Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-04

minor allegiances, he is nevertheless
bound by the larger allegiances to all
mankind-"No man liveth to himself.
ard no man dieth to himself"
The world war aided not only in
crystalizing but also in solving some
of the great problems of humility, and
this problem of the relation or ones
self to other selves is one of the great
est of these. For instance, the war
has both brought to the front and
pushed into the discard the tenets OF
socialism. The true is being sifted
from the false. The principles Of gov
eminent for the benefit of the many
are being more and more established.
and the world is being socialized, while
the f"utility of trying to legislate men
into angels is becoming equally ap-
parent.
UnseIfishness In Conservation
Another great principle that has
been established for us is the value of
conservation for the benefit of all. Yet
it seems to me that we have stopped
short of one step that / must regard
as being nothing less than vital in the
bearing upon every human life. How
ever unselfish our pushing of the con-
servation propagandum has been, in
practice we have been prone to lay
stress upon conservation for us. l
am reminded Of a prayer that a little
hov of mine once made, when he knelt
down and with great fervor said: 20
Lord. make everybody good to me. and
LET me do observation-disclosures" 1t
was one of the most human prayers l
ever heard, but before he left this
word, a young man. to enter upon the
great adventure. know that he
learned to pray unselfishly.
7 realize the seeming presumption of
nv urging the starting of a movement
for unselfishnes in conservation. Yet
this thought has laid hold upon me so
deeply that | simply must present it to
Won. Now is the time to take the next
step-the forward step-ln conserya-
ton. We must give ourselves TO the
conservation of the time, the money:
The substances and the well-belng OF
our fellows.
Avoid Personal Covetousness
srThe Other Fellow movement, as
venture TO name it. is as old as the
suggestive question asked by Cain after
he had slain his brother Abel. All
through the ages the answer TO that
ouestion. Am ] my brothers keeper:
has been an increasingly thunderous
YES. Yet it seems to me that we have
failed to incorporate this principe INTO
our own national character. surely
the world war was a great mirror hfld
I'm before our faces. enabling us TO see
several unlovely defects IN our ma
tiopal traits. We love to be unselfish
in a large way. but too often We are
supreme selfish in small ways. In
other words. our national heart Is
right. but our national practice IN many
small things is bad. Especially since
the armistice there has been an un-
happy troublesome of petty S"itlsn-
ness. MY is looming too large Jefoce
orr personal eyes and Our" does lot
take its proper size. The surest way
70 lose the war that was potentially
won will be to fall back from the
heights Of unselfishness to the swlnps
of persona, covetolsnes-which lnev-
;tahl; ends in national meanness-and
there wallow in the trampied ruck OF
sordid ambition. all the while searching
bIindly for "our own.
venture to say that no less than
three billions of dollars annually are
less. constantly waste the time. sub
wasted because you and | and every
other person in our country, more or
stance and interests of the other fell
low. IF YOU scratch the surface OF
many a mind you will find this doctrine:
II don't pay for this. so why should
save it:'' A million examples would
De Forthcoming if a million men were
TO think seriously upon this subject
for two minutes.
Wasting Other Peoples Time
The other day. for the dozenth time.
In mpan with a number of others,
was compelled to wait beyond the
appointed hour for the opening of a
- C---e.a1l 4hna.Ar t,,tot offJco
7 cooled my heels in the lobby while
the complaisant ticket seller arranged
his change. busted the office. and did
various other things that should have
been done before Q a. m.-he did not
regard the waste of time imposed upon
the other fellow On the other hand,
! saw how the proprietor of that the
alter had been abused by countless
young men who had struck matches
upon the highly polished walls of that
theater lobby. II wasn't their wall.
I have a friend who is the manager
Of one of Atlantic City's most ex-
pensive hotels. I asked him what be-
came of the huge amount of food that
was trifled with and wasted on the
tables of the table d'hote. He told
me that for years they used to give
this food TO the poor, but that for
sanitary reasons they were no longer
doing 1t. tie computed mat II costs
the guests in necessarily increased
charges a huge sum Of money annually
because constantly people ordered more
portions than they really wanted. The
principle was. Il paid for this meal,
therefore there is no reason why ]
should not order as much as suits M
whim. independent Of whether ! eat il
or not"
Public Waste a Public Tax
The man who leaves the light burn
ing in the hotel room while he goes
out. or carelessly lets the hot water
run to waste from the office building
spigot, or cleans his shoes on the hotel
towel. or carelessly mars public" sta
tionery. drops a burning cigarette on
the club tablecloth. or abuses a library
book. or needlessly soils a common con-
veyance. or wastes the other mans
goods in any way. is laying an indirect
tax upon himself. and upon the whole
world. Public waste is a public tax
To the careless thinker this may seem
like drawing the principle gather fine
bit when you multiply these and count
less similar instances by the million