Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 105, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1912 — THE QUIET HOUR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE QUIET HOUR

In Justice Is the Foundation of the Moral Structure By THE CHURCHMAN THE truly good man is anxious to be just to bis neighbor first and to be kind to himself afterward. This is getting the moralities in their proper order. Twant no one to send me hothouse grapes or lace valentines till he has settled up my just bill against him. I prefer a living salary throughout the year to a sumptuous donation party at Christmas. In other words, Justice takes precedence of charity in my desires and in those, I believe, of most right-minded men. In the eighth century B. C. there lived a” prophet who put forth a definition of religion that appears as wonderful a definition of genius as the art of Phidlaa or the science of Aristotle. The prophet’s name was Micah, and here is his definition: “He hath showed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee but to do Justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” ' The Lord demands first of-all that men be just In their dealings with their fellows. Withal justice is a primal demand that men make of each other. The rich sometimes wonder that the objects of their bounty rise in revolt against various welfare schemes designed to help the working" class. They cannot see why thplr kindhearted plans fall to arouse enthusiasm In the'beneficiaries. The reason In many cases Is main. Workingmen, like everybody else, want justice before they want kindness. One In particular I remember wen. His thought was always along this line, and as he would come into the saving institution where he was paying for his little home, each Saturday evening, he never failed to impress those about him with this particular idea. .Basie Demand for Justice. With the spirit of the Kentuckian he always pointed out that workingmen would rather have a decent wage than all the model tenements and pleasure parks'had hand concerts that the boss could devise. Presiding on one occasion at a mass meeting designed to aid some charity, Jacob Riis looked at a placard on the wall which read, "Charity covereth a multitude of sins,” and exclaimed: "It's time to take that cover off.” There is n widespread disposition to agre with this sentiment. Millionaires who bequeath magnificent sums to education or philanthropy must expect to have the gift horse looked In the mouth. If what is given to the public represents sharp practice on the part of the giver, if it is the fruit of extortion, legal or Illegal, the applause is faint today, and it is going to get fainter all the time. We are becoming ethically sensitive to the i way in which money is got, no less than to the way it Is given. It is more flattering to one's selfesteem to play the role of Lord or Lady Bountiful than It is to stand for even-handed justice to all. There are philanthropists who could not pose as almoners to the poor, as they have done. If they had been willing to give the poor a square deal in the first place. Illustrations of this general principle are numerous. The case of Capt. Dreyfus of the French army has pot wholly faded from the public mind. After the victim had been pardoned and released from his cruel and unjust Imprisonment the novelist Zola wrote to Mae. Dreyfus: "It is revolting to obtain pity when one aides for justice, and all seems preconcerted to bring about this last iniquity. The judges, wishing to strike the Innocent in order to save the guilty, seek refuge in an act of borrihle hypocrisy which they call mercy "h. * __ Foundation of Moral structure. Have you over known parents who would crush out a child’s initiative, Ignore his tastes, browbeat him generally, and then give him a party or outing devised wholly after the aforesaid parents’ own ideas and at which the youngster was expected to be delighted, or appear as an ingrate? It would or Edith n Siy tr^Sld lt lw or aSo?Sd some alight expression of opinion in regard to the matters vital to their Justice is not the whole of the morii structure that a good man wiQ try to build, but it is a mighty important foundation stone. Until one. is pretty firmly grounded upon it be cannot decently add the upper stories of mercy and of benevolenoe. -r- Washington