"THE IDEAL CITIZEN."

Shannon News, 30 March 1928, Page 3

"THE IDEAL CITIZEN."

REV. MCARTHUR’S ADDRESS TO

LUNCH CLUB.

A thought-provoking speech on, “The Ideal Citizen’ ’ wa's given by the Rev. J. D. McArthur at the monthly luncheon of the Levin Chamber of Commerce in the Oxford rooms last Friday. The Vice-president of the Chamber (Mr C. S. Keedwell) presided over an attendance which''was rather’ smaller than usual, several of the members (including the president and tlie secretary) being prevented by urgent business from being present. . In introducing the speaker, the ehair- • man s'ai,d that the. Rev. Mr McArthur was no stranger to them and they would well ’ remember the intellectual treat he had afforded them ona previous occasion. ; , ' Mr McArthur ’ prefaced his address by quoting the inscription, on an astrolabe (an instrument which prcceded-the sextant) made by a Mohammedan in India a thousand years ago. Engraved in Arabic characters, it consisted of the following words ‘ This astrolabe was the work of Hussein Ali, mechanic and mathematician; servant of they Most High God. May His name be exaltad throughout the universe. ’’■ In this quotation, said the lecturer, were the qualifications which they should; expect to find in the ideal citizen. The description of the artist as “mechanic add

mathematician” showed the skill of the maker; “servant of the most High God” showed the standard towards which he strived; and the wish, “.may His name be, exalted,” shoWd the motvo that actuated him. Mr McArthur classified the requisite qual-

ities, of the ideal citizen as four—imagination, intelligence, courage, and selfsacrifice, which might also be interpreted as devotion or consecration. - It seemed that, more and more in these days, these high qualities were needed to enable people, as citizens, to live worthily and not to succumb to the temptations'which pressed/upon them ■ to live otherwise. The value of the individual was being emphasised more and more, Under the conditions- of modern civilisation a man must stand alone, and yet think of others besides himself. The man., succeeded best who made his o-Wn interests the interests of others. - A gentleman who was recently, being farewellqd, said, in thd course ‘ of hia reply, that the work of an honorary character which he had performed had been a great pleasure to him, and - every? person in the eomttiunity ought fo regard himself as being under an obligation to contribute something to the community in which he made his living. In every town there were someprofessional and business men who contributed nothing of an honorary character to the town, as <far a'a was known;: what they did was done in order to get some recompense. . They exer cised their franchise only in order that others might carry out the -duties. When society was passing through the military phase it was taught that the citizen had to fight for his status; ablebodied citizens were compelled to arm themselves and to exercise their arms in the defence of society. Then it was considered that the eldest son shouli.

enter the navy; the second son the army, and the fool of the family the church. The position was reversed v, little in these days, he'-thouglit. With i the coming of the industrial age, less: demand was made on the citizens to fight for society and more emphasis was placed on the duty of working foi society, law could make a man , fight or perform some duty accessory tc ' fighting, but it had not discovered i way whereby it could make a man produce ihia best work. Society to-day demanded that, a citizen contribute the very best he had in t service to the community. ‘History showed that those institutions that lasted longest and' had the most beneficent effect on men were those with & fiduciary basis—those that were worked from a < trustworthy motive. There were men in the church with ability and capacity; who in business Would become merchant princes, very speedily, but Who gave their services to an historic institution because there had come to them what was known as a call. The question had ‘ been asked in the Press, “Are we starv-

ing our intellectualsand the state-, ment had been made that certain tradesmen were reciving more than, university lecturers. It was pointed out that this must mean incalculable loss to the com; munity in course of time. A man named Steinmetz, a servant of the General Electric Co., in America, died recently. It had been commonly thought that he was receiving a princely salary for his work and that he had shares in tin company. / When he died it was discov ered that for many years he had work ed for nothing; that he had been liv - ing on an annuity that expired’with his death, and that he only left an insurance policy for £BOO and a battered old car. He had given his life to scientific ideas, and the services that he had rendered couljd not bo estimated in, pounds, shillings-and pence. How many of our finest medical .men gave their best services to suffering humanity* There were traditions both in the medical and legal fraternities on those lines. ,The old Mohammedan mathematician called to people across the’ years to be of use to their day and try to represent an ideal. , “ What type of citizen are we training. to-dayMr McArthur asked. This, he said, might be a discouraging

question. People may not have troubled their heads to wonder. In striving' to develop the ideal citizen they aught always to aim at the ideal of trusteeship. A Labour speaker in the Old Country had told his hearers, ‘ ‘ You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Put your votes in-the ballot box i and the thing will be done.” The first statement was a falsehood, but it always went down “like hot cakes'' with many people. Of all the truths which the present generation required to learn, there was none more urgent than this: a man’s right to share in the common good is to be conditioned by his willingness to share in the com-

mon pain. A lot was heard of co-part-nership, sharing of promts, and so on; but a man’s right to shave was qualified by his willingness to bear. Carlyle bad deplored that leading citizens seemed to be losing the quality of courage and depending for election largely on their skill in oratory. The speaker believed that Carlyle had some reason for his complaint. The ideal citizen piust be a.courageous man in every sense of the word. In the Bible the pre-emin-' cut'quality in a leader was courage. This was the essential quality in those men who introduced Magna Charta, /who'constituted the first House of Parliament, who carried out the Reformation, and who brought about the revival of learning. To have faltered "anywhere would have meant death for them. This quality of courage was still in the breed. One had only to look back to the period of 1914-18 to know this. Many of the men who went to the front volunteered for a few shillings a day, to face privation and probably death. If they had been offered a salary commensurate with the risk, they would have turned it down ’ with scorn. The army and the navy were hot the only serviced that had men of courage in their ranks; nor was war the' only time when this virtue was called forth in the hearts of the pegfple. When volunteers were called for an Antarctic expedition, no fewer than 8000 able-bodied men responded, offering to risk their lives for a shilling a month and their food; One had only to think of Capt. Oates, who walked out into the night to his death, so hs not to be a burden on his 'companions' in the frozen waste. His sacrifice was in vain, but he was not honoured any the less for than. ‘ The ideal citizen must be prepared to live for the community and to do for nothing the things that lay to his 'hand. How many were prepared to substitute the word ‘ ‘responsibility” for ‘ ‘ rights? ’ ’ It would be' better for all concerned if this, were done. In the case of a Borough' Council election ten or twenty people might sign a paper setting forth that they considered John Smith to be a fit and proper person to represent the ratepayers. These nominators exercised their rights, but if they changed their rights to responsibilities and were themselves pressed to stand, there would bp. a weeding-out. The ideal citizen must accept such responsibilities, otherwise he was not ideal. A man’s duty as a citizen was defined by what he^owed, as a citizen, to the community. ■ If he objected to paying taxes, who was going to pay for the servicesi which lie received? He could not expect his neighbour to do so. , It was a common idea that when the ideal was reached, everything would go on as merrily as a marriage bell; —everything would be done as it. ought to be done. .This could never be so, however. ; As society rose, the tension to keep it going increased. It was > like thfe increased strain and the rising ratio, of fuel consumption when a motor ear was .“driven ' at. contin'uaßy augmented speeds,b Tlie h igher the ■ level oil which society was conducted, the more it"'cost to keep it there. Mr Me Arthur, in conclusion, quoted the ’oath taken by the Athenian youth on attaining citizenship, when he undertook to observe the obligations of loyalty and courage and devotion. The chairman conveyed to the speaker the appreciation of, the member!, present for- his interesting and enjoy able address. It had been a treat, Ik said, to' listen to Mr McArthur’s remarkin' '