Worthy
Home
Member-
ship.

Good citizenship begins at home. A home is a coöperative institution. The assigning of tasks and their successful completion is the beginning of the formation of habits that are reflected in larger citizenship. The American family group gathered after the evening meal, each engaged in his task for improvement or for pleasure, at times discussing their common problems, is the most fundamental of democratic institutions. In the ancient days part of the education for citizenship that corresponds to our high school training consisted in listening to and participating in the discussions of the elders.

Young people sometimes think their parents taskmasters because they require strict obedience in the correction of personal habits. Obedience underlies all other lessons and is the principal duty of the young. The adult is required to obey more strictly than his children, for there are duties, obligations, and responsibilities in living which cannot be disobeyed without loss of position, property, and even life. The young person who is a law-abiding citizen in the home can be expected to become a law-abiding citizen of the country.

Worthy home membership requires respect for the rights of others. This is a fundamental principle of our very existence as a nation. Laws and requirements of society are made to protect those who are most respectful of the rights of others and are usually regarded as most unjust by those who are inclined to disobey them. The neglect of home duties may seem trivial, but in neglecting

such duties we form habits which may later tend toward an unworthy citizenship.

As worthy home membership requires coöperation, self-sacrifice, and the occasional giving up of some individual rights, so a successful democracy expects of its citizens the sacrifice of some individual rights for the good of the nation.

Outlook.

An American citizen should be eager to do some- Vocational thing worth while in a nation offering a thrill of amazing growth, teeming with possibilities and rich in resources. Such a heritage should create a desire in the heart of every youth to catch the spirit of this inspiration and participate in the nation's greatness. We see around us wonderful opportunities wherein men of superior natural ability have achieved success. We are not hampered by class distinctions or prejudices. We are free to accept the challenge to compete for the most responsible positions in America. If we search the biographies of our great men, we will usually find two things in common. First, they came from good homes but homes of moderate circumstances; second, they were uncertain regarding their future vocations. Positions, ownership, and even control await the young' men and women who are fit and willing to make the fight for success.

Selecting a vocation is a very serious and vital matter. It takes continuous thought, study, and contact with successful men and women in selected lines of work. It requires a thorough analysis of

our special fitness and a search of the requirements of the vocations.

Too often people find themselves unfitted and fail in their life's work after years of preparation because a selection was made without thorough investigation. Macaulay has said, "The world generally gives its admiration not to the man who does what nobody else ever attempted to do but to the man who does best what the multitudes do well." Many of our most prominent men and women have attained success by methods so simple that we often wonder why they were not apparent to others long ago. We are surrounded by opportunities for success. Russell H. Conwell, in his "Acres of Diamonds," tells the story of Ali Hafed, a wealthy Persian farmer, "contented because he was wealthy and wealthy because he was contented." One day he was visited by an ancient Buddhist priest who first told him of diamonds and what they would buy. Ali Hafed, although having lost none of his property, "went to bed that night a 'poor man' because he was discontented and discontented because he feared he was poor." His growing discontentment caused him to sell his farm and wander throughout Asia and Europe in search of diamonds. Finally penniless, afflicted, suffering, and dying, he could not resist the temptation to throw himself into the Bay of Barcelona in Spain. The man who had bought Ali Hafed's farm was one day watering his camel in the garden and discovered a magnificent stone which he placed on the

mantel in the drawing room. There the stone was seen by the same priest who had caused Ali Hafed's discontentment. Hurrying to the stream they discovered more diamonds in the sand. Eventually the garden developed into "the most magnificent diamond mine in the history of mankind." Since that time every acre of that farm has yielded diamonds. This story teaches us that many times we fail to recognize a big opportunity in the commonplace things of our own immediate surroundings. It is not necessary to go into a far country or to seek a large city in which to succeed. Many successful men have made a city out of a village.

"Youth is the workshop where the men and women of the next generation are built." People who accomplish the most are those who work with definite purpose. Youth, then, is the time to select an aim in life and leave no stone unturned in the pathway that leads to success.

Time wasted during the years of preparation does not enable us to realize the extent of our possibilities. The highest position in America is open to the person who has the vision to achieve it. This is an inspiration to the noblest ambition and should be the goal of every American.

Laws are the results of the experience of the Respect generations which have gone before. Ours is a for Our "Government of Laws and not of Men." The Bible

tells us that, when "every man did that which was right in his own eyes," there was anarchy in the land. This fact handed down from generation to

Laws.

generation warns us that the very existence of our nation depends on our attitude toward, and respect for, law and order.

Our nation is founded on the principle that its citizens submerge their personal desires to those of the majority when it is for the welfare of all. It is not for us to judge and criticize our government thoughtlessly. Good citizenship springs from an understanding of the necessity for laws planned and imposed by representatives of the majority.

The public will is expressed in law. The duty of a citizen to obey the law involves the duty of placing the good of the whole above that of the individual. We must realize that the individual is a member of the whole group and that his welfare is better protected when considered in reference to the welfare of the whole. Because some one else violates a law and is not caught or is shrewd enough to violate the spirit of the law and still avoid the penalty, that is no excuse for us to ease our conscience when contemplating an act unworthy of a citizen.

The machinery of government and its departments of law enforcement remove from the individual much of the responsibility for protecting himself. They also give him freedom to live his own life, as long as he does not interfere with the rights of others. In return for these privileges the good citizen willingly accepts his responsibilities. When citizens fail in their duties to their country the nation fails.