The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-11-24

Ipa, yesterday afternoon delivered
the following interesting address
before the convention:
have just been thinking what
great thing il is to be an American
citizen at this age of the worlds de-
..velopment. OF course, l have not
the time or occasion to develop that
:, thought at this hour. But / would
just like you to think of the fact
that we are standing upon the shoul-
ders of all the past. Like a child
borne upon the shoulder of its
great strong father, so we are borne
up on the shoulders Of the past. We
are at the acme of the worlds civ
, ilization. OF course as a nation we
lare in the stage of puerility. We are
! like the boy when he first puts on
his long trousers. We are at the
gosling age. In art, in architec-
, ture. in learning, in the refnements
of civilization, we are still going to
school to Europe and shall not be
graduated for some time to come
Still would rather be an Amer
, lean citizen than citizen of any
ether country of the world, and liv-
ing now than at any other time in
history: if for no other reason than
that assigned by the school boy.
His teacher in history asked him
which he would rather be: Column
bus. who discovered America. or
Washington who defended it. He
replied to her surprise: Neither of
them " Why" she asked in amaze
ment Because they are both
dead. was the prompt reply
. Our civilization is a democracy
Demos people. A rule # the
PEOPLE, by the people and for the
people. OF course that is only an
ideal, even with us. But it is a
great thing to have a dream. Ii is
net an irridescent dream that we
have. The trend of civilizatin is
toward democracy, in spite of the
fact that democracy does not make
for efficiency in the short run 1t
does in the long run, but not in the
short run. If you want efficiency
at least promptly. give us an oil
garchy. We have this illustrated in
the commercial world, in the Stand
ard Oil; in the political world in the
Prussian army. in the ecclesiastical
world in the church Of Rome.
! Democracy demands individual
ism, the training of the individual
If the people are to rule, they must
be trained, The greatness OF Amer
lea lies in her confidence in the in
dividual She is teaching the world
patience in dealing with the indi-
vidual The trend of all civilization
is toward democracy 1t is the long
er vision. We are willing to take
time to train the individual for ef-
fciency 1t takes time II is a ted
ious process The trouble is that we
: have to begin all over again. essen
TALLY, with each generation While
it is true that we stand on the shoul-
ders of the past, and we do inherit
a great deal from the past, still each
generation has to learn everything
for itself. Now and then some one
asks me why il is that countries once
{ Christian are now pagan or Moham
medan. They forget that folks die
Convert one generation and the next
we have to do the work all over
Sagain Every boy and girl has to go
to school for himself. Would it not
be fine thing il we could impart
all our knowledge in the lump TO
sothers. OF course it would not be-
but it does from one angle seem as
Sif it would be fine thing The chief
value of learning lies in the train
sing that Genes with the very process
of acquisition. And still there is a
equantum of knowledge that We pass
on to the next generation.
Life is a stream, and it flows on
gathering force and vluome all the
while 1t is more like the wave OF
tthe wheat field The wheat stands
still and waves, the wave passes on.
but the wheat stands rooted to the
ground. a better figure still may be
a factory in which the crude mater
ial goes in at one end and comes
out a finished product at the other
The child is the American in the
making. Everything centers in the
cradle. We exist, especially as
Christians. for those who are com-
ing after us. Why do We build cur
schools? For the children. Why
pave our streets? For the children.