THE DUTY OF MANHOOD.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7953, 31 January 1906, Page 7

THE DUTY OF MANHOOD.

(By Theodore Roosevelt),

Tbe only effective way to help anybody ia to help him to help himself. There are exceptional times when any one of us needs outside help, and then it should be Riven freely, but normally each one of us must depend upon his own exertions for his owu swocesa. Some thing can be done by wise legislation and by wise anrl honest administration of the laws; that is, something ■can be done by our action taken in our collective capacity through the State and the nation. Something more can bo done by combination and organisation among ourselves in our private capacities as citizens, so long as this combination or organisation is managed with ■wisdom aud integrity, with insistence upon the rights of benefited, and yet with just regard for the rights of others. .'MB But in the last analysis the factor most influential is in determining any man's success must ever be the sum of that man's own qualities, of his knowledge foresight, thrift, and courage. Whatever tends increase his self-respect, whatever tends to help him overcome the temptations with which ail of us are surrounded, is of benefit, not only to him, but to the whole community. it is of incalculable consequence to the man himself that he should be sober and temperate, and it ia of «ven more consequence to his wife and children; for it is a hard and cruel fact that in this life of ours the sins of the man are often visited most heavily uprm those whose wel- j fare should be his one special care. For the drunkard, for the man Who losus his job because he cannot 'control or will not control his desire for liquor and for vioious j pleasure, we have a feeling of anger ■and contempt mixed with our pity; but for his unfortunate wife and little ones we feel only pity, amd that of the deepest and tendelS&st kind. * Everything possible should be done to encourage the growth of j that spirit of self-reapeot, selfrestraint, self-reliance, which, if it only grows enough, la certain to make all those in whom it shows it self move steadily upward towards the highest standard uf citizenship. It is a proud and responsible privilege to be aitizens of a great selfgoverning nation; and each of us needs to keep steadily before his eyes the fact that be is wholly unfit to take part in th 6 work of governing others unless be can first govern himself. He must btand up manfully for bis own rignts; he must respect the rights of others; he must obey the law, and he must try to live up to thoae rules of righteousness wbiob are above and behind all laws. This applies just as much to the man of great wealth as to the man of small means; to the capitalist as to the wage-worker. As one practical point, let me urge that in the event of any difficulty, especially if it is what is kr»own as labour trouble, both sides show themselves willing to meet, willing to consult, and anxious eaofc tc treat the other reasonably and fairly, each to look at the other's side of the case, and to do the other justice. If only this course could be generally followed, the ahance of industrial disaster'would be minimised. In what is here written this priest does not mean that the tendency is to grow worse, but he means that with shorter hours an d increased wages there is a tendenoy to go wrong which must be offset by movements aDd similar efforts for social and civio betterment, or else the increase in leisure and mooey will prove a curse instead of a blessing. I strive never to tell anyone what I do not thoroughly believe, and I shall not say that to be honest and temperate and hard-working and thiifty will always bring suooess. The hand of the Lord is sometimes heavy upon the just as well as upon the unjust, and in the life of labour and effort which we must lead on this earth it is nut always possible, either by work, wisdom, or by upright behaviour to ward of? disaster. Bat is it is most emphatically true that the chance of leading a happy and prosperous life is immensely improved if only the man 4s decent, sober, industrious, and exercises foresight and judgment. Let him remember, above all, that the performance of duty is the first essential to right living, and that a good type of average family life is the uorner-stone of national happiness and greatness. No man oan be a good citizen, unless first of all be is a good man in his ■own family—unless he does his duty 'faithfully by his wife and children. I strongly believe in trade unions •wisely and justly handled, in which the rightful purpose—to benefit those connected with them—is not accompanied by a desire to do injustice or wrong to others. I believe in the duty of capitalist and wageworker to try to seek one another out to understand each the other's point of view, and to endeavour to show broad and kindly human sympathy one with the other. I believe in the work of the great temperance organis'ati ons, of all kindred movements, like the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's; in short, every movement which strives to help a man by teaching him how to help himself. But, most of all, I believe in the efficacy of the man himself, striving continually to increase his own self-respect by the way in which he does his duty to himself and to his neighbour.