The Alaska citizen., 1916-12-25

me steamship with himself. he IId 10 him. John. you know I'm a tetty tough customer, and I'm lightly afraid I'll pull you down" |" No," replied John. I'll pull you up" The man of the world and the lreacher were chums all the way yer the great deep and back again. nd when they got back to the little own in Illinois Bob felt that he had adeed been pulled up" by the .i- ent nobility of his shipmate's soul
 Thus we may learn that there are this great big old world of ours wo sets of forces-the evil forces, 4e tendency of which is to pull Town; and the good forces, the ten .ency of which is to pull up
 On the one side we have the hurChe-, the ethical societies, the 'chools and colleges, art museums. le higher drama, music, the home, he social settlements, all of which gencies are struggling to lift men ?, to put more light and joy Tn .lman lives in word, to increas, ne sum total of the nobler happ ess on earth.
 The. institutions are, of course Il human, and are necessarily sul ect to the imperfections that cha .cterize human nature itself bu ley in spirit represent the bes nat there is in human nature, and spite of their imperfections, the. .e all working along the right Wa!
 the upward way.
 Arrayed against these wholesome gencieS are the forces of greed 3rute appetite and pa sion; tho ,ambling hells; the lower forms O. le drama, if drama it may be call q; the uncomfortable dens of in amy that are to be found in al
 eat cities, and to too great al ltent in many of the larger towns .'e must not forget to add the spiri f graft" as it is known to be ope ting in politics, in the government many cities and towns and ever rural communities; yes, and, la. too often been proven, within tn acred precincts of justice itself.
 From the earliest morning of ro orded history these opposing force. ave been in evidence, the one aim ng to make the world cleaner an Iappier, the other not caring what appencd, provided it could accom- fish it's nefarious purposes.
 As the ages pa. S these forces take n new forms and new names, bu2 throurh all the transformations they emain substantially the same-the )ne animated by<Jove, the other b! greed and passion; the one laborins tor the realization of tn, type Of human suiicty in which there shall be found a common glory and a common joy-the glory of a noble living, the joy of healthy Ielf-re- 5pect; the other animated by the spirit of selfishness, being quite will ng to swamp humanity's fairest hope nd grandest potentialities if out 0. he wreck they can realize their ba { successes"
 md far-reaching in it's results. Ey cry one of us should ask himself the question, Which side am l on? Al on the side of the force whicl would diminish the sum of the world 5ladness and detract from it's bes manhood, or am l on the side 0 the forces which tend to flood tn 9arth with joy and give to us tn, ,terling character which lies at thu oundation of all true and lastin, ;iVilization?"
 It is in no sense a question creed and ritual it is purely an, imply a question of love or selfish less; manlinesS or unmanlinesS; tht ,indly human interest which woulC lelp us to live for the brotherhood )r the stupid brute indifferenc, which finds it's highest satisfaction Il the gratifica ton of it's own greed ness.
 The cause of the optimist looks brighter today than it ever did, not withstanding certain big "curren, events" No leyel-headed man is fooled by the things that are hap pening among men today-not a bit He sees everywhere about himsel. the unmistakable signs of neN sense of human obligation, new sense of social and civic responsi- bility which is sure to find it's fruit age in a rejuvenated humanity all