Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-04-18
A me rican
LndiUidualisr7a
A Timely Message to
the American People
By HERBERT HOOVER
Secretary of Commerce.
3-SPIRITUAL PHASES

~ UR social and economic sys-
tenn cannot march toward
better days unless it is in
spired by things of the spirit. 1t is
here that the higher purposes of in
diYiduaism must find their susie
nance. Men do not live by bread
alone. Nor is individualism merely
a stimulus to production and the
road to liberty; it alone admits the
universal divine inspiration of every
human soul. | may repeat that the
divine spark does not lie in agree
snents, in organizations, In institutions,
in masses or in groups. Spirituality
with it's faith, its hope, its charity, can
be increased by each individuals own
effort. And in proportion as each in
dividual increases his own store of
spirituality, in that proportion in
creases the idealism of democracy.
For centuries, the human race be-
Heved that divine inspiration rested in
a few. The result was blind faith in
religious hierarchies, the Divine Right
of Kings. The world has been disiL
lusioned of this belief that divinity
rests in any special group or class
whether it be through a creed, tyr
amy of kings or of proletariat. Our
individualism insists upon the divine
In each human being 1t rests upon
hot oY.IY
can be awakened in every heart. 1t
was the refusal to compromise these
things that led to the migration of
those religious groups who so largely
composed our forefathers. Our diversi-
fed religious faiths are the apotheosis
Of spiritual individualism.
The vast multiplication of voluntary
organizations for altruistic purposes
are themselves proof of the ferment
OF spirituality, service, and mutual re
sponsibility. These associations for
advancement Of public welfare, Inn
provement, morals, charity, public opin-
Ion, health, the clubs and societies
for recreation and intellectual advance
ment, represent something moving at
a far greater depth than Joining"
They represent the widespread aspira-
ton for mutual advancement, self-ex-
preston, and neighborly helpfulness.
Moreover, today when we rehearse
our own individual memories of sue
cess, we find that none gives us such
comfort as memory of service given.
De we not refer to our veterans as
service men? Do not our merchants
and business men pride themselves in
something of service given beyond the
price of their goods? When we trav-
erse the glorious deeds of our fathers,
we today never enumerate those acts
that were not rooted in the soil Of
service Those whom we revere are
those who triumphed in service, for
from them comes the uplift of the
human heart and the uplift of the
human mind.
While there are forces in the growth
Of our individualism which must be
curbed with vigilance, yet there are
no less glorious spiritual forces grow
ing within that promise for the fu-
ture. There is developing in our peo-
pie new valuation of individuals and
of groups and of nations. 1t is a
rising vision of service. Indeed if
were, to select the social force that
above all others has advanced sharp
~ during these past years Of suffer
ing, it is that of service-service to
those with whom we come in contact,
service to the nation, and service to
the world itself. If we examine the
great mystical forces of the past seven
years we find this great spiritual force
poured out by our people as never
before In the history of the world-the
ideal Of service.
Just now we are weakened by the
feeling of failure Of immediate realiza-
ton Of the great ideals and hopes that
arose through the exaltation of war.
War by it's very nature sets loose cha
otic forces of which the resultants cam
not be foretold or anticipated. The In
sensitiveness to the brutalities of physi-
cal violence, and all the spiritual dis
locations Of war, have left us, at the
moment, poorer. The amount of Sc
renity and content in the world ID
smaller.
The spiritual reaction after the war
has been in part the fruit of some IL
lusions during those five years. In the
presence Of unity of purpose and the
mystic emotions of war, many men
came to believe that salvation lay In
mass and group action. They have
seen the spiritual and material mobil
ization of nations, Of classes, and
groups, for sacrifice and service; they
have conceived that real human prog
ress can be achieved by working OF
"the psychology Of the people"-by
the mass mind'; they yielded to lead
ership without reservation; they con
cAived that this leadership could coh