2 38 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



act according to our present light and disregard what under this 

 must be incomplete or inadequate. Some will here undoubtedly 

 interject the popular notion that in a supposed free country the 

 people have it in their power to repeal useless laws whenever they 

 choose ; the facts do not seem to bear out the statement, but, let 

 that be as it may, as already hinted at, the inculcation in the 

 minds of the young of military obedience to law must certainly 

 make the chances for repeal more and more hopeless. 



Now, what do they mean, they who seriously argue that if we 

 are to preserve our free institutions we must rear a generation of 

 men "who have a wholesome respect for discipline, a habit of 

 obedience together with an enduring love for flag and country 

 which can not be uprooted by every passing storm of modern 

 isms" ? What do they mean by saying that a vote in the hands 

 of such is a safe vote for the country ? In the mouth of Emperor 

 Wilhelm such words and sentiments are perfectly consistent : his 

 power lies in the obedience of his subjects. But free institutions 

 and a servile spirit can never go hand in hand. Free institutions 

 can only be maintained by the eternal vigilance of the individual 

 men and women, whose power of deciding between right and 

 wrong is strengthened by free play and exercise. Change, cease- 

 less change, is the essence of life in superorganic as well as in 

 organic bodies. Evolution and dissolution, growth and decay 

 this is the immutable order everywhere. If freedom and liberty 

 are dependent on institutions, then clearly these must be change- 

 able, for, once they become fixed and stagnant, freedom to act is 

 out of the question. If this be not so, what is the meaning of "a 

 vote in the hand of a freeman " ? And what is the meaning of 

 many of our symbols of liberty ? At the harbor of New York 

 city was erected the Statue of Liberty as " a pharos light to the 

 weak endeavor." Could this mean simply that the citizens bask- 

 ing in its light should cultivate a submissive obedience to what 

 once was decreed as best for them ? "Was it not rather intended 

 as a reminder of the fact that liberty can only thrive with a dis- 

 trust toward the old and a spirit ever ready to adapt itself to the 

 new ? 



The promoters of this movement can only have this in view : 

 The desirability of securing for our country a population of well- 

 drilled subjects whose business shall be, not so much " to reason 

 why " as it shall be " to do and die " " to toe out and hold their 

 chins up" when orders are given. When we remember how 

 largely, already now, legislation is dictated by concentrated capi- 

 tal or by various interests intrenched behind governmental pro- 

 tection, how it is influenced by religious or superstitious preju- 

 dices; when we remember how conservative these controlling 

 forces from their very nature must be toward everything that 



