1908 



EDITORIAL 



63 



But let the reader turn to the let- 

 ter and read it in its entirety, and 

 then let him consider the question, 

 "What are we going to do about it?" 



What 

 Shall 

 We Do? 



We can take one of two 

 courses: First, we can 

 do nothing; we can 

 follow in the footsteps of China 

 and Syria and the several Medi- 

 terranean lands that have destroy- 

 ed their birthright and are now, 

 through the centuries, paying the grim 

 penalty. We can continue to create 

 conditions that will cause posterity 

 to look back upon the present era as 

 the golden era in American history; 

 and to curse the short-sighted, brutal 

 selfishness of sires who, for the brief, 

 temporary gratification of industrial 

 ambition, destroyed the land upon 

 which, for all time, their children 

 must live, and bequeathed to them an 

 inheritance of slavery and want. Or 

 we can grapple with the conditions 

 like men. We can appeal to the splen- 

 did intelligence and the great heart 

 of the American people. We can 

 bring home to them the facts and the 

 invitable consequence. We can make 

 c^ear to them the solution and lead 

 them to apply it while yet there i'J 

 time. Which horn of the dilemma 

 shall we choose? 



Suppose we discard the policy of 

 inertia and adopt that of action? The 

 task before us, as stated, is great. We 

 must remember that the average man 

 is largely absorbed in the immediate 

 problem of procuring his daily bread. 

 Days of toil, followed by nights of 

 recuperation, make up the lives of 

 most. To rouse them is no small 

 task. No one medium of communica- 

 tion reaches more than a fraction. A 

 multitude of media must be utilized. 

 Further, no single lesson will suffice. 

 What is requi -cd is the line upon line, 

 and precept upon precept ; the 

 constant dropping that wears the 

 stone=: : ^he appeal to the eye through 

 book and picture, and to the ear 

 through the human voice until the 

 mind has been convinced and the will 

 -enlisted. 



But, when this has been done, there 

 yet remain the tasks, first, of indica- 

 ting the kind of action required, of 

 distinguishing real remedies from 

 spurious and deceptive ones, and, sec- 

 ond, of writing the necessary legisla- 

 tion upon the statutes and seeing that, 

 amidst the whirligig of political 

 changes, the legislation is enforced and 

 the interests of the people are safe- 

 guarded. 



Here is a work which may well 

 appeal to the noblest, and claim the 

 service of the greatest. 



The Task 



and 



The Tools 



And to cope with this 

 situation, what have we ? 

 An organization of some 

 six thousand people, largely absorbed 

 in their private affairs, and paying for 

 the most part annual dues of two 

 dollars each; an office with a half- 

 dozen helpers swamped with work, 

 a magazine reaching seven or eight 

 thousands out of eighty millions, and, 

 more recently, a press bulletin reach- 

 ing fifteen hundred newspapers per 

 week. 



This, it is true, is something; it 

 means a far greater efficiency than 

 the Association has ever before 

 known ; it is a wheat grain which may 

 ultimately yield a crop. 



But. as compared with the actual, 

 daily need of the Nation, this is noth- 

 ing at all; it is a drop in the ocean, 

 a single lighted match in the darkness 

 of Egypt; an ant seeking to tunnel a 

 mountain. When, by the side of the 

 task, we place the tools for perform- 

 ing it, we are still, obviously, in the 

 day of small things. 



This work imperatively demands 

 adequate equipment. Its activities 

 should be multiplied a hundred-fold. 

 It should become a power, inspiring 

 the forces of destruction with concern 

 and the forces of construction with 

 hope and confidence. 



_ . . The great need of this 



Ass"odation organization is funds. 

 Whence shall they 

 come? Of necessity, they must come 

 from private sources. Membership 



