Martinsburg W Va evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1913-1920, 1920-02-12


been reached by the free vote of "A majority.
Still less did he believe i'll violent opposi.
ton TO the will of the majority. Speakig to
society of young men i'll i Western city he
said
"Therei is no grievance that is a fit OBJ
jeet of redress by mob Law
He had learned from the rude pioneering
experiences of his youth the evils and dan
gers of lawlessness When but twenty eight
years old he said, with the conviction of
one who knew well whereof he spoke:
Let reverence for the law he breathed
by every American mother to the lsplng
babe that prattles ON her lap; let 1t be
taught in the schools, in Summaries in
colleges: let it be written In primers,
spelling books, and almanaes; let 1t be
preached from the pulpit, proclaimed In
legislative halls and enforced in courts
of Justice. And in short let 1t become the
political religion of the nation.
One of the great principles of conduct which
Lincoln required OF himself and of others was
that of strict honesty. While yet an unknown
lawyer he earned for himself the title OF
Honest Abe" which clung to him through life.
Another principle of conduct taught and
practised by Lincoln was that work is a good
and not an evil and that by the exercise OF
their faculties in daily work men attain to
the best of which they are capable.
With the opportunities afforded by our free
Institutions, and by the practice of integ-
rity. toll, and sefculture, Lincoln believed
that men could and should make continual
progress. With this in mind. he said;
Nov there is no such relation between
capital and labor as is assumed nor is
there any such thing a free man being
fixed for life in the condition of hired
laborer the prudent, penniless be-
Finner in the world labors for wages
awhile saves a surplus with which to
buy tools or land for himself, then labors
on his own account another while, and
At length hires another new beginner to
help him. This is the Just and generous
and prosperous system which opens the
way to all, gives hope to all and consc-
quent energy aud progress and improve
mont of condition to all
Lincoln firmly believed in the righteous.
ness of private property rightfully acquired,
and in the security OF such possession as an
encouragement to thrift aud enterprise. Thus
in reply to a letter from the Workmen's AS
sociation of New York he said:
property is the fruit of labor; property
is desirable; is positive good in the
world. That some should be rich shows
that others may become rich and hence is
Just announcement to industry and enter
prise. Let not him who Is hOuselcss phil
down the house Of another, but let him
work diligently and build one for himself,
thus by example assuring that his own
shall be safe from violence when built"
For us today the life and teachings Of Alb
raham Lincoln are full of the highest tnsp
ration. IN carrying out the great work that
we nave before us, IlldL inc WOTIu may iftuN
or from the devastating conflict through which
II has Just passed, we cannot do better than
constantly to remember these noble words
from his second inaugural address that have
become a classic wherever the English tongue
is known
"With malice toward none; with charity
for all with firmness in the right, as God
gives us to see the right let us strive on
TO finish the work we are in; to bind up
the nations wounds-to care for him who
1. tJ,a hot md
widow and his orphan; to do all which
may achieve and cherish just and last
ing peace among ourselves and with all
nations.
How strangely silent TO many of our
deepest and most abiding sentiments would
the political history Of America appear to us
today If it were deprived of the sayings OF
Lincoln. In him feel that our country has
spoken the mnost truth of its political ideas
And 50 he viii always appear to us as tho
embodiment Of those IDEAS When we see his
face depicted, we think reyerently Of the long
struggle by which our freedom main
taiued, when we read his words we are
called 10 those principles on which our free
dou is based when we gather 10 do him
honor. we rededcate ourselves to the pre-
scryaton ana perfection Of that freedom bas
ed on law whose worth and stability it Was
the privilege and the glory OF Abraham Lin
coin 70 have made manifest to all the world