Considerable has been heard lately of the American Institute of Civics,
an organization whose plans for promoting good citizenship are broader
and more comprehensive than have ever before been systematically
attempted in this country. That the Institute is obtaining the
encouragement and support of many of the strongest public men in the
country must be gratifying to all who recognize the necessity of having
sound political ideas prevail among the rising generation. The object of
the Institute is, in outline, to secure thorough instruction in all
schools and colleges on topics relating to government and citizenship;
to establish special schools of civics at important central points; to
secure, as far as possible, the influence of the press in promotion of
the same high purpose, and to disseminate, far and wide, sound political
literature. That the project has the interest of our soundest statesmen
and scholars may be seen from the fact that the President of the
National Advisory Board is Chief Justice Waite of the United States
Supreme Court, while the Board includes United States Senators Colquitt,
Hawley, Wilson, Blair, and Morrill, Secretary Lamar and Ex-Secretary
Hugh McCullough, Presidents Noah Porter and Julius H. Seelye,
Commissioner Eaton, and others. Among the New England officers and
members are such men as Judge Mellen Chamberlain of Boston, Secretary of
Education Dickinson, General Carrington, and many college presidents,
leading business men, prominent editors, etc. The membership is now
something over two thousand, and it is worth noting that aside from the
small fees thus obtained, there is no income, and the officers are none
of them in the receipt of any salary whatsoever. The Institute is
entirely unpartisan, and the importance of the work, which it is its
purpose to accomplish, cannot be overestimated. It has entered upon the
work of political education in the United States at a favorable time,
under the best of circumstances, and under the auspices of the most
eminent men of the day. Indeed, it may be doubted whether any
undertaking of a patriotic and educational character has ever commanded
in this or any other country the unqualified support of so large a
number of citizens of high distinction, belonging to every class and
calling. There seems, so far as our study of the plan of the Institute
enables us to judge, but one thing needful to its permanency and highest
success as a moulding influence in American political life of the
highest importance. So long as its officers are obliged to depend wholly
upon the dues contributed by members, an element of uncertainty will
enter into its plans which cannot fail to largely interfere with the
fullest realization of its possibilities for good. This danger may be
wholly obviated, the Institute placed on a secure foundation, and its
future usefulness be assured, if some public-spirited men of wealth,
desirous of conferring the incalculable benefits upon future
generations, which will follow upon the realization of the Institute's
plans, will provide for it an endowment, the income of which will be
sufficient to defray the expense of maintaining its executive office.
We would be glad if some New England man of ample means should secure
the honor of thus endowing the American Institute of Civics with a fund
sufficient to establish it on the firm footing which it should have.
* * * * *
For the New Englander who would seek the delights of the country in the
summer months, what a diversity of scene may be found in his own six
States. Within the radius of a few hours' ride from Boston are an almost
infinite variety of "resorts," from the most primitive to the most
luxuriant. In Massachusetts alone are the delightful Nantasket and
Revere beaches, elegant Nahant, and the myriad of charming nooks from
Cape Ann to Provincetown. Then the Berkshire hills; Lenox and
Stockbridge, and other equally beautiful towns, but with less
pretensions to aristocracy; the lovely valley of the Connecticut, the
romantic Deerfield and the pleasant Franklin hills. In Maine, beginning
with Old Orchard, perhaps the finest beach on the Atlantic coast, what
delightful harbors and islands there are. And in the Maine woods there
is a wealth of health and sport. Grandeur is found in the White
Mountains, comfort and elegance at their great hotels. And here, as well
as through the hundreds of rural towns on and among the Green Mountains,
are the quiet farmhouses where one may abide, and see the New England
character--sometimes, not always--at its very best. Whether one sighs
for the wildness of the primeval woods, the quiet of the rural farm, or
the elegance of a luxurious villa or superb hotel, he need not, unless
he desires to travel, look beyond the border lines of fair New England.
* * * * *
There is a growing tendency with our New England people to make rest and
recreation matters of considerable importance in themselves. Business is
driven at a greater speed than it used to be, and an annual relaxation
from business or professional cares and toils has become a positive
necessity. The earlier generations worked more slowly and coolly, and a
man could endure many years if need be without a thought of a regular
vacation, while those who did go from the city to the mountains or
seashore in the summer months were those who could afford it as a
luxury, rather than so doing as a matter of physical or mental economy.
Then again, country accommodations were very limited, and facilities for
travel were exceedingly meagre as compared with the present. This was
the case no more than a score of years ago. The era of great summer
hotels, of "special trains for the season," and of swift and commodious
steamboats to the beaches had not begun. Now the vast amount of summer
travel forms almost a world of itself. All classes are included. The
rich merchant resorts to his beautiful cottage by the sea, or to the
splendid hotel in the mountains, for a stay of perhaps three or four
months; the family of moderate means engage board at some one of the
multitude of "resorts"; the ill-paid clerk or poor artisan may arrange
for a week or two in the country, or, at least, may enjoy a few Saturday
afternoons at the beaches; and now, God bless them! even the half-fed
children of the narrowest street and lane may have a run in the green
fields or shady woods on some hot summer day. That ways exist for the
relief of so many, rich and poor, from the pent-up city in the sultry
months is indeed a blessing, and, like all others, it requires
intelligence for its proper use and appreciation. To work and worry
eleven months at fever heat, and then relax both brain and body for one,
may not afford a longer or more happy life than a continuous routine of
labor performed in a more temperate, less-exciting way; but if we _must_
work at such high pressure in this age, let us make the most of our
times of rest. Woe to the man who carries with him to the cool mountains
or the quiet beach such a paraphernalia of civilization (?) and fashion
that he comes back to town more jaded than he went.
* * * * *
The impudence of newspaper reporters has furnished material for many a
good-natured joke, but there is getting to be more truth than humor in
the imputation. This became very apparent during the weeks preceding the
marriage of the President, but it reached its climax when the horde of
men and youth attached to various newspapers rushed to Deer Park and
almost literally besieged the cottage to which the distinguished couple
had retired. Such actions would be insolent enough had Mr. Cleveland
been much less than the President of the United States; but it has
always been supposed that there was a certain dignity attaching to this
high office, which citizens, whatever their estimate of the man, were
bound to respect. Whether this be so or not, it seems pretty certain
that no dignity has anything to do with "a reporter." Indeed, the
ability and brilliancy of a newspaper correspondent seem to be
commensurate with his "cheek,"--to use his own word. And yet, why
deprecate the reporters? They are simply the servants of the journals
they represent. They only obey the will of editors and publishers. The
one and the only conclusion is that the "great dailies,"--excepting
those which do have a measure left of honor and dignity, of which, thank
Heaven, a few are yet published--are on a grade far below many things
which they would not themselves dare to sanction. As the "New York
Evening Post" says, "If it be true that journalism is really a calling
in which men must do or say _anything_ which will increase sales, it is
the lowest occupation, not absolutely criminal, known to modern
society." And what is worse, these journals attempt to defend their
pernicious course by declaring that they "give only what the public
demands." If the public _is_ thus given over to sensationalism and
folly, is the press fulfilling its mission by pandering to its thirst?
It was once a theory that the press was a leader of the people. Has the
journal of the present no ambition beyond the biggest circulation and
the largest cash receipts?