Mexico. |
Even the protectionists of Pennsylvania |
have different grounds for their belief |
than the protectionists of Louisiana, Self |
interest is not a new discovery as guide |
for mems thinking, to be sure. The fatal |
error which persists in America is the
belief that the section, not the State, Is
the safeguard of that interest. The coun-
try, suddenly called upon to think inter-
nationally, finds that it has not gone be-
yond the provincial stage, and cannot
think nationally without strain on the
imagination.
There has always been something cow
ardly In our phrase. United we stand,
divided we fall" 1t is threat. 1t puts
our unity on the plane of mere safety,
not as something in itself desirable. Peo-
pie talk endlessly about a great industrial
district, or a great commercial district,
or a great agricultural district as If, in
the present complex state of the world,
any one would be important without both
the others. The Middle West, except for
its wisest and far-seelng men, thinks of
itself as a sort of Switzerland without :
frontiers, without seaports. But Iowa
has its seaport as surely as New York.
The tremendous difficulties of England
rise from the unhappy indifference of the
English to their frontier. They fancy it
on the North Sea. It Is actually some
where in France. Before the crisis comes.
in which the energies of the whole nation
must be freely devoted. the country must
learn that its frontier moves, that 1t is
mapped afresh with each movement of
American industry or commerce. that II
takes its place wherever the interests of
America are involved
The black lines on the map set off |
State from State. In most textbooks the
country is divided up for closer study |
into groups of States. But the black lines
should be the mortar between bricks, |
keeping them together. And the grouping |
should be maintained for study. Because
when we study profoundly we shall at
last be able TO see that the parts are not
equal to the whole