Baxter Springs news., 1919-05-30
Every Citizen Owes Moral and
Legal Obligation to His I
Government.
SANE IN COMMUNITY LIFE
People Have Duty 70 Their Homo
Town Which 10 No Less Bind
Ing Because Il 10 Not
Fixed by Law.

LOyully 10 tuc AOuuuullOu upOu
which the whole structure Of civillza.
tiOn rests. Loyalty to ones country,
loyalty to ones state. loyalty to ones
city, loyalty to ones business asso-
ciates, loyalty to ones friendsl 10y
atty Is essential to the ordinary prog
ress of the world. Without It the world
must be chaos.
There would be no stable govern
ment In the world were 1t not for the
loyalty Of the people to their gov
ernment. There would be no success
full business enterprise on the face Of
the globe were It not for the loyalty
Of the men and women who are con-
nected with It. No church could ex-
ist for a month were 1t not for the
loyalty Of its members. The sacred
ness of the home would be a myth
were It not for the loyalty of the
members Of the family group.
The loyalty Of q people to its gov
ernment is based partly upon senti-
ment and partly upon the recognition
Of an obligation that O people owes
to its government. A people that has
the benefit Of good government owes q
duty to that government. Those who
do not recognize this duty and per
form It voluntarily are compelled BY
law to do so. The man or woman who
Is protected by the government In the
pursuit Of life and happiness, must con-
tribute in money and service toward
the support Of the government. The
man or woman who, under the protec-
tion Of his government which pre-
serves law and order, is able to ac-
cumulate property, must pay taxes ON
that property to help maintain the gov
ernment which has protected him or
her. In time Of war the government
has the right to call upon Its citizens
to take up arms in its defense.
Loyalty Moral Obligation.
In governmental affairs these things
are regulated by law, and the man
who receives the benefit Of orderly
government is required to fulfill the OBJ
ligation which that entails, but In the
ordinary affairs Of life, loyalty is q
moral rather than q legal obligation.
There are laws which prevent q man
from stealing from his employer or
his business associates, but there Is
no law that requires him to be loyal
to them. The success Of q business
institution, however, depends more
upon the loyalty Of Its employees than
upon the laws which prevent them
from stealing Its money. Likewise the
stability Of a government depends
more upon the loyalty Of Its people
than upon the laws which compel them
to fulfill their obligation to the gov
ernment.
It is equally true that the prosperity
and growth of every individual COM
munity is dependent upon the loyalty
Of the people who live in 1T. Every
citizen owes an obligation to his COM
and the obligation is O moral
as well as q legal one. The good citi-
zen pays his taxes cheerfully and
willingly. He serves upon the juries
which administer the laws Of the COM
munity. He fulflls every legal Obli-
CATION that is imposed upon him by
his government, but there is a moral
obligation which Is Of still greater Inn
portarce to the community. This
moral obligation consists in doing
that Is in his power to
promote the prosperity and happiness
Of his community. The man who Is
enabled to make his living In any COM
munity Is under moral obligation to
spend his money In such o way as to
help his community.
Prosperity Worth Protecting.
Anything worth having Is worth pro-
tecting, and II the prosperity Of q
is worth anything to the
people living In 1t 1t is worth protect
Ing. II the chance for a man to earn
q good living, to live well, to give his
children q good education, is worth
It is worth protecting.
There Is Just one way to protect
the prosperity Of a community, and
that Is to keep the community from
being drained Of its cash-working
capital. The only way to do that Is
for the people Of the community to
keep their money at home. Every
time the citizen Of a-community sends
money away from home to q mall or
der house instead Of spending It In
his home stores he Is disloyal to his
II Is dIsloyalty to themer-
chants only indirectly. II Is disloyalty
to the community Of which the mer-
chants are only q small but q very
important part.
This Is the moral obligation that
eyery citizen owes to his community
lust as the payment Of taxes and the
loyal support Of his government are
his legal obligations. Dlsloyalty Of
4 large body Of the citizens spells dis
aster to. any government and disloy-
llty Of any large part. Of the people
10 their community II followed ineV-
Itably By the downfall Of the commu-
nity. Self.lnterest, Il nothing else.