Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1922-08-04
THE PE0pLS.

ClNlllZallon must nave ltc pclpcI-
ual guardianship Of active. sincere
and rnlclligcnt citizenship. We can
not travel OH land al the rate OF 6U
miles an hour and in the air at 100
miles IN hour. and have an ever
progressive rivalry for great indi-
vidual fortunes and gigantic COM
binationS. without Il corresponding
intensity Of patriotism and pains
takiS activity i'll tic exercise Of the
duties Of citizenship.
There were many decades in our
history when we could afford to let
things drift. Not SO now. The diff
ference is the same as that between
the laughing brook and the SurSing
mighty Niagara. In nature, they
are the some. When our Industries
were as the leaves and chips upon
the rivulct, we could let them drift
because the fall could not wreck
them. But now the forces that car
ry our poductS are as the Niagara,
and the products that are drifting
are the necessities Of over 100 mil
lion people. large percentage of
whom are con9cstcd in cities and
towns and in industrial districts.
In the days of Andrew Jackon. in
duStry was local and life WAS simple
Activities had not then extended to
the Pacific. Interstate commerce
was then confined to river. lake and
SeaShorc transportation by boats
and ships and to horse and on
drawn vehicles. Then million
dollar fortune was merely dream.
The eighty years which interviewed
have developed steam, electricity,
the railroad, the telegraph, the tele-
phone, radio, and the immense Or
CARNATIONS Of capital that control
production and distribution. We
are working with new forces, I'M
der rcvolutionizcd conditions. I'M
der constitution framed in 1889.
But let not that fact condemn the
constitution. 1t was framed under
conditions, conductive to sincerity.
No railroad nor trust lobby had a
hand in the work. The very able,
devoted men who constituted the
convention, had no private interest
to serve, no selfish sectional feeling
to warp their judgement. The men,
their purpose, their sincerity and
their exceptional qualifications for
the task. could be we'll said to offer
the occasion for the pouring out of
Divine blessing if Heaven ever
DlcSSeH government assembly,
Solemn duty was in the air. The
mistakes Of other attempts at self
government were as we'll digeStcd
by the Wa>hinglonS, the MadiSons
and the FranklinS OF our. first con-
Stltutlonal convention. as the mis-
takes Of the HohcnZollcrnS are fla
militia: to the scholars of to-day.
There is every reason to be Thankful
that our constitution was framed at
time when great moncycd asgrc-
CATIONS had no opportunity to mar
the perfect symmetry of its proper
tons.
Its keynote of cXct Justice and a
way to secure it; lis balancing of
ample central authority with local
government; its watch-word of
separating tile three branches, exec
utive. legislative and judicial, mark
the work of the fathers as MASTER
piece OF constructive craftsmanship.
Our new conditions, the best proof
OF the success of our system. should
be the unanSwcrablc argument that
our fathers did wisely. rather than
a ground for attempting to make
any radical amendments.
That We have the biggest indust-
rial CARNATIONS: the greatest trans
portation systems: and have out
stripped all other people in living
standards. are arguments mountain
high for the organic instrument
under which these things were as
compliShcd. Our troubles are not
with the work of the fathers, but
with our own neglect Of the duties
Of citizenship. We can not enjoy
Il perfect government Of the people.
unless the people govern. The
world is no more selfish now than
1T was in 1889, but ii is now a big
ger world and it pays better and
more promptly to take ADVANTAGE of
the peoples CarclcSSncSS than il did
at an early day. Now one line in a
tariff bill may De worth 500, OOO. 600
TO u trust. \ change Of 30 cents a
barrcl' in oil may be worth almost