Westport High School - Herald Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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1-9 . - I4 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. ing should obtain that would be detrimental to the morals or health of the community. It is impossible for the city authorities to take notice of every minor detail in municipal matters, hence, it falls upon each citizen to endeavor to keep out of his neighborhood anything that is liable to pro-ve disadvantag- eous or hurtful. lf this cannot be accom- plished by one man, then several should unite in carrying out plans for the common good. This arrangement -has in itself much value, since the intermingling of neighbors and the congeniality brought about thereby is productive of good citizenship. It induces the discussion of political and social ques- tions, and is instrumental in making the people better informed and broader minded. Personal contact creates a keener personal interest and infuses a des-ire in each to- bene- fit the other. Some recognition 'has already been given this idea. The factory of today is built with careful attention to sanitation and to the comfort of employees and is fully equipped with all devices that afford health and pleasure. An employer who is thus con- siderate of those who labor for him deserves the title of a good citizen. Perhaps the hardest clas.s of men to deal with is the politician-he who earns his way by his power over other men. Not all men who earn their living in this manner are bad, but the majority sooner or later, are led, by the desire of personal gain, to become cor- rupt. This class of men is a constant menace to good citizenship. What they gain is al- ways at the expense of the peaceful and law abiding citizen. The ease with which they seem to accomplish their aims, by its very attractiveness, exerts an evil influence, es- pecially upon the young. But it is upon the youth that the future welfare of our nation depends, and to secure the greatest success of our country the young people must be care- fully instructed, and it becomes every man's concern to see that the highest ideals of good government and good citizenship are held be- fore the rising generation. At the present day, more than ever before, lt is imperative that children should be reared in the proper manner and much care should be exercised to keep them from the many temptations thrown in their way. If all people were true citizens this would not be necessary, but it is a deplorable fact that there are many bad citizens and this condi- tion of affairs cannot be immediately reme- died. It will change only when good citizen- ship has increased and evil environments have been removed. ' Environment is one of the great makers of character. While a man may have within him all the inherent qualities necessary to a perfect manhood, he must have about him surroundings that are conducive to their best development. It therefore becomes the concern of every man to provide such condi- tions as will tend to uplift and ennoble, and that he not only strive-s to do right himself, but that he in every conceivable way makes it possible for others also to do right. R' fi' ORATION. WHEN GOLD IS DISCOVERED. WILLIAM P. HATCH. Nothing has ever proved as great a magnet for all mankind as' the gold which nature melted in her crucible with the other ele- ments that go to make this earth. Man has seemed always to know its many uses. Thou- sands of years before the Babylon spoken of in the Bible, history tells of a city which made itself beautiful by decorations of gold. Judeats shekels of gold were the standard in barter and trade. While Greece begins her earliest history in the search for the golden fleece, and to Paris' award to Venus of the apple of gold we owe the mighty war which gave that sea. girt land a never to be forgotten place in the story of the world. Oddly enough, this magnet has seemed to draw man always toward the West and to the love of gold Rome owed the splendor and magnificence that were to prove her downfall. Buried in the ruins of this fallen empire, the mighty loadstone seemed for centuries to have lost its power of attraction. But when

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e re- ? to him rver gma zign that der- too fery sis- ight mes , as ren- the this rope on g ess- ity. zon- and itu- ers, this ight ally the arit- ,not an ring the om- old so ' in 'ric- iers 's it 'een his rere ltan J to iow f I THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. I3 when he acknowledges no allegiance to any but God, if he is not a God fearing man he is a. God-loving one. T-ime will no doubt effect for the bet- ter many changes in him, but in this year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and two, the sum of all the excellenees that na- ture has transmitted to him, more than bal- ance the deficiencies that the too rapid growth and too ea.sy rise consequent upon his environment have given him. It is, however, a pleasure and a glory to be one with him for he is after all the best, the noblest, the truest type of man to us-an American. A? 2? ORATION. THE CONCERN OF EVERY MAN. FRANK H. EYMAN. On the 14th day of February, 1776, Thom- as Paine closed the introdfuction to his pamphlet, 'fflommon Sensef, with these words: alt is the concern of every man to whom nature hath given the power of feel- ing? This assertion, though somewhat sweeping in its character, aroused men to a higher comprehension of their duty, and if those were troublous times as compared with these of today, now, even as then, the wel- fare of his country should be the concern of every man. We have been accustomed to place upon the general government all re- sponsibility for its future welfare, but this responsibility lies not only with the govern- ment. but with each individual, and in no way can he better fulfill his obligations than by a careful attention to his duties as a citizen. The popular idea that a man's accountabil- ity ceases with the casting of his vote, has proved a hindrance to the best development of good citizenship. This is the greatest fal- lacy that has taken possession of our people and has done much to shift the burden from the shoulders o-f the individual, where it properly belongs. The government, it is true. has its own part to perform, but every true citizen should deem it his part to pro- mote not only in himself, but also in his fe-l- lowmen, a high order of citizenship. p The duty of a man to his fellow citizens begins at home. A good municipal citizen is always a go-od national citizen, for he who earnestly considers the small affairs of his city will be proportionately earnest in his consideration of the larger ones of the na- tion. One of the greatest detriments to good cit- izenship is the unjust accummulation and improper use of vast wealth. Anyone- who obtains great riches for himself by depriving his fellow citizens of the necessaries and com- forts of life, violates one of the first princi- ples o-f good citizenship. When a number of persons band themselves together for such purposes the law now attempts to regulate their movements, but the inadequacy of the law in such eases has been shown so often that if there is -to be any change for the better it must come through the effo-rts of the individaul himself . Great riches after their accummulation cannot be distributed without injustice. It would seem that the proper plan for the ap- portionment of wealth would be in the gath- ering. This idea has been taken up by the modern co-operative societies, which have formulated and in some instances success- fully carried out plans, the chief objects of which are the proper distribution of wealth, and the advancement of good citizenship. Then, too, a very important function which these societies perform, is to weaken the de- structive force of trusts. These by their avaricious business meth- ods cause much strife and ill feeling. And the individual being unable to compete with their combined money interests finds him- self out of harmony with his fellowmen, whereas, it should be the concern of every man to see that peace and good will exist at all times. This last assertion applies in small aiairs, as well as in large ones. A man's obligation to the locality in which he lives, should be no less than it is to the nation in which he lives. A due regard for the concerns of his neighbor will readily teach him that noth-

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care L the , If t not that indi- eme- izen- rents .kers .thin y to him :heir the ndi- and self, akes gnet ture ele- has lou- 1 of rich old. lard gins the nus war r be rld. . to . to dor her ire, s to hen me wssrpoar moe scnoor HERALD. IS Columbus started across the Atlantic he was lured by the fabled stories of the wealth of Ormus and of lnd,'i that had been sound- ing in his ears. When after three months of tossing on an unknown sea, he reached land and learned that this was a new contin- ent, these a new people, it was the story of the gold discovered in the possession of these people that he carried back to the old world. Great expeditions were fitted out and sent to this new land and occasional settlements sprang up along the coast. But few came with the intention of remaining or making themselves a home while many came with the idea of finding great wealth and return- ing home to enjoy it. But as they must dig and delve they needs must have shelter-rough habita- tions were thrown up which grew and spread and then, as if ' by some fickle turn of the earth, the gold vanished, leaving only the rude homes and the untilled soil around them. One could almost fancy it a plot of nature's to trick men into filling up these unfilled lands. With only this rough heritage left them they must force from the earth, at least the means of sus- tenance and in their struggle they, by and by, found the soil had entered into their bone and sinew-they loved it-their chil- dren loved it, something better had entered into life. Gold, the magnet, no longer drew them. Will it have no power over their chil- dren? Four centuries passed away, the whole At- lantic slope echoed to the blows of hammers, and the sounds o-f many industries. Man came in contact oftener with his fellowmen, occasionally he trod upon him and frowned because there was not room. There was a vast region to the westward, but it was a savage country that he did not care to enter. Nature- beckoned once more, and on that far off Pacific coast she flung a shining nugget under the spade of a man as he turned the sod and gold was discovered Vg not gold only but a territory vast in extent and rich in re- sources. Man hurried there, and in the first frenzy of his desire to gather all he could he forgot everything but himself 5 forgot the rights of others and before long was as degraded as the dirt he worked in. Might was right- but only for a short time. As in all other cases with the settling up of the country, man thought of bettering his new abode, and as his children grew up they knew no other home. Schools were built for their educa- tion and churches for their worship and soon the town grew into the city. The output. of gold grew greater and the unsafe prairie schooner that carried it to the East gave way to the great Pacific' railroad. After the building of this road, towns rapidly sprang up 5 these later developed into cities, and the whole western portion of this great country of ours was populated. Then as before, the gold gradually disappeared. One can scarcely realize the hardships man will suffer and endure in his search for this yellow metal. After gold had been dis- covered in Alaska, countless numbers went into that cold and desolate count-ry. There, with poor food and insufficient shelter, they toiled to obtain this king of metals. In the first few years of mining it was not thought safe to remain in this bleak climate through all the cold months, but now it has been improved so much that winter is not dreaded more there than in some of the neighboring states. Not all who journeyed there have been fortunate enough to gain wealth, but they have become accustomed to the country and found other values than the one they sought. Now, looking back over the places where gold has been discovere-d the question arises, Ts this Nature's method of populating and eivilizing the world P Whenever a new region is ready, to be settled this great metal makes its appearance and after it has drawn many people to it then it passes from view, leaving its victims to improve the country in other lines. Nature has her own magic means of ac- complishing her purposes and why not the placing of gold in hidden places, at the right time to reveal it to mankind? Surely there is no better way to send man to the utter- most parts of the earth.