The Winslow mail., 1920-03-12
Our Changing Standards.


the social unrest and industrial uncer-
tainties occasioned by the world war
upheaval, there has come t. pass a
personal and mental disorder that is
for the old standards of thought and
action. Those old laws that once were
respected as the very foundations of
our civilization have been shaken out
CT place 1t may be safely assumed
that the American people were never
so universally stirred and confused 10y
the multiplication of theories, doc
trines and half baked ideas on every
subject under the sun, as has been the
case during the sixteen months Of
which we have passed since the close
of the war.
1t is as II some mighty hand had
taken the nation by the scruff of the
neck and shaken from it much of the
old conservatism which was once our
pride and upon which rested so much
of our confidence in the future perma-
nence of the country. The land is full
of prophets of both good and evil
Theories as to every human activity
are promulgated on every side with a
wildness and abandon that are start
ling. 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 fu-
ture.
1t is as If the United States, after
years Of following beaten path, had
suddenly determined. in both it's pri-
vate 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 con-
stitution has been added to in the re-
cent prohibition amendment and the
possible further amendment to include
women suffrage. are larger manifesto
tions Of the shifting of thought that is
abroad in the land.
These are subjects about which ex-
lists diversity Of opinion, but they
may be regarded as actual crystaliza-
ton of the purpose of the American
|peOple to move out of the past into
a new and untried future, and the ul
innate wisdom or unwisdom of their
adoption is yet to be determined. The
intent behind both prohibition and wo-
man suffrage is unassailable. and the
results are already establishing their
great value.
1t is when we come to individual
thought and conduct. as suggested by
the disregard of old standards and the
reckless establishment of the new un-
baked rules, born of the moment, that
one is conscious of sense of danger
and of loss.
In the religious world the old doc
trines are losing their vital force. The
church is in the throes of a readjust
ment, and whether it will abide by the
old standards or also seek new and
broader paths is still question. Our
fathers preached and lived a stern
gospel He'll and sin were real enti-
ties in the lives of the saved and un-
!, saved. Faith was the sheet anchor Of
hope and the militant marched for
ward apart from the multitudes on the
broad road.
Here we find today marked changes.
The church is softening toward the
siner and comes closer to the paths OF
sin in a confessed effort to understand
and perhaps win a wayward. Here
too, one must wait for results, but it
is disturbing factor in the fight tc
retain the old standard.
Personal standards as to character
and living have been largely thrown
aside. Perhaps majority of people
in this day erect their own standards
believing that these things are subject
to change and belong inthe 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. Virtue
is no longer modest in it's public mani
festations, but may go forth painted
and bedecked with the dizzy habili
ments of vice. Speech has lost largely
it's pure and gracious spirit of purely
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