New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1918-04-10
OPPOSING TYPES OF DISCIPLINE
By David Starr Jordan.

By David Starr Jordan.
There is something inspiring in tie per-
4ect discipline of an army, each man DO
ing his part ur quest :oning, the whole
actuated by single will. But the net
zssuEt is good only when the highest
motives control this single will. In the
affairs of life, no one can euer be sure OF
1tis, and if the motive will be evil, the
discipline which seeks mot to reason
why becomes the agent OF the most
abb orrent OF tyrannies.
TFe suEordinat on of the individual
10 the common service : praiseworthy
OF even safe only when 1t is a0illimg and
Intelligent. Wien men with open eyes
sacrifice their personal comfort or adj
vantage to an ideal good,> the final out
aome, whether apparently successful
sr not, is an achievement Of humanity.
Effective service depends on discipline,
but the only discipline which looks
forward is that from within, not that
enforced from without. 1t arises from
individual self-direction, not from
required uniformity.
Discipline of any sort involves orderly
use of ones powers and share IN some
general system of common purpose. All
discipline implies obedience.
In general, we may recognize three
sypes, both of obedience and Of discipline
the paternal, the democratic, the social.
In paternal discipline the individual
anrn are children of the all-powerful,
all-wise, and all-benev olent, state, which
exists over and above them and whose
affairs are beyond their control. AS
matter of fact, the state thus conceived
can have no real exist ence, and it's men,
bers are at the mercy of those fen 1Uko
have IN one woy or another secured the
veins Of pewer. A state theoretically
mpersonal becomes in actual practice in
tmsey personal and correspondingly
selfish Ia rule by "divine right is to
rule through tie imagination. For in
our age ''divine right is a dream or
nightmare without objective reality.
If it exists We know no test to prove it,
while in all ages its claim has been the
cloak of the grossest sins Of pretense,
selfshness and inhumanity.
Under paternal discipline the individ-
sal talds to stay where he is put. Free
dom is to him that degree of cheerfulness
which comes from finding place to eat
aud sleep in an ovecpopulated world.
Under it's regime lie cannot we'll fall be-
low his class, nor can lie rise above it.
He becomes the docile subject Of control.
As an e cape from his industrial position
usually brings discomfort and failure,
ae'loaes TIE noxious spirit of individual
SIN, which makes of every democracy
"land Of contrasts" At the same
time coLtentment with a prearranged
status in life cuts tie nerve of effort,
destroying personal initiative.
Democratic discipline comes from
within. It's possibilities vary with each
mans natural inheritance, and with
the effort he puts forth for himself or
Others. It. shows itself in TIE break
'ngs up 81 caste and the wide divergence
eb individuals from ancestral careers
and from each otEer.
Social discipline" is voluntary de-
cotton to the welfare of others. At its
3est it is an outgrowth of democratic
discipline. 1t is through willing effort
sl,at the great cooperative results of
the race are achieved. In any form of
supposed cooperation the fine spirit of
social service is somehow lost. 1t may
act exist among all men, even in a de-
mocraey- But it canrot reach it's con-
summate flower from any otEer soil.
No state can he truly great except
1hraugh tie greatness OF its human
ants. The final glory of democracy
IS not freedom ror yet opportunity,
which means much the same thing.
Nor does it stop with justice, which is
the combination Of the two. Above
all else is duty, but duty self-impozed
in view Of TIE needs Of fellow-men and
the possibilities of their achievement
The discipline of democracy is effective
in making men. 1t rs the i11itiative Ct
HE individual man 1rhich makes and marks
aist0Fy-