United States as if it had dropped from heaven, or had been specially
created by some kind of miracle upon American soil; and we were apt to
think that in mere republican forms there was some kind of mystic virtue
which made them a cure for all political evils. Our later experience
with cities has rudely disturbed this too confident frame of mind. It
has furnished facts which do not seem to fit our theory, so that now,
our writers and speakers are inclined to regard our misgoverned cities
with contempt.
It will best serve our purpose here, to outline the relation of the
citizen to the township rather than to the city, because its management
is less complex and, in most cases, is more complete and perfect.
Money is ordinarily raised by taxation for the following purposes,
namely: the support of the public schools; making and repairing
highways; the care of the poor; maintaining the fire department; paying
the salaries of the town officers; paying for the detection and
punishment of offenders against the law; maintaining burial grounds;
planting shade trees; providing for disabled soldiers and sailors and
their families; and, in general, for all other necessary expenses.
To carry on the work of a town, several officers are usually appointed.
A town clerk keeps accurate records of all business transacted; records
all births, marriages and deaths; makes the necessary returns to the
county and the state, and serves as the agent of the town in its
relation to the country at large. Officers usually known as selectmen or
supervisors, attend to the general business of the town. The town
treasurer receives and pays out all moneys raised for the carrying on of
the town's affairs. A school committee, or board of education, is also
needed to superintend all matters relating to our public schools. A
surveyor of highways must be provided, in order that the streets and
highways belonging to the town may be kept in proper condition; and an
assessor and collector of taxes, to attend to the raising of supplies. A
board of overseers of the poor is also needed, their duties being to
provide for the support of paupers and the relief of the needy poor.
We do not profess to have fully covered the ground in this brief
statement; but only to show that life, even in the smallest communities,
must necessarily make heavy drafts upon the time and attention of a
large number of individual citizens. But we desire to emphasize the
fact, that each of these several offices furnishes opportunity for the
employment either of a competent or an incompetent official, according
to the care with which the selection is made. It therefore becomes the
duty of every citizen to give personal attention to such matters, for if
these places are filled by corrupt or even careless men, the interests
of the community will be seriously imperiled, while if they are filled
by honest and patriotic men, the success of the town and its affairs is
practically assured.
Our one supreme object should be to raise the tone of our citizenship.
The town or city will not become permanently better except as we who
live in it become better. There are large sections in all our towns that
yield to the guidance of corrupt and designing men for the reason that
they are unreached by influences of a finer and more generous kind.
Plans must be formulated by which we can come into touch with these
lower quarters, and raise them quickly and surely to a higher level.
We all need to become better acquainted with the machinery of our local
governments and with certain principles and statutes by which the motion
of that machinery requires to be regulated. We cannot properly regulate
the doings of our public servants except as we are familiar with the
laws to which they are subject.
This question of obedience to law, can only be efficiently controlled by
the continued watchfulness of the law-abiding portion of the community;
and the situation in this respect is far more grave than most people
imagine.
A recent writer speaking of the lack of a proper enforcement of the law
says: "I was in a considerable Western city, with a population of
seventy thousand, some years ago, when the leading newspaper of the
place, commenting on one of the train robberies that had been frequent
in the state, observed that so long as the brigands had confined
themselves to robbing the railway companies and the express companies
of property for whose loss the companies must answer, no one had greatly
cared, seeing that these companies themselves robbed the public; but now
that private citizens seemed in danger of losing their personal baggage
and money, the prosperity of the city might be compromised, and
something ought to be done,"--a sentiment delivered with all gravity,
as the rest of the article showed.
This makes plausible the story of the Texas judge who is said to have
allowed murderers to escape on points of law, till he found the value of
real estate declining; then he carefully saw to it that the next few
offenders were hanged.
We must not take too narrow a view of public life. All civilized
governments consider themselves bound to perform other duties of an
entirely different character from those which pertain to peace and
justice. When our fathers framed the constitution of the United States,
they gave in the preamble to that instrument an admirable definition of
the province of government. This preamble reads as follows:
"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
constitution for the United States of America."
The motto of every good citizen should be, "the best means to promote
the greatest good to the greatest number." The ends to be sought are the
most healthy development, the highest and largest happiness to the whole
people; for only in this manner can we accomplish our full duty.
XXXVIII.
THE CITIZEN AND THE NATION.
MEMORY GEMS.
Love your country and obey its laws.--Noah Porter
The sum of individual character makes national character.--E. C. Mann
The true defense of a nation lies in the moral qualities of its
people.--Edwin C. Mason
Everything learned should be flavored with a genuine love of
country.--E. Edwards
Noble ideas of citizenship and its duties strengthen the will of all
patriots.--Merrill E. Gates
We are accustomed to say that our American government is "a government
of the people, by the people, for the people." It is largely in this,
its broad, comprehensive, and democratic character, that we so often
venture to hold it up to view as a model which might be copied by the
surrounding nations to their very great advantage. And certainly no
thinking person will deny that we have much to be justly proud of in
this respect; for our nation has neither parallel nor equal upon the
face of the green earth.
But in a land like this, where the government is formed by its citizens,
it can only be maintained by its citizens. Offices thus created must be
filled, and the ship of state must be manned, and manned with a careful,
honest, and patriotic crew, or it will be in danger of total wreck. In
our times of peril we have been quick to see and to acknowledge this;
and, more than once or twice, the nation has been saved by the prompt
and patriotic action of the people. But it is not so easy a matter to
keep our patriotism up to its noblest and its best when there is an
absence of unusual or exciting causes to call it into play. We must
therefore glance briefly at both these aspects of the case.
It is a requirement of long standing that, in case of war, every
able-bodied citizen must go forth as a soldier, if the government shall
so demand. He must, if really needful, help to save the state, even at
the risk, or at the positive loss, of his own life. Such calls have been
made by our government; and the manner in which our people have
responded has been the glory of our nation and the wonder of the world.
The citizen must share the risks of his country, as well as its
benefits. He must be willing to give protection to the rights and
interests of his fellows, or he cannot rightly expect protection for his
own. In this we are all so far agreed as to render anything like an
argument entirely unnecessary; and we do not hesitate to brand all
who fail us, under such circumstances, as unpatriotic and unworthy of
the sympathy and esteem to which faithful citizenship entitles men.
Now look at the other aspect of the case. The public service is not only
for times of war and tumult, but also for times of prosperity and peace;
and the claims of the nation are no more to be slighted or shirked in
the latter case than in the former. The ship of state must be manned, we
say, and the public offices necessary to prosperity and progress must be
filled. Many of these suffer unless filled by able and patriotic men;
and the interests, for the preservation and forwarding of which these
offices have been created, cannot be properly served.
The crying need of to-day is for men of public spirit; for men who will
seek the highest welfare of their fellow-citizens in general; men of
broad and generous views; men who look out upon life with an absence of
that littleness and near-sightedness which cannot distinguish between
public good and private interest.
Those men who will take no position in the service of their country,
unless it is accompanied with a monetary compensation, are after all,
very closely akin to the men who waited until bounties were offered
before they would take service in connection with the Civil War; while,
on the other hand, the men who are truly public-spirited, take pleasure
in serving the public and are liberal beyond the requirement of the law.
It has been well said that "A public office is a sacred trust." Whoever
engages in any duties of a public nature, is under the most solemn
obligation to do those duties honestly and well. There are some public
officials who, because they aid in the making of the laws, appear to
think themselves higher than the law, and therefore at liberty to obey
or to neglect its requirements, according as their personal inclinations
shall direct. But this is not so; and it should be made clear to all
such persons that they are in error.
The legislator is but a citizen, after all; and, as a citizen, he stands
in precisely the same relation to the law as does his brother of the
rank and file. Of all men, he should be obedient, and should labor to
surround the law with every possible safeguard; for it is among the most
precious and sacred of our earthly possessions. It is the charter of all
true freedom. It is a power before whose awful majesty every man must
bow, irrespective of outward position or personal influence. It must be
reverenced, honored, and obeyed by all.
Now the facts show that there is a strange ignorance, or else a strange
lack of conscience, in this matter, and that this is so wide-spread as
to be almost universal. It seems to be a common opinion that there is no
particular harm in cheating the government. If a politician secures a
high government position, or a business man is fortunate enough to
secure a large government contract, it seems to be expected that he will
secure from these sources larger profits than would be possible anywhere
else. In other words, it seems to be expected that the government will
pay more for any service than can be obtained from an individual or from
a private corporation, and that men will charge prices, and use
deception and fraud when they work for the country, which if practiced
upon private parties, would send them to prison and brand them with
lifelong disgrace.
Respecting that purification and elevation of the ballot-box, for which
so many of our thoughtful citizens are now pleading with more than
usual earnestness, our own thought is that it can best be accomplished
by the establishment and strict enforcement of an educational
qualification for voters, and by a residence in the United States of at
least ten years, before the voting privilege shall be bestowed. No man
should be allowed to vote until he can read and write. No man should be
allowed to put his hand upon the management of our public affairs until
he can read and understand our Constitution in the language in which it
is written.
One of the most ominous signs of the times is, that good men stand aloof
from politics. They do this either because they do not fully appreciate
the importance of their influence, or from the false conviction that
their votes will do no good, or, in many other instances, because they
consider their private business to be of more importance than the
matters of the state. But, in point of fact, the uplifting of the moral
tone of our country is a service of the most importance; and, even if we
consider ourselves alone, it is still true that we cannot afford to pass
it lightly by.
As citizens of the United States we stand possessed of a most wondrous
heritage; and what the civil authorities require of us, within their
own proper sphere, should be considered in the light of a binding duty.
As Professor Dole has pointed out, "We have seen magnificent cities
rising on the borders of the streams, and pleasant villages dotting the
hills; a flourishing commerce whitens the ripples of the lakes; the
laugh of happy children comes up to us from the cornfields; and as the
glow of the evening sun tinges the distant plains, a radiant and
kindling vision floats upon its beams, of myriads of men escaped from
the tyrannies of the Old World and gathered here in worshiping circles
to pour out their grateful hearts to God for a redeemed and teeming
earth."
Surely all that is worth preserving. Surely we will not allow so rich a
heritage to run waste. Surely we will support a nation whose past is
bright with glorious achievements, and whose future glows with the light
of a promise so radiantly beautiful. We need only remind you, therefore,
that the truest and most useful citizens of our country are those who
invigorate and elevate their nation by doing their duty truthfully and
manfully; who live honest, sober, and upright lives, making the best of
the opportunities for improvement that our land affords; who cherish the
memory and example of the fathers of our country, and strive to make and
keep it just what they intended it to be.
XXXIX.
THE IDEAL CITIZEN.
MEMORY GEMS.
Voters are the uncrowned kings who rule the nation.--Morgan
A second-rate man can never make a first-rate citizen.--J. S. White
Every good man in politics wields a power for good.--M. C. Peters
If you want a clean city, vote to place the government in clean
hands.--Dr. Mc Glynn
The ideal citizen is the man who believes that all men are brothers, and
that the nation is merely an extension of his family.--Habberton
We may now proceed to bring our studies to a close. All that has been
said, from the beginning, has been gradually but surely focusing itself
upon a single point; for the development of all these several faculties
and powers leads directly to the forming of a well-rounded and
fully-developed manhood.
A fully-developed manhood is the highest possible human achievement, and
includes within itself all that can be desired; and for this higher
manhood we now make our final and most urgent plea.
The real man is discovered in the sum total of his ideas; for it is in
these that his life takes shape and character, it is in these that his
true self comes into view. The real power of the true man lies in his
being able to turn his thoughts inward upon himself; to so gauge and
measure his own powers as to put them to the best uses; and to stand
aloof from those positions and practices for which he finds himself to
be unfitted.
The simple application of this rule to the practical affairs of to-day,
would diminish the number of our machine politicians by about four
fifths. We are loaded down, almost to the breaking point, with
politicians who do not understand politics, and who advocate measures
which are not for the public good, because the public good is not the
end for which they strive. But the fault is in the men themselves,
rather than in our political system. They must first be made manly,
before they can be made truly useful. They must first learn to govern
themselves, before they can successfully carry forward the work of
governing the nation. They must be taught that bluster is not argument,
and that to go through the motions of political service does not in the
least aid in the promotion of the public welfare. A single service
rendered from the heart is often of more value than a whole life of
noisy and showy pretense; but again we say that such service is almost
always the result of a thoughtful and considerate manliness.
All this applies with equal force to the private citizen. A sturdy but
quiet independence; a genuine love of righteousness and truth; a life of
uprightness and integrity, of honesty and fair dealing; an absence of
cringing and paltering, and of that miserable and contemptible fawning
upon the rich, and that silly and despicable worship of those in place
and power, which is too frequently to be observed;--all these things,
and others, must receive care and attention before the ideal stage of
manhood can be reached.
The manly man is a thinking being. By this we do not mean to say that he
imagines that he is running the universe, and that no one but himself is
acquainted with the secrets of its mechanism; but that he has a right to
weigh all questions in the scales of his own reason, and to draw his own
conclusions from the facts presented to his mind. If he be truly a man,
he will hold to that which he feels to be true against all opposition,
but will, with equal readiness, yield in all points where he discovers
himself to be in the wrong. Instead of going through life in political
leading-strings, bending to the will of one man, and gulping down the
opinions of another, he will stand upon his own feet, put his own
vertebral column to its legitimate use of sustaining his body, and his
own mind to its legitimate use of directing the issues of his life.
The ideal citizen will also be a gentleman. By this term, we do not mean
the milk-and-water, kid-gloved creature, who so often attempts to pass
muster in this connection. All that we have asked for in the man, we
insist on in the gentleman. Sturdy independence, vigorous thought,
mental and moral uprightness, and a backbone as strong as a bar of
steel,--but all tempered with a gentleness of disposition and a courtesy
of manner which brings every natural faculty and power beneath its sway,
and yet leaves principle and righteousness entirely undisturbed.
The real gentleman is, above all else, courteous and considerate. He is
master of himself, and that at all points,--in his carriage, his temper,
his aims, and his desires. Calm, quiet, and temperate, he will not allow
himself to be hasty in judgment, or exorbitant in ambition; nor will he
suffer himself to be overbearing or grasping, arrogant or oppressive.
The ideal citizen will also be, in the better sense of the word, a
politician. Be careful to note here that we say, a politician _in the
better sense_. We would have you distinguish, with the utmost
clearness, between a politician and a partisan. The true politician,
looking ever to the highest interests of the state, is a public
benefactor; while it very frequently happens that the mere political
partisan is a public nuisance, if not a public disgrace.
The man who sinks his country's interests in his own, and the man who
sacrifices his personal advantages for the sake of his country's good,
stand at the very opposite poles of human society. The man who swears by
party watchwords, and moves amid the burning animosities of party
strife, is centering his life in interests which may vanish like an
evening cloud. Not in the loud clamors of partisan struggle, are we to
find the secret highways which lead to national prosperity and progress,
but in that quiet, thoughtful, careful study of the interests and events
in which the national life is taking shape and color, and in the
application to these of the great principles of righteousness and common
sense.
This is about equal to saying that the ideal citizen will be a patriot.
We have so mixed in our minds the two distinct ideas of patriotism and
heroism, that we have need to pause for a moment, that we may
disentangle ourselves from the meshes of this net of misconception,
before we venture to proceed.
If we call for an illustration of patriotism, you point us to some
Horatius or Leonidas of the olden times; or to some William Tell, or
Ulysses Grant, of these more modern days. We do not say that these men
were not patriots, and patriots of a high order too. But their
circumstances were exceptional, and under these exceptional
circumstances their patriotism made them heroes. But if you will enter
into a careful study of the matter, you will find that it is the
heroism, quite as much as the patriotism of their lives, which takes so
strong a hold upon your hearts.
We therefore desire to place by the side of our beloved Grant, the man
who, in the midst of a bitter struggle for bread, can barely manage by
the closest possible economy to keep his family from want and shame, but
who still sacrifices an hour's wages that he may go to the polls and
vote the expression of his will, and thus support the measures which he
honestly believes to be for the public good; and we desire to say that,
on the ground of a true patriotism, we consider that the one is fully
the equal of the other, and that there is a sense in which the man of
smaller opportunities is the greater hero of the two.
There may be a thousand definitions of heroism, but the patriot is
simply "a man who places his country's interests before his own." He is
a patriot who fills well his station in life whether public or private,
who loves peace and promotes order, who labors to uphold the good and to
put down the bad. He is a patriot who uses all his advantages of
friendship, acquaintance, business connection, social position and the
like, in such a manner as to make these helps and not hindrances to his
country's progress. He is a patriot who seeks to aid in all movements
that look to the instruction, elevation, and permanent betterment of his
fellow-citizens, and to put down all such movements or institutions as
tend to demoralize and degrade them. Such is the patriotism we plead
for; and such patriotism and ideal citizenship are, in our minds, just
one and the same thing.