Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-01-05

Any doctrine which teaches that the
best and easiest plan of living is mar
row and difficult and that the wrong
way is pleasant, is mischievious be-
cause it is untrue. The decent way Of
living is the easiest way, and this
should be taught increasingly.
Any doctrine which breaches some
great and unnatural reward is mis-
chievous because it is untrue and has
a tendency to prevent men from saw
ing themselves, which is the only sal
walton. There is no big chief, either
in socialism or religion, to give un-
natural gifts to cheering and trusting
followers.
Any doctrine which teaches that the
poor are oppressed is mischievOus,
since it isn't true. I never pick up
book or newspaper that | do not see
some foolish reference to the poor Dr.
Oscar Levy, who is called the worlds
greatest interpreter of Neitzsche, says
that "the captains of industry who
walk over the cOrpses of their fellow
men, and then found hospitals and Ii
braries, would be considered supermen
by Neitzsche." There are no captains
of industry who walk over the corpses
Of their fellowmen"; anyone who uses
such an expression willfully gives cur
rency to a mean and mischievOus false
hood. Every captain of industry, with
all his faults, does good in spite of
himself, and he often does good with
intention. The great commercial in
situations of every kind occasionally
do wrong, but very much more good;
they are actually responsible for the
Portable living.
There is a high and low caste in
this country, but anyone may get into
the high caste. In our land children
are not born to the purple; the matter
of caste, in the United States, is set
tied after birth. The young fellow
who practices the simple virtues and
is polite and Industrious becomes a
high caste man; the young fellow who
devotes too much time to sport, Gig
arettes and the like becomes a low
caste man, whatever his birth may
have been. Because this is true our
country is known as the land of lib
erty and opportunity.
| don't care who recommended the
sentiment, the most foolish piece of
good advice ever spoken or written is:
Love thy neighbor as myself" No
one ever did it. You are selfish, and
should be; don't be ashamed of it.
There may be stingy stories told on
the selfish man, but he is always use
full and avoids the poorhOuse. Every
really great and useful man is a bund-
lie of selfshness. Being selfish, he
wants a good reputation knowing it
is profitable. The good fellow" of
whom it is said, "He is his own worst
enemy" doesn't appeal to anyone.
There are a million fools in the
world who would be. fairly good citi-
zens if they would apply the simple
rule safety first" Everyone out of
the insane asylum should have that
much sense; and it is enough for all
practical purposes.
The great charity everywhere eX-
pressed for the poor should be divided
and half of it given to fools who trust
their own judgment.
The objection of bad action is the
punishment that follows. 1t is no sin
to drink intoxicating liquor to excess,
or to eat too much; the headache that
follows is the sin of it. A man should
so order his life as to avoid punish
ment And the policeman is the most
insignificant representative Of the law;
human laws are often easily avoided,
but natural laws cannot be avoided
and cannot be fooled. | saw a state
ment the other day, made by a noted
scientist whose name / have forgot
ten, and in all the millions of expert
ments made by men not one has ever
succeeded in changing natural law.
The natural law indicates the other
simple rules of good conduct as clear
ly as it does temperance; the honest,
industrious man is always rewarded
as certainly as the idle thief is pun
iShed.
Most men believe an outrage has
been committed when an opinion is
expressed that does not agree with
what they have been thinking.
This is not the right attitude. If
you have believed that the sum of two
and two is three, you should feel Obli-
gated to a man who knows and can
prove that the correct answer is four.
A mans thinking should be as &C
curate as his knowledge of arithmetic
or geography. The average man does
not know much about arithmetic or
geography, but he may know a little
of these subjects and still be able to
get along, providing his little knowl-
edge of these subjects is accurate.
So he may get along after fashion
with little philosophy, if it is accu-
rate so far as it goes. Correct think
ing is as important as correct figur-
ing; the man who thinks more clear
ly than you do has an advantage. And
school books, and the books of every
kind that abound, will teach a man
correct things as we'll as correct arith-
metic, providing he goes at both tasks
with an equally open mind. 1t is a