Part 25 (1/2)
For a body of human beings to attempt to live together without regard for each other's interests, would be certain to lead to confusion, if not to disaster. There would be no security for life or property; no recognized standard of values; no ready and certain means of communication; nor any of the higher conveniences which mark the life of our own land and age. That which is needed to insure these necessary benefits, is some common understanding, or some such generally accepted agreement, as finds expression in those forms of government which have, for these very reasons, become common to all civilized lands.
It is in this idea of a.s.sociated life that citizens.h.i.+p finds its real beginning. But between the formulation of the idea, and such citizens.h.i.+p as we now enjoy, there have been long centuries of slow growth and steady development. Each of these succeeding centuries has marked a decided improvement in the condition of mankind; and the outlook for the future of the race is more hopeful at the present than in any period of the past.
Men like to praise old times. They are fond of telling about ”the good old days,” when there was simplicity, and a rude but rugged virtue, and men were gay and happy. But if you were to take these men up, and carry them back there, and let them sleep where men slept then, and let them eat what men ate then, and let them do what men had to do then, and take from them what men did not have then,--you would hear the most piteous whining and complaining that ever afflicted your ears.
Do not be misled by such of our empty-headed reformers as would tell you that the workman's lot is harder at the present than in the far-away centuries of the past; for their statements cannot be verified, but are untruthful and pernicious in the highest degree. The sober, industrious, self-respecting artisan of to-day has the privilege of entrance to many places and families which were closed against the merchants and manufacturers of one hundred years ago; and he stands possessed of opportunities such as were not possible even to the men of the last generation.
Citizens.h.i.+p stands inseparably connected with the family. The family is practically a little state in itself, embodying on a smaller scale, all those vital and fundamental principles which make up the larger life of the nation. It is in the family that we first come under government. Our earliest lessons in obedience are those which arise from the authority of our parents and guardians. It is in the home that we discover that we cannot do altogether as we please, but that others, as well as ourselves, must be regarded. And it will not be difficult to discern that, in the various phases of home life, we have represented almost all the forms of government which have become embodied in the various kinds of national administration now prevailing in the various parts of the earth.
In a well-ordered home, the authority would be such that every one could have the largest freedom of action consistent with the general good.
When the freedom of any one made itself a cause of annoyance to the rest, it would have to be curtailed. As fast as the children grew to deserve more liberty, it would be given them; but always on condition that they prove themselves worthy to be entrusted with this larger life.
But with this increase of freedom and privilege, comes the increase of responsibility. Every member of the family who is old enough to appreciate its privileges, is old enough to share its burdens. Some specific duties should be a.s.signed to each, however simple these may be; and for the performance of these duties, each should be held to be personally responsible. Precisely this is needed in the larger sphere of the state; and when this can be attained and maintained, the good of the state will be both effectually and permanently a.s.sured.
A true lover of his country will have, as his ruling idea, that the state is for the people, and that America has been made to make and sustain happy Americans. No nation is in a satisfactory condition when large portions of its population are discontented and miserable. The comfortable cla.s.ses will generally take care of themselves; but they need to know that their own prosperity is bound up with the condition of the uncomfortable cla.s.ses. And even if it were not so, it would be their duty to advocate such social reforms as would tend to raise men intellectually, morally, and circ.u.mstantially. The carrying into effect of all this opens up a vast realm of service for the public good; and the proper performance of this service, in all its several branches, const.i.tutes good citizens.h.i.+p.
Speaking in general terms, we may say that a citizen of a country is one born in that country. If you were born in the United States, then you are a citizen of the United States. This one simple fact endows you with all the privileges of our great nation, and, at the same time, lays upon you a measure of responsibility for the nation's welfare.
In addition to those who are trained for American citizens.h.i.+p in American homes, we have among us a large body of men who are ”citizens by adoption.” Millions of people have emigrated to America; and to these it has become the country of their own free choice.
We are sorry to observe, in certain quarters, a growing disposition to regard all immigrants as ”a bad lot”; for while we concede that many of those who come here, might certainly be much better than they are, we would yet remind you that these ”citizens by adoption” have repeatedly proved their loyalty to our national inst.i.tutions, and their willingness to die in following our national flag.
Every good citizen will give attention to public affairs. He will not only vote for good men and good measures, but he will use his personal influence to have others do the same. Ours is a government of the people, and is neither better nor worse than the people make it. We should study the needs of our country, and keep ourselves well informed on all the current questions of the day, and then, by an honest and intelligent exercise of the privileges which the nation grants us, prove ourselves citizens of the very highest type.
x.x.xVI.
THE CITIZEN AND THE HOME.
MEMORY GEMS.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.--Anon
The fireside is the seminary of the nation.--Goodrich
Early home a.s.sociations have a potent influence upon the life of the State.--Child
Nothing proves more ruinous to the State than the defective education of the women.--Aristotle.
The sorest spot in our munic.i.p.al and national condition, is the decadence of the home idea.--G. H. Parkhurst
The fact that children are so long in growing up, and pa.s.s so many years together under the care of their father and mother, is most important in the history of the race. During this long period of growth in the home they become fitted, as they could not in any other way, to take their places in the larger world of men and women. If children remained with their parents as short a time as the young of animals do, it is probable that men would never have risen above the state of barbarism. The home has been the great civilizer of the world.
The home is more than the family dwelling; it is the seat of the family life; and the family life stands to the life of the nation in the same relation as the index to the volume, or the expression of the countenance to the feeling of the heart. Our Saxon race has been distinguished from its historic beginnings for its love of personal liberty, and is the only race that has ever been able perfectly to realize this blessing in its highest and n.o.blest form.
If the word home could be squeezed into the language of the savage, it could have no such meaning for him as it possesses for us. The hut of the savage is simply a place to eat in and sleep in. He selects no spot on which to plant, and build, and educate. He claims to occupy so much territory as will furnish him with subsistence, but his ”home,” if he really has one, is in the forest, like the game he hunts. It is a fact beyond dispute, that all migratory people are low down in the scale of civilized life.