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Good Citizenship, by Grover Cleveland—A Project Gutenberg eBook
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<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 68159 ***</div>
<div class="figcenter hide"><img src="images/coversmall.jpg" width="450" alt="" /></div>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/title.jpg" alt="" /></div>
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<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="titlepage">
<h1>GOOD<br />
CITIZENSHIP</h1>
<p><span class="xlarge">BY<br />
GROVER<br />
CLEVELAND</span></p>
<p>PHILADELPHIA<br />
<span class="large">HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY</span></p>
</div>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<p class="center">Copyright, 1908, by Howard E. Altemus<br />
<br />
Published June, 1908</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2>
</div>
<table>
<tr><td>Introduction</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Good Citizenship</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Patriotism and Holiday Observance       </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr>
</table>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>
<h2 class="nobreak">INTRODUCTION</h2>
</div>
<div class="blockquot">
<div class="figleft"><img src="images/i011.jpg" alt="" /></div>
<div class="figright"><img src="images/i011.jpg" alt="" /></div>
<p> </p>
<p class="drop-cap">IT is not of the author’s own
motion that the following
essays are given to the
public in this form. With
characteristic modesty, Mr.
Cleveland was willing that
these addresses should lie undiscovered
and unread in the
limbo of pigeonholes or of
yellowing newspaper-file; and
yet the thoughtful reader will
be the first to proclaim that
these utterances are neither insignificant
nor ephemeral.
Their very themes are age-old.
Before Rome was, Patriotism
and Good Citizenship were the
purest and loftiest ideals of the
ancient world; and, through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>
the ages that have followed,
those nations have been noblest,
bravest and most enduring in
which love of home and love of
country have been most deep-seated.</p>
<p>Mr. Cleveland’s address on
Good Citizenship was delivered
before the Commercial Club of
Chicago in October, 1903; and
that on Patriotism and Holiday
Observance before the Union
League Club, of the same city,
on Washington’s Birthday,
1907. Now, with Mr. Cleveland’s
sanction, they appear for
the first time in book form.</p>
<p>No one can scan these pages,
however hastily, without saying
to himself, “Here is a man who
preaches what, for a lifetime,
he has been practicing.”</p>
<p>Not all patriotism finds expression<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>
in the heat and joy of
the battlefield; nor does good
citizenship begin and end on
election day. Mr. Cleveland
has, in himself, proved that an
upright and fearless chief magistrate
in the White House may
be as true a patriot as the leader
of a forlorn hope, as lofty a
type of citizen as a Garrison or
a Phillips. No public man of
this generation has been more
bitterly assailed than Grover
Cleveland; none has met with
more unswerving serenity the
attacks, fair and foul, of those
whose selfish interests have
made them his sworn foes.</p>
<p>That famous phrase, uttered
years ago, “We love him for
the enemies he has made,” is a
true saying.</p>
<p class="right"><span class="smcap">The Publishers.</span></p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span></p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>
<p class="ph2">GOOD CITIZENSHIP</p>
<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i009.jpg" alt="" /></div>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span></p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>
<h2 class="nobreak">GOOD CITIZENSHIP</h2>
</div>
<p class="drop-cap">THERE is danger that my
subject of American
good citizenship is so
familiar and so trite as to lack
interest. This does not necessarily
result from a want of
appreciation of the importance
of good citizenship, nor from
a denial of the duty resting
upon every American to be a
good citizen. There is, however,
abroad in our land a self-satisfied
and perfunctory notion
that we do all that is required
of us in this direction<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>
when we make profession of
our faith in the creed of good
citizenship and abstain from the
commission of palpably unpatriotic
sins.</p>
<p>We ought not to be badgered
and annoyed by the preaching
and exhortation of a restless,
troublesome set of men, who
continually urge upon us the
duty of active and affirmative
participation in public affairs.
Why should we be charged
with neglect of political obligations?
We go to the polls on
election day, when not too busy
with other things, and vote the
ticket our party managers have
prepared for us. Sometimes,
when conditions grow to be so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>
bad politically that a revival or
stirring-up becomes necessary,
a goodly number of us actually
devote considerable time and
effort to better the situation.
Of course, we cannot do this
always, because we must not
neglect money-getting and
the promotion of great enterprises,
which, as everybody
knows, are the evidence of
a nation’s prosperity and
influence.</p>
<p>It seems to me that within
our citizenship there are many
whose disposition and characteristics
very often resemble
those found in the membership
of our churches. In this membership
there is a considerable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>
proportion composed of those
who, having made profession
of their faith and joined the
church, appear to think their
duty done when they live honestly,
attend worship regularly,
and contribute liberally to
church support. In complacent
satisfaction, and certain of their
respectability, they do not care
to hear sermonizing concerning
the sinfulness of human
nature, or the wrath to come;
and if haply they are sometimes
roused by the truths of
vital Christianity, they soon
relapse again to their tranquil
and easy condition of listlessness.
A description of these,
found in the Holy Writ, may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>
fitly apply to many in the State
as well as in the church:</p>
<p>“For if any be a hearer of
the word, and not a doer, he is
like unto a man beholding his
natural face in a glass: for he
beholdeth himself, and goeth
his way, and straightway forgetteth
what manner of man
he was.”</p>
<p>There is an habitual associate
of civic American indifference
and listlessness, which
reënforces their malign tendencies
and adds tremendously
to the dangers that threaten
our body politic. This associate
plays the <i>rôle</i> of smooth,
insinuating confidence operator
and, clothed in the garb of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>
immutable faith in the invulnerability
of our national greatness,
it invites our admiring
gaze to the flight of the American
eagle, and assures us that
no tempestuous weather can
ever tire his wings. Thus many
good and honest men are approached
through their patriotic
trust in our free institutions
and immense national resources,
and are insidiously
led to a condition of mind
which will not permit them to
<span class="gesperrt">harbor</span> the uncomfortable
thought that any omission on
their part can check American
progress or endanger our
country’s continued development.
Have we not lived as a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>
nation more than a century;
and have we not exhibited
growth and achievement in
every direction that discredit
all parallels in history? After
us the deluge. Why then need
we bestir ourselves, and why
disturb ourselves with public
affairs?</p>
<p>Those of our citizens who
are deluded by these notions,
and who allow themselves to
be brought to such a frame of
mind, may well be reminded
of the good old lady who was
wont to impressively declare
that she had always noticed if
she lived until the first of
March she lived all the rest of
the year. It is quite likely she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>
built a theory upon this experience
which induced her
with the passing of each of
these fateful days to defy
coughs, colds and consumption
and the attacks of germs and
microbes in a million forms.
However this may be, we know
that with no design or intention
on her part, there came a
first day of March which passed
without her earthly notice.</p>
<p>The withdrawal of wholesome
sentiment and patriotic
activity from political action on
the part of those who are indifferent
to their duty, or foolhardy
in their optimism, opens
the way for a ruthless and unrelenting
enemy of our free institutions.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>
The abandonment
of our country’s watch-towers
by those who should be on
guard, and the slumber of the
sentinels who should never
sleep, directly invite the stealthy
approach and the pillage and
loot of the forces of selfishness
and greed. These baleful
enemies of patriotic effort will
lurk everywhere as long as
human nature remains unregenerate;
but nowhere in the
world can they create such
desolations as in free America,
and nowhere can they so
cruelly destroy man’s highest
and best aspirations for self-government.</p>
<p>It is useless for us to blink<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>
at the fact that our scheme of
government is based upon a
close interdependence of interest
and purpose among those
who make up the body of our
people. Let us be honest with
ourselves. If our nation was
built too much upon sentiment,
and if the rules of patriotism
and benignity that were followed
in the construction have
proved too impractical, let us
frankly admit it. But if love
of country, equal opportunity
and genuine brotherhood in
citizenship are worth the pains
and trials that gave them birth,
and if we still believe them to
be worth preservation and that
they have the inherent vigor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>
and beneficence to make our
republic lasting and our people
happy, let us strongly hold
them in love and devotion.
Then it shall be given us to
plainly see that nothing is more
unfriendly to the motives that
underlie our national edifice
than the selfishness and cupidity
that look upon freedom and
law and order only as so many
agencies in aid of their designs.</p>
<p>Our government was made
by patriotic, unselfish, sober-minded
men for the control or
protection of a patriotic, unselfish
and sober-minded people.
It is suited to such a people;
but for those who are
selfish, corrupt and unpatriotic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>
it is the worst government on
earth. It is so constructed that
it needs for its successful operation
the constant care and
guiding hand of the people’s
abiding faith and love, and not
only is this unremitting guidance
necessary to keep our national
mechanism true to its
work, but the faith and love
which prompt it are the best
safeguards against selfish citizenship.</p>
<p>Give to our people something
that will concentrate their
common affection and solicitous
care, and let them be their
country’s good; give them a
purpose that stimulates them
to unite in lofty endeavor, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>
let that purpose be a demonstration
of the sufficiency and
beneficence of our popular rule,
and we shall find that in their
political thought there will be
no place for the suggestions of
sordidness and pelf.</p>
<p>Who will say that this is now
our happy condition? Is not
our public life saturated with
the indecent demands of selfishness?
More than this, can
any of us doubt the existence
of still more odious and detestable
evils which, with
steady, cankering growth, are
more directly than all others
threatening our safety and national
life? I speak of the corruption
of our suffrage, open<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>
and notorious, of the buying
and selling of political places
for money, the purchase of
political favors and privileges,
and the traffic in official duty
for personal gain. These things
are confessedly common. Every
intelligent man knows that they
have grown from small beginnings
until they have reached
frightful proportions of malevolence;
and yet respectable
citizens by the thousands have
looked on with perfect calmness,
and with hypocritical cant
have declared they are not
politicians, or with silly pretensions
of faith in our strength
and luck have languidly claimed
that the country was prosperous,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>
equal to any emergency
and proof against all dangers.</p>
<p>Resulting from these conditions
in a manner not difficult
to trace, wholesome national
sentiment is threatened with
utter perversion. All sorts of
misconceptions pervade the public
thought, and jealousies,
rapidly taking on the complexion
of class hatred, are found
in every corner of the land. A
new meaning has been given to
national prosperity. With a
hardihood that savors of insolence,
an old pretext, which
has preceded the doom of ancient
experiments in popular
vote, is daily and hourly dinned
in our ears. We are told that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>
the national splendor we have
built upon the showy ventures
of speculative wealth is a badge
of our success. Unsharing
contentment is enjoined upon
the masses of our people, and
they are invited, in the bare
subsistence of their scanty
homes, to patriotically rejoice
in their country’s prosperity.</p>
<p>This is too unsubstantial an
enjoyment of benefits to satisfy
those who have been taught
American equality, and thus
has arisen, by a perfectly natural
process, a dissatisfied insistence
upon a better distribution
of the results of our
vaunted prosperity. We now
see its worst manifestation in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>
the apparently incorrigible dislocation
of the proper relations
between labor and capital. This
of itself is sufficiently distressing;
but thoughtful men are
not without dread of sadder
developments yet to come.</p>
<p>There has also grown up
among our people a disregard
for the restraints of law and a
disposition to evade its limitations,
while querulous strictures
concerning the actions of our
courts tend to undermine popular
faith in the course of
justice, and, last but by no
means least, complaints of imaginary
or exaggerated shortcomings
in our financial policies
furnish an excuse for the flippant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>
exploitation of all sorts of
monetary nostrums.</p>
<p>I hasten to give assurance
that I have not spoken in a
spirit of gloomy pessimism. I
have faith that the awakening
is forthcoming, and on this
faith I build a cheerful hope
for the healing of all the
wounds inflicted in slumber and
neglect.</p>
<p>It is true that there should
be an end of self-satisfied
gratification, or pretense of
virtue, in the phrase, “I am not
a politician,” and it is time to
forbid the prostitution of the
word to a sinister use. Every
citizen should be politician
enough to bring himself within<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>
the true meaning of the term,
as one who concerns himself
with “the regulation or government
of a nation or State for
the preservation of its safety,
peace and prosperity.” This
is politics in its best sense, and
this is good citizenship.</p>
<p>If good men are to interfere
to make political action what
it should be, they must not
suppose they will come upon an
open field unoccupied by an
opposing force. On the ground
they neglected they will find a
host of those who engage in
politics for personal ends and
selfish purposes, and <span class="gesperrt">this</span>
ground cannot be taken without
a hand-to-hand conflict.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>
The attack must be made under
the banner of disinterested
good citizenship, by soldiers
drilled in lessons of patriotism.
They must be enlisted for life
and constantly on duty.</p>
<p>Their creed should bind together
in generous coöperation
all who are willing to fight to
make our government what the
fathers intended it to be—a
depository of benefits which,
in equal current and volume,
should flow out to all the people.
This creed should teach
the wickedness of attempting
to make free opportunity the
occasion for seizing especial
advantages, and should warn
against the danger of ruthless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>
rapacity. It should deprecate
ostentation and extravagance in
the life of our people, and demand
in the management of
public affairs simplicity and
strict economy. It should teach
toleration in all things save
dishonesty and infidelity to public
trusts.</p>
<p>It should insist that our finance
and currency concern not
alone the large traders, merchants
and bankers of our land,
but that they are intimately and
every day related to the well-being
of our people in all conditions
of life, and that, therefore,
if any adjustments are
necessary they should be made
in such manner as shall certainly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>
maintain the soundness
of our people’s earnings and the
security of their savings. It
should enjoin respect for the
law as the quality that cements
the fabric of organized society
and makes possible a government
by the people. And in
every sentence and every line
of this creed of good citizenship
the lesson should be taught
that our country is a beautiful
and productive field to be cultivated
by loyal Americans,
who, with weapons near at
hand, whether they sow and
reap or whether they rest, will
always be prepared to resist
those who attempt to despoil by
day and pilfer in the night.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>In the day when all shadows
shall have passed away and
when good citizenship shall
have made sure the safety, permanence
and happiness of our
nation, how small will appear
the strifes of selfishness in our
civic life, and how petty will
seem the machinations of degraded
politics.</p>
<p>There shall be set over
against them in that time a
reverent sense of coöperation
in Heaven’s plans for our people’s
greatness, and the joyous
pride of standing among those
who, in the comradeship of
American good citizenship,
have so protected and defended
our heritage of self-government<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>
that our treasures are safe
in the citadel of patriotism,
“where neither moth nor rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves
do not break through nor steal.”</p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>
<p class="ph2">PATRIOTISM<br />
AND HOLIDAY<br />
OBSERVANCE</p>
<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i009.jpg" alt="" /></div>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span></p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>
<h2 class="nobreak" id="PATRIOTISM_AND">PATRIOTISM AND<br />
HOLIDAY OBSERVANCE</h2>
</div>
<p class="drop-cap">THE American people are
but little given to the
observance of public
holidays. This statement cannot
be disposed of by the
allegation that our national
history is too brief to allow the
accumulation of days deserving
civic commemoration. Though
it is true that our life as a people,
according to the standard
measuring the existence of nations,
has been a short one, it
has been filled with glorious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>
achievements; and, though it
must be conceded that it is not
given to us to see in the magnifying
mirage of antiquity the
exaggerated forms of American
heroes, yet in the bright and
normal light shed upon our beginning
and growth are seen
grand and heroic men who have
won imperishable honor and
deserve our everlasting remembrance.
We cannot, therefore,
excuse a lack of commemorative
inclination and a languid interest
in recalling the notable incidents
of our country’s past
under the plea of a lack of
commemorative material; nor
can we in this way explain our
neglect adequately to observe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>
days which have actually been
set apart for the especial manifestation
of our loving appreciation
of the lives and the
deeds of Americans who, in
crises of our birth and development,
have sublimely wrought
and nobly endured.</p>
<p>If we are inclined to look for
other excuses, one may occur
to us which, though by no
means satisfying, may appear
to gain a somewhat fanciful
plausibility by reason of its
reference to the law of heredity.
It rests upon the theory that
those who secured for American
nationality its first foothold,
and watched over its weak
infancy were so engrossed with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>
the persistent and unescapable
labors that pressed upon them,
and that their hopes and aspirations
led them so constantly to
thoughts of the future, that retrospection
nearly became with
them an extinct faculty, and
that thus it may have happened
that exclusive absorption in
things pertaining to the present
and future became so embedded
in their natures as to constitute
a trait of character descendible
to their posterity, even to the
present generation. The toleration
of this theory leads to the
suggestion that an inheritance
of disposition has made it difficult
for the generation of to-day
to resist the temptation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>
inordinately to strive for immediate
material advantages,
to the exclusion of the wholesome
sentiment that recalls the
high achievements and noble
lives which have illumined our
national career. Some support
is given to this suggestion by
the concession, which we cannot
escape, that there is abroad
in our land an inclination to
use to the point of abuse the
opportunities of personal betterment,
given under a scheme
of rule which permits the greatest
individual liberty, and interposes
the least hindrance to
individual acquisition; and
that in the pursuit of this
we are apt to carry in our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>
minds, if not upon our lips,
the legend:</p>
<p>“Things done are won; joy’s
soul lies in the doing.”</p>
<p>But the question is whether
all this accounts for our indifference
to the proper observance
of public holidays which
deserve observance.</p>
<p>There is another reason
which might be advanced in
mitigation of our lack of commemorative
enthusiasm, which
is so related to our pride of
Americanism that, if we could
be certain of its sufficiency, we
would gladly accept it as conclusive.
It has to do with the
underlying qualities and motives
of our free institutions.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>
Those institutions had their
birth and nurture in unselfish
patriotism and unreserved consecration;
and, by a decree of
fate beyond recall or change,
their perpetuity and beneficence
are conditioned on the constant
devotion and single-hearted
loyalty of those to whom their
blessings are vouchsafed. It
would be a joy if we could
know that all the bright incidents
in our history were so
much in the expected order of
events, and that patriotism and
loving service are so familiar
in our present surroundings,
and so clear in their manifestation,
as to dull the edge of their
especial commendation. If the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>
utmost of patriotism and unselfish
devotion in the promotion
of our national interests
have always been and still remain
universal, there would
hardly be need of their commemoration.</p>
<p>But, after all, why should we
attempt to delude ourselves?
I am confident that I voice your
convictions when I say that no
play of ingenuity and no
amount of special pleading
can frame an absolutely creditable
excuse for our remissness
in appropriate holiday
observance.</p>
<p>You will notice that I use
the words “holiday observance.”
I have not in mind<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>
merely the selection or appointment
of days which have been
thought worthy of celebration.
Such an appointment or selection
is easy, and very frequently
it is the outcome of a
perfunctory concession to apparent
propriety, or of a transient
movement of affectionate
sentiment. But I speak of the
observance of holidays, and
such holidays as not only have
a substantial right to exist, but
which ought to have a lasting
hold upon the sentiment of our
people—days which, as often
as they recur, should stimulate
in the hearts of our countrymen
a grateful recognition of
what God has done for mankind,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>
and especially for the
American nation; days which
stir our consciences and sensibilities
with promptings to unselfish
and unadulterated love
of country; days which warm
and invigorate our devotion to
the supreme ideals which gave
life to our institutions and their
only protection against death
and decay. I speak of holidays
which demand observance by
our people in spirit and in
truth.</p>
<p>The commemoration of the
day on which American independence
was born has been
allowed to lose much of its significance
as a reminder of
Providential favor and of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>
inflexible patriotism of the
fathers of the republic, and has
nearly degenerated into a revel
of senseless noise and aimless
explosion, leaving in its train
far more of mishap and accident
than lessons of good citizenship
or pride of country.
The observance of Thanksgiving
Day is kept alive through
its annual designation by Federal
and State authority. But
it is worth our while to inquire
whether its original meaning,
as a day of united praise and
gratitude to God for the blessings
bestowed upon us as a
people and as individuals, is not
smothered in feasting and
social indulgence. We, in common<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span>
with Christian nations
everywhere, celebrate Christmas,
but how much less as a
day commemorating the birth
of the Redeemer of mankind
than as a day of hilarity and
the interchange of gifts.</p>
<p>I will not, without decided
protest, be accused of antagonizing
or deprecating light-hearted
mirth and jollity. On
the contrary, I am an earnest
advocate of every kind of sane,
decent, social enjoyment, and
all sorts of recreation. But,
nevertheless, I feel that the allowance
of an incongruous
possession by them of our commemorative
days is evidence of
a certain condition, and is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>
symptomatic of a popular tendency,
which are by no means
reassuring.</p>
<p>On the days these words are
written, a prominent and
widely read newspaper contains
a communication in regard to
the observance of the birthday
of the late President McKinley.
Its tone plainly indicates that
the patriotic society which has
for its primary purpose the
promotion of this particular
commemoration recognizes the
need of a revival of interest in
the observance of all other memorial
days, and it announces
that “its broader object is to
instil into the hearts and minds
of the people a desire for real,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>
patriotic observance of all of
our national days.”</p>
<p>Beyond all doubt, the commemorations
of the birth of
American heroes and statesmen
who have rendered redemptive
service to their country in
emergencies of peace and war
should be rescued from entire
neglect and from fitful and dislocated
remembrance. And,
while it would be more gratifying
to be assured that throughout
our country there was such
a spontaneous appreciation of
this need, that in no part of our
domain would there be a necessity
of urging such commemorations
by self-constituted organizations,
yet it is comforting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>
to know that, in the midst of
prevailing apathy, there are
those among us who have determined
that the memory of
the events and lives we should
commemorate shall not be
smothered in the dust and
<span class="gesperrt">smoke</span> of sordidness, nor
crushed out by ruthless materialism.</p>
<p>On this day the Union
League Club of Chicago should
especially rejoice in the consciousness
of patriotic accomplishment;
and on this day, of
all others, every one of its members
should regard his membership
as a badge of honor.
Whatever else the organization
may have done, it has justified<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>
its existence, and earned the
applause of those whose love of
country is still unclouded, by
the work it has done for the
deliverance of Washington’s
birthday from neglect or indolent
remembrance. I deem
it a great privilege to be allowed
to participate with the
League in a commemoration so
exactly designed, not only to
remind those of mature years
of the duty exacted by their
heirship in American free institutions,
but to teach children
the inestimable value of those
institutions, to inspire them to
emulation of the virtues in
which our nation had its birth,
and to lead them to know the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>
nobility of patriotic citizenship.
The palpable and immediate
good growing out of the commemorations
which for twenty
years have occurred under the
auspices of the League are less
impressive than the assurance
that, in generations yet to
come, the seed thus sown in
the hearts of children and
youth will bear the fruit of disinterested
love of country and
saving steadfastness to our national
mission.</p>
<p>In furtherance of the high
endeavor of your organization,
it would have been impossible
to select for observance any
other civic holiday having as
broad and fitting a significance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span>
as this. It memorizes the birth
of one whose glorious deeds
are transcendently above all
others recorded in our national
annals; and, in memorizing the
birth of Washington, it commemorates
the incarnation of
all the virtues and all the ideals
that made our nationality possible,
and gave it promise of
growth and strength. It is a
holiday that belongs exclusively
to the American people. All
that Washington did was bound
up in our national life, and became
interwoven with the warp
of our national destiny. The
battles he fought were fought
for American liberty, and the
victories he won gave us<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>
national independence. His example
of unselfish consecration
and lofty patriotism made manifest,
as in an open book, that
those virtues were conditions
not more vital to our nation’s
beginning than to its development
and durability. His faith
in God, and the fortitude of his
faith, taught those for whom
he wrought that the surest
strength of nations comes from
the support of God’s almighty
arm. His universal and unaffected
sympathy with those
in every sphere of American
life, his thorough knowledge of
existing American conditions,
and his wonderful foresight of
conditions yet to be, coupled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>
with his powerful influence in
the councils of those who were
to make or mar the fate of an
infant nation, made him a tremendous
factor in the construction
and adoption of the constitutional
chart by which the
course of the newly launched
republic could be safely sailed.
And it was he who first took
the helm, and demonstrated,
for the guidance of all who
might succeed him, how and in
what spirit and intent the responsibilities
of our chief magistracy
should be discharged.</p>
<p>If your observance of this
day were intended to make
more secure the immortal fame
of Washington, or to add to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>
the strength and beauty of his
imperishable monument built
upon a nation’s affectionate remembrance,
<span class="gesperrt">your</span> purpose
would be useless. Washington
has no need of you. But
in every moment, from the time
he drew his sword in the cause
of American independence to
this hour, living or dead, the
American people have needed
him. It is not important now,
nor will it be in all the coming
years, to remind our countrymen
that Washington has lived,
and that his achievements in
his country’s service are above
all praise. But it is important—and
more important now
than ever before—that they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>
should clearly apprehend and
adequately value the virtues
and ideals of which he was the
embodiment, and that they
should realize how essential
to our safety and perpetuity are
the consecration and patriotism
which he exemplified. The
American people need to-day
the example and teachings of
Washington no less than those
who fashioned our <span class="gesperrt">nation</span>
needed his labors and guidance;
and only so far as we commemorate
his birth with a
sincere recognition of this need
can our commemoration be useful
to the present generation.</p>
<p>It is, therefore, above all
things, absolutely essential to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>
an appropriately commemorative
condition of mind that
there should be no toleration
of even the shade of a thought
that what Washington did and
said and wrote, in aid of the
young American republic have
become in the least outworn, or
that in these later days of material
advance and development
they may be merely pleasantly
recalled with a sort of affectionate
veneration, and with a kind
of indulgent and loftily courteous
concession of the value
of Washington’s example and
precepts. These constitute the
richest of all our crown jewels;
and, if we disregard them or depreciate
their value, we shall be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>
no better than “the base Indian
who threw a pearl away richer
than all his tribe.”</p>
<p>They are full of stimulation
to do grand and noble things,
and full of lessons enjoining
loyal adherence to public duty.
But they teach nothing more
impressive and nothing more
needful by way of recalling our
countrymen to a faith which
has become somewhat faint and
obscured than the necessity to
national beneficence and the
<span class="gesperrt">people’s</span> happiness of the
homely, simple, personal virtues
that grow and thrive in
the hearts of men who, with
high intent, illustrate the goodness
there is in human nature.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>Three months before his inauguration
as first President of
the republic which he had done
so much to create, Washington
wrote a letter to Lafayette, his
warm friend and Revolutionary
ally, in which he expressed his
unremitting desire to establish
a general system of policy
which, if pursued, would “ensure
permanent felicity to the
commonwealth;” and he added
these words:</p>
<p>“I think I see a path as clear
and as direct as a ray of light,
which leads to the attainment
of that object. Nothing but
harmony, honesty, industry and
frugality is necessary to make
us a great and happy people<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>
Happily, the present posture of
affairs, and the prevailing disposition
of my countrymen
promise to coöperate in establishing
those four great and
essential pillars of public felicity.”</p>
<p>It is impossible for us to be
in accord with the spirit which
should pervade this occasion if
we fail to realize the momentous
import of this declaration,
and if we doubt its conclusiveness
or its application to any
stage of our national life, we
are not in sympathy with a
proper and improving observance
of the birthday of George
Washington.</p>
<p>Such considerations as these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>
suggest the thought that this is
a time for honest self-examination.
The question presses upon
us with a demand for reply that
will not be denied:</p>
<p>Who among us all, if our
hearts are purged of misleading
impulses and our minds
freed from perverting pride,
can be sure that to-day the
posture of affairs and the prevailing
disposition of our countrymen
coöperate in the establishment
and promotion of
harmony, honesty, industry and
frugality?</p>
<p>When Washington wrote
that nothing but these was
necessary to make us a great
and happy people, he had in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>
mind the harmony of American
brotherhood and unenvious
good-will, the honesty that insures
against the betrayal of
public trust and hates devious
ways and conscienceless practices,
the industry that recognizes
in faithful work and
intelligent endeavor abundant
promise of well-earned competence
and provident accumulation,
and the frugality which
outlaws waste and extravagant
display as plunderers of thrift
and promoters of covetous discontent.</p>
<p>The self-examination invited
by this day’s commemoration
will be incomplete and superficial
if we are not thereby<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>
forced to the confession that
there are signs of the times
which indicate a weakness and
relaxation of our hold upon
these saving virtues. When
thus forewarned, it is the
height of recreancy for us obstinately
to close our eyes to
the needs of the situation, and
refuse admission to the thought
that evil can overtake us. If
we are to deserve security, and
make good our claim to sensible,
patriotic Americanism, we
will carefully and dutifully take
our bearings, and discover, if
we can, how far wind and tide
have carried us away from safe
waters.</p>
<p>If we find that the wickedness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>
of destructive agitators
and the selfish depravity of
demagogues have stirred up
discontent and strife where
there should be peace and harmony,
and have arrayed against
each other interests which
should dwell together in hearty
coöperation; if we find that
the old standards of sturdy, uncompromising
American honesty
have become so corroded
and weakened by a sordid
atmosphere that our people are
hardly startled by crime in high
places and shameful betrayals
of trust everywhere; if we find
a sadly prevalent disposition
among us to turn from the
highway of honorable industry<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>
into shorter crossroads leading
to irresponsible and worthless
ease; if we find that widespread
wastefulness and extravagance
have discredited the
wholesome frugality which was
once the pride of Americanism
we should recall Washington’s
admonition that harmony, industry
and frugality are “essential
pillars of public felicity,”
and forthwith endeavor to
change our course.</p>
<p>To neglect this is not only
to neglect the admonition of
Washington, but to miss or
neglect the conditions which
our self-examination has made
plain to us. These conditions
demand something more from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>
us than warmth and zest in the
tribute we pay to Washington,
and something more even than
acceptance of his teachings,
however reverent our acceptance
may be.</p>
<p>The sooner we reach a state
of mind which keeps constantly
before us, as a living, active,
impelling force, the truth that
our people, good or bad, harmonious
or with <span class="gesperrt">daggers</span>
drawn, honest or unscrupulous,
industrious or idle, constitute
the source of our nation’s temperament
and health, and that
the traits and faults of our people
must necessarily give quality
and color to our national
behavior, the sooner we shall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span>
appreciate the importance of
protecting this source from unwholesome
contamination. And
the sooner all of us honestly
acknowledge this to be an individual
duty that cannot be
shifted or evaded, and the more
thoroughly we purge ourselves
from influences that hinder its
conscientious performance, the
sooner will our country be
regenerated and made secure
by the saving power of good
citizenship.</p>
<p>It is our habit to affiliate
with political parties. Happily,
the strength and solidity of our
institutions can safely withstand
the utmost freedom and
activity of political discussion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>
so far as it involves the adoption
of governmental policies
or the enforcement of good
administration. But they cannot
withstand the frenzy of
hate which seeks, under the
guise of political earnestness,
to blot out American brotherhood,
and cunningly to persuade
our people that a crusade
of envy and malice is no more
than a zealous insistence upon
their manhood rights.</p>
<p>Political parties are exceedingly
human; and they more
easily fall before temptation
than individuals, by so much as
partisan success is the law of
their life, and because their responsibility
is impersonal. It<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>
is easily recalled that political
organizations have been quite
willing to utilize gusts of popular
prejudice and resentment;
and I believe they have been
known, as a matter of shrewd
management, to encourage
voters to hope for some measure
of relief from economic
abuses, and yet to “stand pat”
on the day appointed for realization.</p>
<p>We have fallen upon a time
when it behooves <span class="gesperrt">every</span>
thoughtful citizen, whose political
beliefs are based on reason
and who cares enough for his
manliness and duty to save
them from barter, to realize
that the organization of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>
party of his choice needs watching,
and that at times it is not
amiss critically to observe its
direction and tendency. This
certainly ought to result in our
country’s gain; and it is only
partisan impudence that condemns
a member of a political
party who, on proper occasion,
submits its conduct and the
loyalty to principle of its leaders
to a Court of Review, over
which his conscience, his reason
and his political understanding
preside.</p>
<p>I protest that I have not
spoken in a spirit of pessimism.
I have and enjoy my full share
of the pride and exultation
which our country’s material<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>
advancement so fully justifies.
Its limitless resources, its astonishing
growth, its unapproachable
industrial development
and its irrepressible
inventive genius have made it
the wonder of the centuries.
Nevertheless, these things do
not complete the story of a
people truly great. Our country
is infinitely more than a
domain affording to those who
dwell upon it immense material
advantages and opportunities.
In such a country we
live. But I love to think of a
glorious nation built upon the
will of free men, set apart for
the propagation and cultivation
of humanity’s best ideal of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>
free government, and made
ready for the growth and fruitage
of the highest aspirations
of patriotism. This is the
country that lives in us. I indulge
in no mere figure of
speech when I say that our nation,
the immortal spirit of our
domain, lives in us—in our
hearts and minds and consciences.
There it must find its
nutriment or die. This thought
more than any other presents
to our minds the impressiveness
and responsibility of
American citizenship. The land
we live in seems to be strong
and active. But how fares the
land that lives in us? Are we
sure that we are doing all we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>
ought to keep it in vigor and
health? Are we keeping its
roots well surrounded by the
fertile soil of loving allegiance,
and are we furnishing them the
invigorating moisture of unselfish
fidelity? Are we as diligent
as we ought to be to protect
this precious <span class="gesperrt">growth</span>
against the poison that must
arise from the decay of harmony
and honesty and industry
and frugality; and are we
sufficiently watchful against the
deadly, burrowing pests of consuming
greed and cankerous
cupidity? Our answers to
these questions make up the
account of our stewardship as
keepers of a sacred trust.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>The land we live in is safe
as long as we are dutifully careful
of the land that lives in us.
But good intentions and fine
sentiments will not meet the
emergency. If we would bestow
upon the land that lives
in us the care it needs, it is
indispensable that we should
recognize the weakness of our
human nature, and our susceptibility
to temptations and
influences that interfere with a
full conception of our obligations;
and thereupon we should
see to it that cupidity and selfishness
do not blind our consciences
or dull our efforts.</p>
<p>From different points of
view I have invited you to consider<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>
with me what obligations
and responsibilities rest upon
those who in this country of
ours are entitled to be called
good citizens. The things I
pointed out may be trite. I
know I have spoken in the way
of exhortation rather than with
an attempt to say something
new and striking. Perhaps you
have suspected, what I am quite
willing to confess, that, behind
all that I have said, there is in
my mind a sober conviction that
we all can and ought to do more
for the country that lives in us
than it has been our habit to
do; and that no better means
to this end are at hand than a
revival of pure patriotic affection<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span>
for our country for its own
sake, and the acceptance, as
permanent occupants in our
hearts and minds, of the virtues
which Washington regarded
as all that was necessary
to make us a great and happy
people, and which he declared
to be “the great and essential
pillars of public felicity”—harmony,
honesty, industry and
frugality.</p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div class="chapter">
<div class="transnote">
<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p>
<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p>
<p>The decorative border shown in this eBook in the Introduction appears throughout the entire book.</p>
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<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 68159 ***</div>
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