The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-06-26
THE Debt EACH
Citizen OWES
HIS HONE TOWN

in a splendid address at the
Board of Trade dinner in Tampa
! last night, Lorenzo ID. Case, an ex-
pert in community building, stressed
the Importance and necessity Of CO.
operating for lettering the commun-
I ity and told of the debt which each
citizen owes his home town. It
would be fine thing for Lakeland
If every one of her citizens could
! have heard this magnificent address,
and especially that part of it devoted
to Undesirable Citizens which
was as follows:
There are two classes of citizens
in every city-desirable and unde-
sirable, and it is the man who re-
pudiates all of his obligations to the
community, who uses its advantages
and opportunities merely to serve
self, who comes perilously near be-
ing the most undesirable of undesir-
ables.
There are several kinds of peo-
pie who belong to the class COM
monty known as undesirable citi-
zens. No town is so fortunate as to
be without any one of them, Man
Weaknesses are exhibited in every
land under the sun. Nothing is sc
evenly distributed over the earth as
mans shortcomings.
Those ordinarily thought of as
undesirables deserve, as a rule, more
of pity than censure. They are the
unfortunates who have gone down
in the struggles, because the trials
and temptations of life proved TOT
great for their strength and powers
of resistance. How much society
you and /, are to blame, God alone
knows. But we do know that NJ
small part of the worlds misery and
: degradation, it's poverty and crime II
: due to our neglect of the ancient Law
that each man is his brother
keeper.
but there is a class of undesir
ables for whom we can have blu
little pity, except that which ever,
kindly soul feels when he know
: another is being satisfied wit
. something, far short of his best
= This class. existed in Jesus time an
more than once felt the sting of Hi
ened His mouth without directly O
indirectly accusing and condemnin
= them, and His radiantly unselfis
life, which illustrated and confirme
His gospel, was blazing rebuke
their self-absorption, and compla'
ent disregard of the claims Of h,
manity before them. Selfishness is
Ie blighting, blasting, whitening cul
3, to the individual and society, ar
g. because He realized the hurt of
e to His people, and how 1t postpone
re the realization of His fonde
l. dreams, He tried to prick and pre-
lie the guilty ones into newness of lif
IN into self-forgetting, self-sacrificir
lie service.
Of "Who, though, is more selfis
a than the man who uses the oppo
e, tunities the community affords hi
o. to serve only himself and his owl
8, Who is a greater enemy than
ty who takes that which, but for Il
he community, would be rarer tht
Id gold and precious stones, a chan
er to live and work and accumula
Id and enjoy numberless blessings, al
IN refuses to make any adequate retul
e. to society?
n "a city that is not worth 'boos
IS. ing to use very expressive wor
he is not worth living in. If ones eli
r is worth boosting, and he is not
Is ing what he can, it will be bett
IN off without him. /
On "Tampa's greatest, most cryil
tn need is men, large-visioned, SCI
49, forgetting men, who through ass
lr ciated effort, will give and spel
In themselves to make her as wonde
A full as the city of their dreams.
a such manhood lies the certain al
Il only pledge of future prosperity al
~ stability.
OF "Why can't all of Tampa's eli
ke zens give her the full measure of 3
at votion? Why is it that the exal
60 pies of the noblest spirits in h
a midst has 50 little influence? VIII
can be the reason, unless 1t be tn
On unenlightened, stygian-darkne
Oy selfishness that causes man to thi
r they are best safeguarding thu
ne own interests when they are ct
" nally looking out for number one
lis