History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 66

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1104

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Dr. Frank Crane, an eminent publicist, has this to offer in connection with the laudation of patriotism: "The cause of pa- triotism has things to be said both for and against it. It has inspired many deeds of heroism, has had its martyrs and prophets. Scott pours his scorn upon the 'man who never to himself has said, "This is my own, my native land,"' and assures us that the 'wretch' shall die 'unwept, unhonored and unsung.' But the sentiment of love for one's country has its seamy side. If no other charge could be brought against it it would be serious enough to adduce the fact that most wars are due to race feeling, na- tional or local pride. Fine as patriotism may be, there is never going to be a reign of 'peace on earth and good will toward men' until it is replaced by a finer ideal, the enthusiasm for humanity. Pride in coun- try is but a survival of the old pride in family, clan and tribe. It is still tainted with immaturity. It is a bud.

'The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.'

And the bud is patriotism, the flower is world-citizenship." *

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In a book from the masterly pen and brain of Cardinal Gibbons, printed about the time the war clouds were gathering, utterance is given to these comforting thoughts: "I have lived a long time, and I have lived through a very critical time. Not only have I held office many years, but I have held office during a time of transi- tion, when the old order was changed. There are few Americans living now who

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can remember the things which I can. I followed Mr. Lincoln's dead body in proces- sion when it was brought to this city (Bal- timore) ; I have seen every President since his death, and I have known most of them personally ; I was a grown man and a priest during the civil war, when it seemed as if our country were to be permanently di- vided. Very few people now living have seen the country in such distress as I have seen it. But I have lived, thank God, to see it in wonderful prosperity and to behold it grown into one of the great powers of the earth. Younger men may tremble for the future of this country, but I can have noth- ing but hope when I think what we have already passed through, for I can see no troubles in the future which could equal, much less surpass, those which have af- flicted us in bygone days. If only the American people will hold fast to that in- strument which has been bequeathed to them as the palladium of their liberties- the Constitution of the United States-and fear and distrust the man who would touch that ark with profane hands, the perma- nence of our institutions is assured."

In the course of a heart-to-heart talk to New York business men ex-President Wil- liam Howard Taft gave expression to these thoughts: "The business of legislation is an expert matter. It is something that re- quires a knowledge of the meaning of legal terms. It is just as absurd to propose to build a bridge without engineers, to build a house without an architect or a compe- tent contractor as to propose detailed legis- lation by votes at a popular election. The pure democracy attempted in Athens proved to be a failure and the government in those days was so much simpler than in our cities and States that even a temporary success in such a community would not justify a resort to the same method now. If an executive officer is dishonest he can in effect be recalled by impeachment or by criminal trial and conviction and sentenced

to the penitentiary. Under the new sys- tem of recall an honest official, before he has had time to work out and vindicate his policies, may be ousted by an ambitious rival through misrepresentation in the press and the hasty judgment of the mi- nority of the electorate who go to the polls. Under such a system Lincoln would have been recalled. What is true with respect to the State is true with respect to the party. Parties are essential to popular government. In no other way practically can the will of all the electorate be inter- preted and embodied in affirmative action, legislative and executive. Under the sys- tem of the general primary if the initial letter of the candidate's name comes early in the alphabet, and he is first in the list of candidates, he may receive thousands of votes more than the man whose name be- gins with W."

That classes disappear when men work together is the contention of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. He says: "The inactive army of Christian men will be drawn into service the more quickly when they have come to recognize the brotherhood of man as a necessary corollary to the fatherhood of God. An interesting and unique argu- ment recently advanced for compulsory military service in this country is that the sons of the well-to-do might thereby be thrown into close contact with the sons of the working people, so that the great gap which too often exists might be bridged and as a result of daily association in com- mon tasks these two classes of men brought to see that the difference between them is superficial rather than inherent. When men of widely separated stations are thrown together, come to know each other, when they are working side by side for the advancement of a common interest, then and then only do personal distrust, hatred and misunderstanding give way to a spirit of fair play, justice and a desire for the common good."

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Discussing the subject of leading na- tions combining to prevent war by force, President A. Lawrence Lowell of Harvard University puts himself on record as say- ing: "It is almost inconceivable that any nation would attack another if convinced that to do so would involve war with all the leading powers of the world. If, therefore, such a league as is proposed were formed by a sufficient number of great countries it is in the highest degree improbable that the agreement to take up arms would ever need to be put into execution, for, although there may be issues on which a nation would rather perish than yield, there are none on which it would not prefer a public hearing before fighting its adversary to fighting a whole array of powerful states without such a hearing."

The State of Michigan feels justly proud of having within its borders a churchman who is in the habit of "speaking right out in meeting" just as he feels and thinks. In a sermon delivered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in the city of New York, the Rt. Rev. Charles David Williams, Protestant Episcopal bishop of Michigan, declared that the spirit of German organi- zation will triumph, no matter which side wins the war. Bishop Williams said he re- ferred to the German system of co-opera- tion as distinguished from individualism in the United States. He condemned Ger- man imperialism and militarism and her ruthlessness "which violates every princi- ple of civilization, Christianity and human- ity." Germany, Bishop Williams declared, has welded her people into solidarity through social legislation, while individual- ism reigns in the United States and Amer- ican property is in a great measure lop- sided, congesting wealth into the hands of a few. "Why should many of our toiling masses fight for our country ?" the bishop added. "What has the country done for them? Are they not struggling against practically the same financial oppression

as they struggled against in their own countries, a few holding the key to the en- tire situation? If the Government can draft the poor man, if the Government can take his body, leaving him with barely enough to support his family, even in pov- erty, why can not the Government com- mandeer the wealth of the rich man and leave him with just enough to keep his business going ? The equation is lopsided." * In complete harmony with what the Michigan bishop thundered into the ears of his New York audience is the declara- tion of an eminent educator that "in the days that are coming the mere accumulator will get precious little praise. He will not be allowed to preach to graduating classes or to tell young men just starting in busi- ness by what methods they are to succeed. To be considered successful a man will have to be more of a giver than a taker. If he has taken a million dollars he will have to prove that he gave ten million dollars' worth of service in return for it. He won't be canonized, as men have been in America, simply because he beat other men into a foot race to sources of wealth which any person of normal intelligence could pick up." * *

At a meeting of state superintendents of instruction, college professors, school prin- cipals and business men, held under the auspices of the National Council of Educa- tion, the topic of discussion was "Thrift." S. W. Straus, Chicago banker, who is presi- dent of the American Society for Thrift, dealt with the problem in a general sense, while more than half a dozen other speak- ers discussed various angles of the same subject. "The most vital question in America today is individual preparedness," Mr. Straus said. "Not individual prepared- ness for war, but individual preparedness for anything that may come-individual preparedness to live useful, steadfast lives for the benefit of humanity and posterity." Mr. Straus declared that although the

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United States is a prosperous nation, "we are not a prosperous people," and backed up his assertion with the declaration that one person out of every ten who dies in any of the large cities is buried in a potter's field. "Statistics show that in the United States there are only 108 who save money out of every one thousand population," he added. "This compares with 554 in Swit- zerland. The only way to lay the founda- tion for the future thrift of the nation is begin today teaching thrift in our schools," he said in conclusion.

Frederic W. Keough, editor of American Industries, boldly declares that reckless waste of resources is undermining our na- tional strength. He says : "In looking over prospective reasons for national inefficiency let us not minimize the effect of our indif- ference to waste in every department of in- dustrial and personal interest. Wasteful- ness is undermining our national strength -waste of our natural resources, our for- ests, our stores of fuel, our edifices, our human wealth. We waste more life and limb through accidents, fatal and other- wise, yearly than are destroyed in war. The cost of our accidents, if they could be measured in money, would more than pay for our army and navy and practically any increase in these arms of the national de- fense that has been urged. We waste un- told sums in log-rolling projects for useless army posts, unnecessary public buildings and the improvement of two-by-four rivers and harbors. No new taxes are needed to meet the requirements in national defense if the money thrown away in selfish con- gressional bickerings is saved and applied. President Wilson's idea that national de- fense can be amply provided by economy in expenditures elsewhere is thoroughly sound." *

Judge Harry B. Tuthill, in an address to the Presbyterian Men's Class, Laporte, Ind., said: "During this whole time that Europe has been arming, America has been

busily engaged in increasing its wealth and population. Any man, no matter whom he might be, for a long time, no matter if he was a red-handed murderer across the seas, was admitted to the bosom of our body politic and no questions asked. Numbers were what we desired, increased wealth and commercial power no matter how ob- tained, was what we demanded. We have grown rich in material things; we have grown weak in man power and in what might be called the red blood of ambition. Our standing army in most of the years of peace has not been sufficient to quell a mob much less to protect us from the incursions of any enemy, no matter how weak."

James M. Cox, publisher of two pros- perous newspapers in Ohio, served several terms in Congress as representative of the Dayton district. During the political up- heaval of 1912 he was elected Governor as a Democrat, defeated as a candidate for re- election in 1914, but triumphantly elected to a second term in his third gubernatorial race. He is likely to be a candidate for re- election in 1918. If successful he will in all probability become a candidate for the presidential nomination in 1920. Governor Cox holds pronounced views on all im- portant questions affecting the welfare of the country. The general trend of his mind is disclosed by what he had to say a short time since on "The Man Before the Dol- lar":

"It is no secret to those who are familiar with legislation in this country that too much attention in the past has been given to the almighty dollar and not enough to mankind. That is to say, our legislative bodies, it seems, have been all along imbued with the idea that only wealth needed pro- tection, that man was able to protect him- self. But I am pleased to note that of late years the trend of thought has been in the opposite direction-that every year more and more people are coming to understand that government is for the protection of the individual rather than for the protec- tion of material wealth. At the present

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time the leading thinkers of the country are devoting their best energies to provid- ing measures that will in one way or an- other tend to promote human happiness. Such persons are not unmindful of the fact that a man's goods and chattels, as well as his person, must be protected, but they do believe that of first importance to society is the welfare of the human being."

During the Jackson and Van Buren ad- ministrations there was published in the city of Washington a magazine called The Democratic Review. It was a decidedly outspoken publication, as may be gathered from the following extract from one of its editorials in the year 1838:

"We are aware of the blind veneration which has heretofore sealed the eyes of a very large proportion of the public when- ever their looks have been directed towards that sacrosanct tribunal (the Supreme Court of the United States) in prostrate submission of its presumed infallibility, and in discussing our subject with the free- dom which it demands many a reader may perhaps hold up his hands in holy horror at the impious temerity. But this abject mental submission to authority and as- sumption is unworthy equally of our coun- try and age. We despise that timid prud- ery in politics which has become too much in vogue. It is high time to print what has been often and earnestly spoken, and what everyone ought to know. Freedom of dis- cussion, of all subjects within the range of human ken, from highest to lowest, is the vital principle of American liberty. The noblest and best of institutions can be pre- served in their purity only by the perpetual vigilance of public opinion."

Thoroughly convinced that the salvation of this country is dependent on the fur- therance of the nation's agricultural inter- ests, it is gratifying to know that this view is firmly held by the most thoughtful stu- dents of government, statesmen, jurists, legislators, etc. Among those especially outspoken in the expression of their views may be mentioned A. O. Eberhart, former Governor of Minnesota. In a talk on this subject Governor Eberhart declared that

Minnesota is in the forefront in the solu- tion of the rural question. The teaching of scientific farming in the country schools and the making of rural life more attrac- tive by motion picture entertainments and other forms of amusement are the means of keeping a large number of boys and girls in the country who otherwise would go to the cities to live, the Governor asserted. "If we are going to reduce crime and pov- erty we will have to relieve the congested cities and get more people into the coun- try," said Governor Eberhart. "Our con- solidated school system in Minnesota, un- der which several school districts are com- bined into one large district, with a mod- ern school building, has aided us in this work. Our rural school districts have grown to such an extent that it is difficult to get teachers. We are endeavoring to make our country life attractive, too, as another means of keeping young men and women on the farms. Motion picture en- tertainments are given frequently, and the films are distributed among the several schools. We are also giving our attention to making the rural schools social centers. The State of Minnesota has room for a vast number of persons to cultivate the land." *

Defects in our general educational sys- tem are freely acknowledged and lamented by the foremost educators throughout the land. What is lucidly and forcefully set forth in the following by Silas Evans, pres- ident of Ripon College, is, to say the least, worthy of earnest consideration and thoughtful meditation. He says:

"The great bane of all secondary school training is the multiplicity of subjects and the painlessness of methods. We need more tonic of astringency for the brain. The psychology of interest has been over- worked. The education of the will is the prime essential. I would have the high school take fewer studies and compel thor- oughness. The social life is too precocious also. There is too much of the moving pic- ture and tango mind connected with educa- tion. In point of studies pursued, I believe,

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this is entirely secondary to the point of the pursuit of study. It has been fairly well demonstrated that it makes very little difference in the first stages of education what one studies if he only study it thor- oughly and scientifically. By all this I do not mean to encourage mental strain or the early strenuous life. There should be wholesome fun and plenty of physical edu- cation. I do not approve of military train- ing in any of its forms. There is an ele- ment of artificiality in it, and it is a very poor substitute for games."

At a teachers' institute meeting held in Pittsburgh, Pa., during the latter part of August, 1917, Prof. John A. H. Keith, prin- cipal of the Indiana State Normal School, threw some light on the cause of so much parrotism among the products of our faulty educational methods. On the sub- ject of "Four Standards for Judgment of the Public Schools" he spoke of the differ- ence between understanding and mere edu- cation, and suggested a system whereby the years of a student in school could be shortened materially. Upon this he said:

"If the instructors would find the points of interest to the girls and boys much fewer years of schooling would be neces- sary. There should be a reason for learn- ing. We see daily so many cases where children merely learn what is in the book, but they have no insight. Books are great inventions and yet they can become the greatest curses. A child should be inter- ested in what he studies; without this in- terest the study does him no good. For instance, there is a stage in the life of most boys when they are interested in chickens. They ought to be taught everything in this branch of learning at that time. So it is with other things."

The standards of judgment of schools, he said, are the progress made by the pupils, the increment of good will and self- control in conduct engendered by the schools, the prevalence of community in- terest in the work of the school and the higher individual and social life the school inculcates.

In "Defense of Property" the Century Magazine some time ago presented these views:

"When Bismarck supported the Socialist program for the protection of the laboring classes in Germany, it was not because he was a Socialist, but because he did not wish the laborer to be exploited to a point of physical degradation that should leave him unfit to endure the hardships of war.

"Property has no hands with which to defend itself, and in the wiser states of Europe, for the last generation, the leaders of the propertied classes have seen to it that the laborer was fit and willing to de- fend them. That seems to be at once the explanation of German state Socialism, of German military efficiency, and of the Ger- man's patriotic willingness to fight.

"In this country property has no foreign invasion to fear, and we are a century be- hind Germany in the protection of the un- propertied classes. We suffer with all the worst abuses of unemployment, of child labor, of commercial monopolies, of unin- sured accident and death in dangerous oc- cupations, of pauperized old age, and crimi- nal vagabondage. We suffer with the gen- eral failure of our civilization to be any- thing but a business administration for business ends. Property, opposing reform, has become the great enemy of social prog- ress. We are told that we are the most untidy, the worst governed, the least de- fensible country in the world.

"History digs up, in the deposits of archaeology, the fossil remains of such civilizations, now extinct, as if the human race, in its struggle to protect itself from the forces of Nature, had accumulated property as lower orders of life in evolu- tion formed their protective shells, only to find that the shell itself at last becomes the curse of the life it shelters, and the propertied organism is devoured, in the progress of evolution, by a freer form."

Attributing the chief cause of insanity to alcohol, Dr. T. D. Alderman, of New York, a specialist in nervous and mental diseases, asserted before the convention of the National Eclectic Medical Association, at Indianapolis, that the United States is progressing toward the stage where it will be one large insane asylum.

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"We have practically become known as a nervous nation," said Dr. Alderman. "We rush and we hurry, and we turn night into day, and hurry the body to decay with to- bacco, alcohol, drugs, sexual excesses and abuses. We must stop this disastrous rush and headlong hurry.

"Alcohol does more than all other causes combined. Where it is not the in- itial cause, it is the developing cause, be- cause we find the use of alcohol invariably accompanied by one or more of the social diseases.

"In the United States today there are 250,000 insane and 250,000 feeble-minded. This exceeds the population of Indianap- olis. I do not believe that my statement is wild or not supported by facts. We are literally and truthfully threatened with a spread of mental degeneracy that is over- whelming and out of all proportion to the increase of the population.

"There is an answer to this condition and it is in safe and sane eugenics. The world must see to it that there is a great evolution of character in men and women. There should be laws to prevent the prop- agation of the defectives, to prevent mar- riage between feeble-minded and insane. There is nothing for us doctors to do but to become strong and ardent advocates of eugenics."

That the liquor traffic has for years been working its own destruction is freely admitted by candid men connected with the same, directly or indirectly. Com- menting upon the nation-wide demand for prohibition, the National Liquor Dealers' Journal recently made this truthful ad- mission :

"To us there is the handwriting on the wall, and its interpretation spells doom. The liquor business is to blame. It seems incapable of learning any lesson of ad- vancement or any motive but profit. To perpetuate itself it has formed alliances with the slums that repel all conscientious and patriotic citizens. It deliberately aids the most corrupt political powers and

backs with all its resources the most un- worthy men, the most corrupt and rec- reant officials. It does not aid in the puri- fication of municipal, state or national ad- ministrations.

"'One of the reasons why prohibition is spreading so rapidly in this country,' comments the Chattanooga News, 'is that the liquor interests aligned themselves with a certain type of official who is pow- erless when the people awaken to his evils.'"

Liquor dealers of this type referred to have not only been the enemies of human- ity, but their own enemies as well, and they have not only been principally re- sponsible for the demand for the abolition of the manufacturing and sale of intoxi- cants in the United States, but for the de- mand that sweeps the civilized world as well.

The Hon. Thomas Taggart did not serve long as a member of the United States Sen- ate, to which position he was appointed by Governor Ralston upon the death of Sen- ator Benjamin F. Shively. But during the eight months that he did serve as senator he made a record to which he and his friends can well point with pardonable pride. His incisive speech in denunciation of the pernicious practice of squandering public funds by the millions for the pro- motion of visionary projects met with un- stinted commendation throughout the Re- · public. The Indianapolis Star, a Republi- can paper, made this editorial reference to Senator Taggart's well-directed on- slaught on the pork barrel abomination:

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History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 66

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1104