Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-08-17
Public Spirit

life OF the community; for in O sense
there is a community soul, as there is
an individual soul.
A mans physical body is made up
OF countless cells, each cell q life In it.
self, which goes through the stages of
nutrition, growth, maturity and repro
ductIon-by subdivision-and all quite
Independently of its companion-cells.
Now, altho each is complete and sep
arate, as it were, 1t Is the collective life
of the cells as a whole that is the ami
NAL life of the human body; the body
is the habitat of the cell. Its protector
to whom it owes allegiance and cooper
alton In their mutual concerns. Many
cells may die or be severed from the
body, as when there is the loss of a limb,
and still the animal life goes on unim-
paired, although the usefulness of the
body may be seriously impaired; and
a diseased spot mars its beauty as
well as its usefulness.
In a community each person bears
the same relation to the whole as does
the single cell to the physical body;
each owes allegiance to the whole, and
each affects the whole by his physical
and moral fitness and wholesomeness.
Each one nourishes and protects him.
self and his immediate family, and car
ries on his own business; but although
he may seem to be living for himself
alone, his real Importance lies in his
relation to the community and his
usefulness in furthering Its life, Its
aims, the general good.
The real Importance of a town in its
turn, lies in its allegiance and useful
ness to the nation, in its capacity for
representing the national spirit. There
are of course a few representative men
in a town, as there are a few who best
and most fifty represent the nation; but
the status OF a town, oil a community,
its grade of usefulness, order, culture,
educational interests, commerce, those
things which in toto determine it's
Importance, depends upon the public
spirit of its citizens; and public.spirit
is most active, fine and noble where
the individual is most willing to sac
rifice his own small interests to that
interests which represents the COM
munal welfare; and where the town Of
ticials In their turn, entertain an active
consideration for the rights and the well
fare of the individual, both as a person,
and as a home-builder, as we'll as a
town-builder.
Marcus-Aurelius, the great Emperor
philosopher defined public-spirit in me
short sentence, when he said: "What
advantages not the hive, advantages
not the bee."
One of the highest ideals ever present
ed to any people is the idea of brother
hood; it is In reality the ideal underly-
ing the present world conflict; but
that ideal can never be attained by any
people until the personal desires of the
individual are made subordinate to the
good of the community; it will never
be attained where each mans hand is
against his brother, and where private
aims are paramount, and are enforced
by either might, stealth, cunning or
trickery.
Only a low-grade person clamors for
the rights he thinks are due him, while
he forgets the rights he owes to others.
The undeveloped man has rights; but
the developed man has duties; duties
W hich spring from his sense of respon-
sibility, and his ability to carry the bur-
dens of others.
We shall find that country transform
ed into an Elysium, where rights give
place to duties, and duties are perform
ed as labors of love: "for love is the full
filling of the law"
Fit be objected that the state of things
here indicated is Impractical and i'm
possible, that the man or oma who
should today attempt to put these quail
tiles into practise would be as a lamb in
q den of wolves, and that we must be
content to see the evil-minded snatch
the bread from others mouths and
make themselves generally obnoxious,
and the rich and powerful override and
Cypress the poor, and that there is but
little help for it, we must answer that
while at present it is obviously impos-
sible for everyone to live up to his high
ideal, yet, that ideal must be declared
and presented to them, for until 1t Is
accepted and adopted mankind will
not reach the state of happiness and Sc
curity which upon this earth awaits it.
1t is necessary to present the ideal in
order that men may compare their pres
ent thoughts and actions with it, and
see wherein they fail, and learn grad
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