The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-07-27
'SAFE PEOPLE MAKE
A SAFE DEMOCRACY
A Mere Democratic Form Does Not
Insure Freedom and Right
Government.
MUST HAVE GOOD CITIZENS.
Selfish, Dishonest. and Immoral In
dividual Lives VIII Ruin ANY Ma
tion-Take Another View of Fight
for Democracy.

]
or more consistent record of disap-
pointment than the notion that peace
and happiness are 10 be found in
form of government. From Ham
murabi. in the valley of the Eu-
pirates, 2,500 years before Christ. to
the present congress the ingenuity or
man has been exercised to discover
some formal way by which his conduct
in regard to his fellowman could be
regulated to common satisfaction. De-
mocracy, pure. selected. delegated,
autocracy, theocracy. all have been
tried and retired with new hopes ever
leading TO new failures. For man has
always striven 70 blame his own short
comings on his form OF government.
neglecting the simple truth that only
in himself lies the secret. Democracy
as a form Of government is no cure
Ian for social ills, though democracy as
a rule of individual conduct would go
far toward removing those veXauons
of existence which so far have dened
t the skill of the wisest lawgivers.
Democracy has it's own record OF
wrong. despite the fact that 1t is not
now fashionable 10 mention IT. Only
a few days ago President Wilson deft-
: ly apologized to some Mexican editors
for the war OF 1916. though without
Iany offer to restore Texas, California
and the rest of the territory we self
determined into our Union There have
/ been other democracies than ours
Athens. Carthage, Rome, and Venice,
10 mention a few that had their DAY
and their deeds, but all to no perman-
I ent establishment of perpetual amity
/ The rule of the many is no better than
+ the rule of the few unless the many
are themselves better. 1t is not enough
that they shall say that they are bet
ter and say il until the crack OF doom.
We can set up democracies over every
square yard of the globe and be no
/ better off than we are today.
! The word democracy, s We now use
it, does not mean a form OF govern
ment 1t means a spiritual quality in
F., man. that has had many names in the
past. 1t means the repeal of the law
of human nature, which is self-inter-
est, and the enactment of the law of
society. which is designated as self
sacrifice. This is not political doc
| trine, but a spiritual ideal according
to Christ, Confucius. Moses, Sakya-
, Mount, Socrates. St. Francis, and every
Sunday. There Is not a new idea in
our current concept of democracy. not
one that is not as old as man him
self. and President wilson's messages
are simply restatements of the old
t truths applied to international poif-
tics. He is not an international poll
tiCian, but an international evangelist
whose preachments have caught the
emotions of the time, as has been so
lee Ms y hAa.
/ greatly stirred by misery.
If our concept OF democracy is self
sacrifice, a willingness al least to give
what we are willing TO take, We may
then proudly fight for the establish
ment of an opportunity to bring our
democracy into worldwide practice
Only there Is one fundamental con-
dition of sincerity which we must
make manifest. and that is that we do
as individuals what we propose TO do
as a nation. The nation can be no
better than the individuals who con-
stitute it. and charity as has long
been said. begins at home. I he war
| time phrase. making the world safe
for democracy" has within il a noble
| thought but no less worthy is the
turn of words. making democracy
safe for the world" So far democracy
has only been safer for the world in
that II was less potent for harm than
was autocracy; it was less efficient be-
cause 1t was less compact: ii was less
selfish, but slower to see self-interest
Democracy is only the individual
multiplied many times. The political
status of the negro In the South might
be mentioned as testimony TO the eff
hciency of democracy, once it recog-
nizes its interest. and as an illustra-
ton OF its capacity for protecting its
interests which compares not unfavor-
ably with the best that autocracy can
! do.
Much more than defeating the Ger
mans will have TO be done before de-
mocracy is made safe for the world
Our tasks will not need to be performed
in foreign lands, but at home, not In
the capital of the nation. not in Olym-
pia, but in ourselves. And as we look
out and gaze on the profiteers in every
walk of life, from the packing house
multi millionaire, who fattens off the
food of the people. to the worker who
! labors for double time Saturday after
noon and Sunday and lays off Mon
/ day; when we see the food hoarder,
the Stacker the slicker: when We see
every man justifying his profits and
denouncing those of his fellow man:
when we note class struggling against
| class, even at a time when destiny is
poised on hair balance. we can get
some idea of what we have to do be-
sides defeating the Germans. We
| have to establish a democracy here at
home according to the concept of the
democracy with which we propose to
endow the earth, and we will have to
do 1t without any of the short-lived
stimulus that accompanies war.
III this seems to be an impossible
task, one that was undertaken on the
Mount some two thousand years ago
and is yet so far from completed, we
can take another view of the fight for
democracy. We can see our efforts
turned to the prevention Of the mill
tary, political and economic growth
or Germany which would give that ma
ton eventual domination over the
earth, including ourselves. We can
look upon this war as one of self
preservation pure and simple. But
that is selfish war in which several
democracies have joined for the pro-
tection of their own interests. politi-
cal ana economic. In this case the
safety OF democracy depends on how
thoroughly we win the war. how
powerless we leave Germany to re-
sumo II either by force OF arms or
economic force. There is nothing al
iruistic in this view; 1t is purely self
interest and 1t guarantees nothing
t. y