WORTH SHORR BREESE 
15 
would prefer to pay a little more 
for the commodities of life and keep 
the wolves literally from _ their 
doors. 
Service 
The maxim of public life is ser- 
vice as well as honor. In a literal 
sense every office holder is a servant 
of the people. It is the service 
which is rendered which earries 
with it the honor. Honor without 
the joy of service is vanity. For- 
tunately positions of trust and re- 
sponsibility carry with them not 
only the honor but the opportunities 
for service. It is the service which 
one can render that makes honor 
among men possible. This is very 
true in the affairs of a Town or a 
Municipality. The opportunities 
which its various offices open for 
publie service should be grasped. 
Service alone is the price of honor. 
Such opportunities for service 
should fall by the choice of the 
people to the men of character and 
ability in any community. Unfortu- 
nately there has been a distinet de- 
cline of public spirit that seems to 
be wide-spread. The best men often 
refuse public office and public ser- 
vice. There is, of course, the other 
side. Too often office-holders have 
been the target for unnecessary, un- 
justifiable and often malignant crit- 
icisms. Such no one enjoys. Never- 
theless good men understand the 
prices of public service and count 
upon just so much criticism as a 
part of the burden. While human 
nature remains what it is these con- 
ditions cannot be changed. The 
public never will learn to make all 
judgments honestly and fairly. The 
incumbent of any position is al- 
ways on the defensive and the con- 
testant has a negative advantage. 
He has not done anything to be erit- 
icised. Many good men have been 
unjustly assailed by aspirants for 
the same office who have not been 
inspired by high motives. These 
two conditions seem almost irremov- 
able in polities, but in town affairs 
there is every reason why men who 
have been successful in the conduct 
of their own affairs should not wel- 
come the opportunities for public 
service and such as do respond to 
the eall of service should be pro- 
tected from unjust and unmeaning 
criticism. It is one of the hopeful 
signs of the time that good strong 
men are more and more answering 
the eall for service. 
Se e 
Forests for Towns and Villages 
The Massachusetts Forestry asso- 
elation has issued a pamphlet advo- 
eating municipal forests in charge 
of a municipal forester from which 
in time a revenue could be derived 
annually. In fact, in some Euro- 
pean municipalities revenues from 
town forests are able to pay all the 
expenses of the town government. 
It is thought that progressive 
American towns should follow the 
example, become interested and 
help promote a campaign of for- 
estry for the home town. 
No work of greater public prom- 
ise could be started at once than to 
promote a_ systematic campaign 
for municipal forests. A law has 
been enacted by the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania authorizing the crea- 
tion of such municipal forests. 
The preservation of the industries 
of the country, the regulation of 
the flow of the rivers, the preven- 
tion of floods and the perpetuation 
of the water-powers of many re- 
gions in the east and south depend 
on the preservation of the forests 
and of the woodland cover. In 
New England there are many areas 
of woodland that would make wise 
investments for municipal forests. 
In Freudenstadt, Germany, all 
the lumber revenue from the munic- 
ipal forests pays all the expenses of 
the city government. Many Ameri- 
ean forests are likewise capable of 
paying the cost of municipal activi- 
ties, 
Grand Forks, North Dakota, now 
owns its ‘‘forest plantation.’’ In 
Baden, Germany, 43 percent. of 
1,342,944 acres of forests belong 
to communities and _ corporations, 
namely 577,465 acres. They are al- 
lowed to cut yearly 261,724,300 
board feet of timber and wood val- 
ued about $3,600,000, free from ex- 
pense of cutting. The city of Frei- 
burg, Germany, and the city of 
Heidelberg derived net benefits 
from their municipal forests respec- 
tively $46,835.76 and $12,634.32. 
Heidelberg is still acquiring forests 
—henece, the smaller gain. There 
are many other German towns also 
identified in this progressive line of 
forestry. In smaller towns and vil- 
lages, a town forest should go be- 
yond the mere utilitarian plan, but 
involve the edueational equipment 
of the town to supplement practical 
training in gardening and_handi- 
eraft or im other words, manual 
training. The municipal forest may 
be used by the people for general 
outing or recreation grounds  sub- 
ject to the rules of government ad- 
ministration. 
One patriotic citizen in a_ town 
should he take up this municipal 
forest question, advocate it, push it, 
day in and day out, until the object 
was accomplished, would raise in a 
town forest his enduring and useful 
monument. Everytown should stir 
up the apathetic public to this ac- 
tion. 
Debating and Public Speaking 
To the old-fashioned debating 
clubs of a generation or more ago 
can be attributed the successful 
careers of many statesmen who were 
instrumental in moulding events 
which have made our country great 
and powerful. 
Public speaking is quite often a 
stepping stone to a successful busi- 
ness career. Debating stimulates 
our mental faculties to an extent 
which enables us to think clearly 
and quickly, and to talk econvine- 
ingly when occasion demands. How 
often we admire the skill in ques- 
tioning or the power of persuasion 
of the successful captain of indus- 
oh fe 
The advantage of debating is that 
it compels research into the differ- 
ent fields of literature, which broad- 
ens our view on matters of every- 
day hfe. The information derived 
concerning famous men and events 
is constantly serviceable in dis- 
cussions. 
Debating is of great assistance to 
the person who takes pride in mas- 
tering the English language. There 
is great pleasure and satisfaction to 
be had in acquiring a wide vocabu- 
lary, and in studying words and 
their finer shades of meaning. 
Any one with fair ability and a 
reasonable amount of perseverance 
can, in time, master the art of de- 
bate. There is no accomplishment 
which yields a surer or larger re- 
turn for the effort it exacts. It is 
by going into the water and prac- 
ticing that one becomes an expert 
swimmer; so it is by constant ef- 
fort that one becomes an_ able 
speaker. In short, the way to learn 
to talk is—to talk. Henry Clay 
during his early life used to read 
and speak almost daily upon the 
contents of historical or scientific 
books. ‘‘These off-hand _ efforts,’’ 
he says, ‘‘were made sometimes in 
a cornfield; at others in the forest, 
and not infrequently in some dis- 
tant. barn with the horse and ox for 
my auditors. It is to this early 
practice in the great art of all arts 
that I am indebted for the primary 
and leading impulses that  stimu- 
lated me forward. and shaped and 
moulded my entire subsequent des- 
tiny.’’— From The Bulletin of the 
American Institute of Banking. 
Mr. Sterne: ‘‘This tea is weak!’’ 
Mr. Price: ‘‘Then I would advise you 
to lean it against the butter.’’ 
