PUBLIC SPIRIT 



so unsafe; but now, as population condenses, 

 men's life together requires increased 

 thoughtfulness on the part of men them- 

 selves. Angry problems arise that once had 

 no existence. They will not down, nor will 

 they solve themselves. If given efforts to. 

 reform, shape, and manage society suffer 

 shipwreck, the proper inference is not that 

 a let-alone policy is best, but that we need 

 in this field still deeper study and a more 

 consummate art. 



It is a dreadful, but quite necessary reflec- 

 tion, that these inestimable gifts may be lost. 

 The best government on earth may fall; 

 civilization itself may suffer eclipse. Egypt 

 was; Athens was; Rome was. Will our 

 beloved America continue to tread the ex- 

 alted road which has witnessed her career 

 thus far, or is she one day to halt in her 

 mighty march and then droop and perish 

 like all the republics before her? 



Such a question is forced upon one scan- 

 ning certain unsocial and anarchic tenden- 

 cies of these days. You will, doubtless, 

 expect one to mention as foremost among 



