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

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nvernment as and in- Jhich was l be inef- lness cor- educated iis power o see and ons. He ower the But most stand his es of the ert his in- of right, that this the Fish- '. When anger the it will be d for the :R, '11, THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD I7 The Force That Changes The natural state of man in his social and political relationship to his fellow-man, has al- ways been revolutionary in its essential char- acteristics. It is this tendency of human na- ture that has led to the great progress made in bettering the conditions of humanity, for, as society changed and advanced from its primi- tive state, so nations began to feel the need of changes in their laws, religions, and learning. Hope tithe hope that springs eternal in the human breast -hope for freedom, hope for equality, hope for the uplift of mankind, has been the fundamental motive for every step in the world's advancement. , But these changes have not been brought about by the struggles of an hour or of a clay. On the contrary, all great revolutions -those that have contributed most to civil and religious liberty and to the enlightenment of mankind-have been of obscure origin and slow growth. Providence, upon all occa- sions, in order to accomplish its designs, is prodigal, of courage, virtues, sacrifices-linab ly, of man: and it is only after a vast number of attempts apparently lost, after a host of noble hearts have fallen into despair-that the cause triumphs. Christ was a revolutionist-the greatest revolutionist of all. His was a revolution that has surpassed all others in its marvelous re- sults. It was a revolution that has endured for twenty centuries and will endure for all time, because its doctrines taught men love-that love which 'has moulded people into nations whose greatest aim is the welfare of all hu- manity. In the teaching of philosophy, men have arisen whose keen observations have revolu- tionized the world, bringing enlightenment to all. Diogenes, with his lantern, seeking for an honest man, was groping for a foot-hold to quell the powers of vice and superstitution. He is typical of the multitude of great minds, that in the centuries since have tried to lead men nearer the absolute truth. Then, there have been orators who have striven to raise the tide of patriotism among their fellow-men. Demosthenes, by his ora- tory, learned upon the shores of the Mediter- ranean, swayed the Greeks to higher and nobler ideals. Cicero, in his famous oration against Catiline, stirred up the waning patriot- ism of the Romans. Nations at the times of their crises have always produced such men. Some of the greatest revolutions of the world have been waged for religious freedom. With the posting of Martin Luther's theses in 1517, there began that great religious up- heaval, known as the Reformation. It was a struggle for the emancipation of the human mind, and for the suppression of the tyran- nical powers which were controlling it. It was a revolution that still sways the world, one that was the forerunner of the world- wide movement for religious freedom, typi- fied in the American Constitution. just as men have sacrificed their lives in order to create newer and better ideas in re- ligion and- philosophy, so they have willingly given up life warring for the cause of liberty and equality. T For love of country a handful of Greeks hurled back the vast hordes of Xerxes at Thermopylae. Hannibal crossed the Alps and overthrew the Romans to preserve the auton- omy of Carthage. The Cantons of Switzerland struggled for years for love of home. For the seven centuries, since the Barons forced Magna Charta from King john at Runnymede, the English Constitution has been growing and broadening under the iniquence of civil and religious liberty. But free govern- ment in England did not come without fierce conflicts on many fields. It is only through

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I6 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. -and herein lies the importance of education. But this training must not be hap-hazard. It is most important that it have regard to the institution under which the people live. The education which would do for children of a monarchy would be entirely inadequate for the inhabitants of a republic or democracy. In the former ease the ignorance of one genera- tion might not influence the character of the government, but who can measure the results were such to be the case in a republic. W'ash- ington, our great po-litical -prophet-gigantic in his foresight as in everything-in his Fare- well Address, insisted that the more potent public opinion is ini any country, the greater the need of its being intelligent, and he might have added particularly upon political sub- jects. Therefore, to make the people see the need of the hour, to make them understand that the legal government must be given 'power to con- trol the corporate interests, popular education must come. The powers of the government must increase as the powers of forces and in- stitutions increaseg the government which was the real power a century ago would be inef- ficient in this age of monstrous business cor- porations. But the citizen must be educated in the problems of the day, and in his p-ower to control them. He must be made to see and realize the power of the corporations. He must be educated to know what power the government has and what it needs. But most of all he must be forced to understand his duty as a voter on whom the destinies of the nation rest and must be forced to exert his in- fluence through his suffrage in favor of right, justice, and good government, so that this nation may not meet with the fate of the Fish- eaters, but may increase and prosper. When this is done we will need fear no longer the extra-legal power, but our government will be truly of the people, by the people, and for the people. SIDNEY ALTsCHULER, '1l. THREE PINES. Three pines stood on the wooded plain Compartiorzless amid the glade, And thru their boughs the winds long sweeping train, A constant miirmettroas rustling made. Alone they stood in SIHI and shade, Erttwining close their eoronals High o'er the foresfs nether inter braid Of light and gloom at irzterztals. lfVith noise of many waterfalls, Wiiid-sittept their boughs moved Cease- lesslyg- They heard, and dreaming of their mrozuztatin- walls, Wept odorous gums in memory, EDWARD WY Moses, 'll. The natt political fel ways been acteristics. ture that l in bettering society cha tive state, changes in llope mths human brf equality, l' been the in the wot lelut the about by day. On -those t and lreligi of mankii slow gro sions, in prodigal, ly, of ma of attem noble hea cause trii Christ revolutio has surp sults. It ' twenty c because love wh whose g manity. in tht arisen v tionized all. Dir an hone quell th

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18 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. p the courage of Anglo-Saxon blood, evidenced by revolutions and wars, that the sun of lib- erty now shines around the world on the Eng- lish-speaking race. The battle of Hastings, the infusion of the Normanblood through VVilliam, the Conqueror, the Wlars of the Roses, the cruel struggle led by the stern Cromwell, the fall of the Second james through VVilliam of Grange, the Continental wars of john of Marlborough, and, crowning all, the victory of Nelson at Trafalgar, were elements in the movement of the Anglo-Saxon toward the highest civilization in history. The same conclusion is reached when we take as an example, the history of the Hugue- nots in France, in whom were bred the bone and sinew of the French nation throughout their years of persecution and suffering. Saint lt3artholomew's Day was not without its influ- ence on generations to come, the lives of many thousand heroes were-not sacrificed in vain, for the echoes of that day were heard through- out the world. The French Revolution, though carried be- yond the bounds of lawful war into the Reign of Terror, was fought for the rights of the common people. It was terminated by Napoleon who then seized the opportunity of creating a greater France. But he became dic- tator of Europe, and, in turn, was overthrown because his boundless ambition threatened the liberties of the race. The American Revolution was a protest against the exercise of despotic power and against the suppression of human rights. Inde- pendence won the day because men loved lib- erty and justice more than they feared the fire of the musket and death by the sword. At the present time, many countries are awakening to the drift of the world toward higher life and better ideals. The unrest of the Russian serf and the Siberian exile have forced from the Czar the promise of the Douma, bringing with it the dawn of a consti- tution. The young Turks, just realizing the trend of the world's thought, have overthrown the sick man of the East, and are fighting for a constitution that will wipe out the dark- est blot on Turkish history. Portugal reS611t6Cl the immoral life of Don Manuel, and, by driv- ing him from the throne, laid down a precedent of righteous living-not only for the lOWC.Sf subject of the kingdom but for the monarch as well. VVars and bloodshed have played their part in the worldls development. Now, the stage has been reached where peaceful questions of even greater moment are engaging the atten- tion of civilized people. Among them one of the most perplexing is the equalizing of the relative rewards of labor and capital. The square dealy' is helping to solve the problem of increasing the earning capacity of men to a point comparatively equal to the increased cost of their living. This is a matter for the pres- ent generation to settle through an aroused public sentiment rather than through strikes, lock-outs, and bloodshed. Andrew Carnegie says that to accomplish this result the waste of blood and treasure in war must cease. It looks as if he were right. At all events, the Hague Tribunal has settled disputes between nations that might otherwise have caused disastrous wars. The Russo-jap- anese struggle was terminated under the treaty of Portsmouth by the force of character of an American statesman, one of the greatest since Lincoln. From an economic standpoint, that was probably the greatest single achieve- ment in two decades, and the Nobel Peace Prize was well awarded in recognition of the work. Tn our own country, during the last fifty years, a great power has been growing and thriving on men's necessities, until the ,public conscience has led us almost to the point of peaceful revolution. This upheaval is typical of all the revolutions of the past that have been waged in the name of human rights. Like all such movements whose aim is for the gen- eral good, this one will be of slow growth, will have its victories and defeats, but, in the end, it will triumph as like movements in the past have triumphed. , Thus, t intellectuz come to li ance to ir wars may and dethi still mart the vas may lor far as t One hc the bus a certaf a vital, city as lt requ of us l mencec but be its fou the ris Tn t was a town 1 short 1 was a beginn Rocki' Gulf 2 Cities have 5 have great histor tells early memc