Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-03-07
Sunday. MARCH Z, 1920
OUR CHANGING STANDARDS.

VI III NIl4hAN
In the vast confusion, begotten
of the social unrest and industrial
uncertainties occasioned by the
world war upheaval, there has
come to pass a personal and mental
disorder that is observable in the
lax regard we have for the old
standards of thought and action.
Those old laws that once were re-
spected as the very foundations of
our civilization have been shaken
out of place. 1t may be safely as
sumed that the American people
We're never so universally stirred
and confused by the multiplication
of theories, doctrines and half
baked ideas on every subject under
the sun, rs has been the case dur
ing the sixteen months of which
we have passed since the close OF
the war. ...,...
It is as If some mighty hand had
taken the nation by the scruff of
the neck and shaken from it mucn
of the old conservatism which was
once our pride and upon which
rested so much of our confidence
in the future permanence of the
country. The land is full of proph-
cts OF both good and evil Theories
as to every human activity are pro-
mulgated on every side with a
wilehess and abandon that are
Ttartling. The constitution, which
has been the bulwark Of our civil
and political faith through all these
years, is undergoing an expansion
which presages vast possibilities
for the future.
II is as II the United States, after
years of following a beaten path.
had suddenly determined in both
its private and public thought. to
seek new paths and start all over
again. These conditions are easily
seen in the changed standards of
living. The political changes by
which the constitution has been
added to in the recent prohibition
amendment and the possible furth-
er amendment to include woman
suffrage, are larger manifestations
Of the shifting of thought that is
abroad in the land.
These are subjects about which
exists a diversity Of opinion, but
they may be regarded as actual
capitalization of the purpose of
the American people to move out
Of the past into a new and untried
future and the ultimate wisdom
or unwisdom of their adoption is
vet to be determined. The intent
behind both prohibition and wom-
an suffrage is unassailable, and the
results are already establishing
their great value.
It is when we come to individual
thought and conduct, as suggested
by the disregard of old standards
and the reckless establishment of
new unbakedr rules, born of the
moment, that one is conscious of a
sense of danger and of loss.
In the religious world the old
doctrines are losing their vital
force. The church is in the throes
of a readjustment, and whether It
will abide by the old standards or
also seek new and broader paths
is still a question. Our fathers
preached and lived a stern gospel.
He'll and sin were real entities in
the lives of the saved and unsaved.
Faith was the sheet anchor of hope
and the militant marched forward
apart from the multitudes on the
broad road
changes The church is softening
toward the sinner and comes closer
TO the paths of sin in a confessed
effort to understand and perhaps
win the wayward. Here, too, one
must wait for results, but it is a
disturbing factor in the fight to re-
tain the old, standards.
Personal standards as to charac-
ter and living have been largely
thrown aside. Perhaps a majority
of people in this day erect their
own standards, believing that these
things are subject to change and
belong in the sphere of personal
choice Honesty, say these people.
is merely matter of whether you
are intelligent enough to evade the
obsolete laws of punishment in
tended to prevent dishonesty. vir-
tue is no longer modest in its pub
lie manifestations. but may go
forth painted anS bedecked with
the dizzy habiliments OF vice.
speech has lost largely its pure
and gracious spirit of purity, and
in the highest courts of society is
heard mixed with the language OF
the streets and the cutters.
These things all arise from the
loss of the old standards that
brought us to the high place that
the nation now occupies. They
were good guides through all the
years of making-will their loss
unmake us?