And State Papers 135 



ecus living tended to lose the robust, virile qualities 

 of heart, mind and body, and if, on the other hand, 

 the men best fitted practically to achieve results lost 

 the guidance of the moral law. No one-sided devel 

 opment can produce really good citizenship as good 

 citizenship is needed in the America of to-day. If 

 a man has not in him the root of righteousness if 

 he does not believe in, and practice, honesty if he 

 is not truthful and upright, clean and high-minded, 

 fair in his dealings both at home and abroad then 

 the stronger he is, the abler and more energetic he 

 is, the more dangerous he is to the body politic. 

 Wisdom untempered by devotion to an ideal usually 

 means only that dangerous cunning which is far 

 more fatal in its ultimate effects to the community 

 than open violence itself. It is inexcusable in an 

 honest people to deify mere success without regard 

 to the qualities by which that success is achieved. 

 Indeed there is a revolting injustice, intolerable to 

 just minds, in punishing the weak scoundrel who 

 fails, and bowing down to and making life easy for 

 the far more dangerous scoundrel who succeeds. A 

 wicked man who is wicked on a large scale, whether 

 in business or in politics, of course does many times 

 more evil to the community than the man who only 

 ventures to be wicked furtively and in lesser ways. 

 If possible, the success of such a man should be pre 

 vented by law, and in any event he ought to be made 

 to feel that there is no condonation of his offences 

 by the public. There is no more unpleasant mani 

 festation of public feeling than the deification of 



