The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1919-11-06
GREED
(By j. Edward LePla)

follow the ways of evil accomplish
. ments, has laid a heavier burden O
. misery and suffering upon the human
race, and has yielded a greater infu
ence in shaping the course of human
events than any other factor in civil
lized history.
Evil thoughts and licentious desire
is the heritage from the savage. and
like the cankerous sore they eat away
the body polite, as the flood waters
of stream devour the resisting
banks.
To many men, humanity is only a
habit. Against it, and tending ever
to weaken and subvert it, is the DOW
erful inertia of our savage origin.
No man, or set of men, would hoard
up the bountiful offerings of the
workshop and the soil, and hold it for
robber prices, when all around are
heard the yelled threats of revolution.
and the empty handed spectre of want
darkens the world with its ominous
shadow, unless they were savages. No
human beings would usurp to them
selves the privilege of organization
and deny to others the same privilege
unless they were savages. The kid
mapping of U. S. Consul, by Mexican
bandits, and holding him for ransom
IS the work, of angels in comparison.
In their unchallenged presence, in
situations crumble, and civilization
rots away, while the lives of inno-
cents perish with the sicknss of de-
SPAR. With them, greed,-the ego
mania of brute PASSIONS the stand
ard of honor and avarice is the pass
word to greater emolument The con-
dltlons of today are not different from
the conditions Of the past, only a trife
more aggravated.
The passing Of the labor conference
at washington, without finding COM |
mon ground upon which to build
structure of tranquility, has been
Keen disappointment to an anxious pub
Tic. There seems to have been no
manifest desire on the part of capital
as represented in the council-to
yield from it's uncompromising stand
against labor from fear Of losing
possible advantage, and what was an.
parently aimed at, was the triumph Of
self-will, rather than the triumph of
an idea. But the failure of the con.
ference has brighter side than ia
at present apparent. It has brought
the country face to face with the
stern reality that greed and selfish
ness must give way to the sterner
Judgment Of principle. The instinct
Oh self-preservation is strong in the
human breast, but the primordial in.
'tlnct OF race survival is stronger
'tlll' and in moments of great peril to
me Nation, true-hearted men have mot
'een lacking, and men will be found
n the present condition of chaos who
VIII succeed where others failed.
organization and mutual service are
ne fundamentals of progress. Life
or man or Nation, is entirely con.
lltlon or state of thought, and that
depends entirely for i'm.
rovement, upon the extent that prin.
iple and truth is acknowledged in
ur laws.
unrest is the heritage of a divided
eopie' and like a soldier of fortune n
yer seeks field of strife, but It is
OF necessarily a destructive ele.
lent to established order.
AS Civilization has blunderod
trough the years of time, the princi.
le OF the decalogue-"Loye tbv
sighbor as thyself,"- has burned
owly into the lazy conscience Of tho
'ce' and ever drawn it toward tho
sher levels of truth and Justice
nerein the boundless variety of
'rfectly ordered and balanced Ma.
d. life will abound in the ouiet
stful happiness of love,-not of self
1t tne more embracing love of all
When we turn the vehicle
our thoughts from chaos to princi.
e. IN spite of pessimism, the futuro
ems bright with promise.