The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., March 01, 1925, Page 7, Image 7

MARCH, 1925
THE UNITED AMERICAN
of the entire people rather than for a clique or a section.
Bloc rule, such as we have had indications of in Con­
gress recently, is dangerous and un-American. We must
work together for the common good. There must be
as nearly a perfect union as we can bring about. If
we fail in this, we fail in the greatest fundamental
purpose of government.
The second reason for government is given as the
establishment of justice. As an accomplishment of
government this has been a slow and tedious process.
For long ages man’s conception of justice has been
justice only to his own class. In his mind there was
nothing wrong in dealing arbitrarily with the lower
classes. In his belief they were in the same position
as his animals and it was not wrong to exploit them,
to live upon their labor, to deprive them of life and
liberty. Justice to; the common man did not become a
commonly believed in function of government until
recent times and even today, in most countries, we fall
far short of reaching this end. Such conception of justice
was inherent in the makers of our Constitution and
hence they made it the second most important end of
government as stated in the Preamble. Let us, then,
always bear in mind that fair dealing in all our rela­
tions is a distinguishing characteristic of the good
American.
A third reason for government is the insurance of
domestic tranquility. There was much of lawlessness
in colonial days. The government was weak and its
officers were confronted with conditions which made
law enforcement extremely difficult. Hence the colonies
were ordinarily in a state of turmoil and dissension.
To remove this condition, to restore order and to bring
about law obedience and law respect, became one of
the supreme functions of the new government. Tran­
quility within the country, the right to earn a living,
to establish a home, to lay aside a competence, are
rights which the fair government attempts to establish
firmly.
The fourth reason for government is provision for
the common defense. Nations are competitors for the
property and business of the world just as individual
business men are rivals for trade. Thru such competi­
tion contentions arise and wars often result. Hence
a national police force, that is an army and a navy,
are more or less indispensable for the protection of the
lives, property and liberty of the nation’s citizens. For
this reason the taking of steps for the common defense
was established in the Preamble as one of the great-
responsibilities of government.
The fifth purpose of government is the promotion
of the general welfare. By this statement it is meant
that laws should be enacted and enforced which bring
happiness and prosperity to all industrious and thrifty
citizens. You will notice that it is said that the weir­
fare is to be general. The fair government does not
concern itself solely with the welfare of certain classes
as did so many governments of mediaeval times. The
welfare of the unskilled laborer, of the poor, even of
the inefficient and incapable, must be looked after.
Hence upon government, national or local or both,
rests the responsibility of preventing the selfish from
taking advantage of the poor, of giving to the un­
trained the opportunity to earn a comfortable living
I and of caring for and protecting those who are unable
Page Nine
to look out for themselves. It has responsibilities to­
ward its people similar to those a father has in his
relation to his own children. It is true, we have often
very imperfectly reached the end, but this failure is,
like other failures of our government, due not to any
faults in its organization but rather to the weakness
and selfishness and incapability of so many of those
upon whom rests the burden of government. It is
only when we shall be able to build up a loyal, un­
selfish citizenship that we shall adequately provide
for the general welfare.
*
*
*
Another object of government is the securing of
the. blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
Let me say again, as I have said in.former letters,
that by 'liberty We mean not license, not self-in­
dulgence, not the right to exploit others, 'but liberty
within the obligation of a just and fair relation to
other men. Living constantly with other men, we.
must respect their rights. If one of us were placed,
as was Robinson Crusoe, on a desert island, he could
do exactly as he pleased, but, on the contrary, most
of us are placed as is the man in the crowded street,
where to avoid trouble he must step aside now and
then; and so it is in life. We can not elbow our way
along. Altho we are always entitled to the right to
move forward, it must be by a constant consideration
for the rights of all other men to move forward. Hence
by liberty we rather mean freedom from unjust laws
and arbitrary rules, the freedom to make the most out
of life, the freedom to provide for our children, the
freedom to establish a home for our old age.
All these things are functions of government. Let
us learn them, let us strive to understand them, and
When we become citizens we .should help to bring about
their complete realization. The things I have spoken
of herein it is necessary to know. However, a knowledge
of the form and functions of government is not
enough. We must acquire that attitude of mind, that
manner of thinking, which leads us to believe in our
fellow men, to strive to be fair to them and to hold
and practice a profound respect for the law. This is
true Americanism and this is the attitude of mind of
the true American.
The. law of giving and receiving does not consist in giving
that which is of no value to us and expecting to receive that
which is of worth. The things that we receive are equal in
kind and quantity to those that we give.
Life is a discipline, a place for unfolding, therefore it does
not matter much what happens to us in the little affairs of
the day, but it does matter how we respond to life and its
events. — Daily Studies in Divine Science.
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