Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-07-13
PATRIOTISM AND o

The address Of President Wilson to the coal opera
tors and manufacturers. in which an earnest appeal was
made that all selfish considerations be put aside in the
face of the countrys need. was full of sound doctrine,
and that doctrine, like most that is sound, applies, not
along to the persons directly addressed, hut to every man
and woman in the country.
There is, as the president so clearly stated, no con-
nection between patriotism and profit. The two things
must be considered separately. A man does not think
Of profit in providing for the maintenance Of his family.
1t may be that the children whom he is rearing will re-
turn many fold all that he does for them, and will for
many years contribute to his comfort It may be that
every dollar twisted in taking care Of them is p%rofitably
invested. But he does not act from that motive, nor does
he consider it as a basis for action. He makes provision
for his family because it is his duty to do SO. because
loves to DO 1t, because he would be a miserable cur If he
did not do IT, whether he ever received dividends on his
investment or not.
Patriotism stands on exactly the same basis. The
country needs the services of its people, and because of
that need, and because Of their loyalty, those services
will be cheerfuly given, regardless of all financial con-
siderations.
The president used as an object lesson the course
pursued by the shipping interests in charging such high
freight rates that the work Of this country and its allies
in the war Is irnpeded. He condemned the spirit which
makes profit a condition of performing necessary ser
vice. His words applied to the men whom he was i'm
medlately addressing. But they apply equally to all the
rest Of us. Let us make no mistake about that.
Many a man who has sat in his church pew and lis
tened with SNUG complacency to a stirring denunciaion
of evil from the public would have been shocked had he
that the preachers words applied to him. He
has applied them to his %neighbors, and has thanked God
that he is not a sinner as these others. It may be we'll
If all Of us will search our own soul to learn if our own
patriotism is of the sort that will stand the test.
y The president by no means intimates that in the
Of the business necessary for the maintenance
Of the country at it's proper strength there shall be no
profit Instead, he asserts the direct opposite of this.
There are certain principles which govern the business
relations of man which are not overthrown even by war.
1t is not a question of men being entitled to this or that.
There are certain things which must be provided If work
work. The farmer must provide himself with the i'm
PIGMENTS of his calling or he cannot produce crops. The
miner must be able to pay his labor and the manufac-
turer must be able to do this and to buy his materials.
All of these needs must be met out of the price derived
from the product. In other words, the conditions must
be such that business-no matter what sort of business,
so long as 1t is lawful and necessary-must be self-sus-
The. president makes it clear that he expects the pro-
duceras no matter what his product, to receive both from
the government and from the general public such profits
as will make 1t possible for him to continue to produce.
He makes it equally clear that willingness to serve can
not, among patriotic men, be even remotely related to
profit.