The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-06-14

Ninety years ago came the first fric-
ton match.
Ninety-six years ago came the first
camera picture.
And to us of this day 1t Is well nigh
beyond belief to think that less than
$50 years ago no man in America had
ever seen an envelope. a stove. a
piece OF coal, a daily newspaper, a
sewing machine, reaper, drill, a
moving machine, or knew aught Of
ether. chloroform, galvanized iron, IN
dia rubber, or steam-driven machin-
cry.
Why 1t seems somehow as IL at the
opening OF the present century the
human race had for the first time dis
covered that 1t possessed the secret
genius of invention. And yet, / ask
you to bear In mind tonight that the
age into which you have been, the
age In which you must work out your
own welfare and the welfare OF So
ciety, IL no less marked for its as
founding achievements In all other de-
partments of human endeavor.
And answering the question I ask
ed of you ut the beginning OF this
discussion: The spirit of the age In
which you live is one of intense. hur-
ried. feverish activity, and what you
need to grasp In respect to 1t Is this:
that we are no longer living the old
pioneer life, no longer doing things
in the old way. no longer thinking
In ba Of tn1o n
The automobile drives the horse of
the highway and the poor lone pedes-
trian into the gutter.
The mill whistle cuts the working
day short and improved machinery
lifts the burdens from the laborer's
shoulders and makes work a pleasure.
The Maine Warmer plants intensive
ly, buys condensed milk made In the
city, and eats the apples that are
raised in Oregon.
The ministers and the college pro-
fessors cut their sermons and bacca-
laureate addresses from three hours
to 40. minutes, and they find they
save more souls on the new schedule.
And this brings me naturally to the
second question want to ask and
answer for you: Have you moral
right to live passive kind of life
in such an age?
Here's the answer to that. question
put into brief and illustrative form:
This age In which you live and of
which you arc to be a part, has
message for each and all of you. 1t
Is this:
Deep within the breast Of every hui
man being there has been planted a
spirit of achievement, spirit of dis
satisfaction with conditions as they
are, and a strong and burning desire
to change those conditions and make
them better. And listen to the rest
of the message: The member OF So
ciety who Is to be the useful men,
Der who responds to the moral prOmp-
tings to be willing agent of his
day and OF his fellows. is that mem
Der who cultivates that spirit of
achievement until by the laws Of life
that person Is unwilling to call life
rich and full until something of de-
finite value has been given to the
human race.
Let me put that differently, and in
putting 1t differently, / fling out
challenge to you young men and wo-
men.
To do your full part In the COM
munity, in the church, in the school,
in the home, you have no moral right
to live content with what has been
or is If that can be. even in the
slightest degree, improved upon.
That's what life means. That's
what measures life, but whole lot
of people don't know 1t. II they can
keep things just as father kept them,
they are infinitely happy. And in
the eyes of thousands of enterprising
citizens, these men and women are
objects of pity and contempt.
Has It ever occurred to you what
is the handspring OF action? 1t is
the desire planted in the heart to
achieve; and one achieves only as one
oyercomes.
One of our distinguished Americans
has put this same thought into a COM
parison between the buzzard
and the bee. The buzzard has lived
off the unfortunate members OF his
society, and when he dies. he leaves
absolutely nothing to make the world
a better place for his having lived In
IT, But the bee gathering sweets
from the gardens and the fields builds
day by day, and when It dies 1t leaves
a monument OF honey that the world
may be the better for its having lived
It's busy life.
What a food of illustrations surge
into the mind. Take these at ran
dom:
Years ago the farmer Of New Eng
land planted his potatoes on the same
patch of ground year after year, and
the crop grew smaller and smaller
because certain properties OF the soil
were continually wasted. Now the
farmer who was content with condi-
tons az they were. and there have
been vast number of them, continued
to plant on the same patch. and SO
paved his way straight to the poor
house. But the farmer who was not
content with things as they were. who
built upon the knowledge OF those
who came before him. experimental
with the land, and after time learn
ed that rotation of crops returned to