12. What is the foundation of peace and prosperity? Confidence in our Government and in each other.

13. How does the dishonest, lazy, inefficient workman hurt others? Increases cost, lowers production as to quality and quantity, reflects his character upon his associates, weakens morale, is an obstacle to advancement, better working conditions, higher wages. 14. What is the duty of a nation in respect to its natural resources? A nation should conserve and develop its natural resources for the good of all.

15. State some of the advantages of interdependent relationships? Defense of the individual.

Preservation of public order.

Regulation of commerce, domestic and foreign.

Promotion of industry.

Development of the community.

Basis of all achievements in education, science, art, and general welfare.

QUESTIONS

INTERDEPENDENT RELATIONS

1. In what way are interdependent relations associated with the statement of Abraham Lincoln, that our Government is "of the people, for the people, and by the people"?

2. Could any State maintain itself exclusively upon its own resources?

State reasons.

3. Is "class consciousness" in accord with the principles and ideals of America? State reasons for your opinion.

4. What are some of the advantages in division of labor?

5. Is patriotism wholly selfish? Explain.

27. LESSON 3.-Character, the greatest asset of America

(a) Introduction: National character produced by―

(1) The ideals of the American colonists.

(2) Community life, church, and town meeting.

(3) The pioneer spirit.

(4) Freedom from restraint.

(5) One hundred and fifty years of experimental self-government.

(b) Individual character: Moral worth; desire; education and religion, foundation of character; character developed through self-restraint, will power; work, resourcefulness, unconquerable energy, self-mastery, discipline, simple living, freedom to live, to think, to do-Purpose of life.

(c) Commercial character

(1) Physical: Developed by hardy pioneers; bones of steel; aggressive yet restrained; adventurous and courageous; spirit of improvement and invention. (2) Ethical: Character inspires confidence; basis of credit; capital and labor adjustments; cooperation, compromise; no class domination-Not materialistic. (d) Political character: No wars of aggression; arbitration; attitude toward weaker nations; international relations; treaties-The mission of America.

Introduction.-The question, "What is the greatest asset of America?" opens a discussion which leads before its conclusion to every section and every activity of this great broad land of ours, for the answer of each individual would be largely governed by the interest that lies closest to his heart.

The doctor would say: "The greatest asset of America is found in her medical schools, hospitals, and her great accomplishments in saving life and insuring the health of her people, for without health there could be no other great achievement."

The teacher would reply: "Our common-school system, our colleges, universities, and our press constitute our greatest asset, for without education, industry would stop and our Government disintegrate.

The captain of industry states: "Industry; that's the answer. What would America be without New England, New York, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, and the thousands of other industrial centers giving employment to millions while they supply the needs of the world?"

"Just a moment," interrupt a chorus of voices, and out of the medley we distinguish the inventor, chemist, scientist, each making the claim that the fruit of his labor is the greatest asset of America, for what great things in America would have been possible without his creative genius?

The farmer allows that the doctor, teacher, industrialist, scientist, and the others wouldn't get very far if he laid down on the job and failed for a single season to provide the means for clothing and food-to him the greatest asset of America.

The answers are all true; there are elements of greatness in all the varied endeavors of our country, the coordination of which has brought prosperity and wealth in such measure as to make us envied of all people.

"Coordination"-let us not overlook the importance of that element in creating the wealth of our Nation. We give this essential element the name of "interdependent relationship," an accord induced by the teaching of experience that only in helping the other fellow can we help ourselves.

Forty-eight States, extended between the Atlantic and the Pacific, independent, self-governing Commonwealths, rich in resources, engaged in their own affairs; congested industrial areas of our great cities, pouring out their products to the enrichment of the Nation; millions of farmers providing food and clothing; teachers, preachers, merchants, laborers, lawyers, and clerks, contributing their part in the spirit of cooperation. Organized, united-by what?

What is the cement which binds a people composed of all the racial stocks of the world? What composes our differences, har

monizes our relationships? What inspires confidence, insures credit, and promotes organization? What, in the last analysis, guarantees protection of person and property, gives assurance of peace and prosperity, and inspires America to greater adventures and larger achievements?

Is the answer to be found in the sum of all her natural resources, factories, farms, homes, schools, hospitals, and churches? No. These are created by man and by man can be destroyed.

The security of our property, the continuation of our institutions, the increase of our possessions and the perpetuity of the principles of individual rights, justice, and freedom, the observance of which have made America, lies in character-the greatest asset of America. National character produced by—

(1) The ideals of the American colonists.-The national character of America is grounded in the Puritan stock of the early colonies. From these original settlers, numbering in 1640 a total of 26,000, there has descended to the present time nearly one-fourth of our total population. Up to 50 years ago their descendants and immigrants from the same racial stock composed over 80 per cent of our population.

The outstanding traits of their stalwart characters were defined in the commonplace affairs of their daily lives. They made no play for heroics, were not primarily seekers of fame nor fortune. Lovers of liberty, they boldly fought to maintain their rights. Their dominant trait was the worship of God, a God to be feared, yet a God of justice. A God who punished, yet a God who loved. Bigoted to the point of savagery, narrow to the verge of superstition, intolerant of all faiths save their own, they builded a character which to following generations will ever prove their richest heritage.

A stern will born and bred of stern necessity, hard as the granite of the hills among which they lived, deep and cold as the seas that beat upon their rugged shores, they knew no compromise with dutyit must be done. No easy way was sought nor excuse accepted for duty unperformed.

(2) Community life, church, and town meeting. They established schools, churches, and town meetings, always dominated and often ruled with the iron rod of church authority. In time, bigoted religious intolerance gave way to religious liberty, yet not with the slightest change in the high standards of moral and spiritual rectitude required of every member of the community.

Possessing pride of race, proud of their ancestry, they inspired in the hearts of their children a reverence and respect for family and race which left no room for lax conduct or easy habits. Severely disciplined within their homes, carefully supervised in their education, the children were taught the obligation of participation in the

community life and obliged to submit to the severe restrictions. imposed by their elders through the promulgated laws, written or implied, by the local town meeting.

The restrictions of these laws and the severity of punishment imposed for the slightest infraction are cause for astonishment in this time of easy morals and lax law observance, yet their value as conducive to upright living, strict morals, and honest endeavor are strikingly evidenced by the pronounced influence of the New England community, the church and town meeting, in molding the national character of America.

(3) The pioneer spirit.-In defining the character of America we find one trait so strong and pronounced as to manifest itself in every period and department of our national development. We can think of no better term to apply than to call it the "pioneer spirit." Mixed motives inspired immigration to America. However, regardless of why they came, the spirit of the pioneer seemed quickly to possess them with its urgent demand to go forth and conquer the wilderness.

In that spirit the New England pioneers peopled in succession the States beyond the Alleghenies, advancing by successive steps until they reached the western boundary of the continent. The pioneer from New England and his cousin the Scotch-Irish in Virginia, loved a fight. To them the wilderness held no terror too great nor hardship too severe to hold them back. Life was a joyful adventure and the dangers were enticing. Life held the stern duty of making provision for family and posterity. Life was work, and the great forests were there to be cleared. Life was full of promise; there were the vast free lands-theirs for the taking. Life was the gift of God, and never forgetting, they set the stamp of their Godfearing character upon each succeeding community, in school, church, and local government.

(4) Freedom from restraint.-The very compelling forces of hardship, privation, danger, and isolation bred a spirit of unrestrained freedom which has had a pronounced influence in forming our national character. Compelled to rely upon individual effort in providing and protecting his means of livelihood, the early American quickly acquired the knowledge of individual rights and the determination to maintain them. What was his, won by honest toil or by right of discovery, he was ever ready to defend against all odds. Their tenacity in what they undertook has never been surpassed by any people, not even the Romans.

Doctor Storrs, eminent divine of the time, wrote:

I remember that half the Plymouth colonists died the first winter, and that in the spring, when the long waiting Mayflower sailed again homeward, not one of

the fainting survivors went with her and I glory in that unflinching fortitude, * * * our stiffest muscle is limp and loose beside the unyielding grapple of their tough wills.

This tenacity went far in possessing and saving to America the whole region west of the Mississippi River. The future welfare of the Nation, the preservation of representative government, and the principles for which it stands, lies largely to-day within the hands of the citizens of the West, for into that section has traveled the center of our population, and there is to be found over one-half of the descendants of our colonial forefathers.

(5) One hundred and fifty years of experimental self-government.Our national character is emphasized in our ability to govern ourselves. Such ability did not develop over night; neither can it be acquired for the asking. No other nation has attained self-government in equal measure with the United States. The colonies struggled 150 years before they had established a sufficient foundation to take the step that led to the "great experiment."

Our present form of government would never have been possible without this long period of preparation, involving study, experience, mistakes, and a growing measure of success, exemplified in the wise legislation inaugurated by several of the colonies, and in the increasing spirit of independence prior to the War of the Revolution. Success was made possible due to the collective fitness of the colonials for the task of self-government.

The colonial was "a good farmer, an excellent schoolmaster, a very respectable preacher, a capital lawyer, a sagacious physician, an able editor, a thriving merchant, a shrewd peddler, and a most industrious tradesman," able to comprehend the full measure of human associations. Hence, with these qualifications, when independence was won, a committee of chosen representatives called to the arduous task of revising the Articles of Confederation, found within themselves a collective knowledge which, with the inspiration of God, enabled them to pen the "Constitution of the United States of America."

Individual character.-In the discussion of moral worths, it is primarily true that we weigh and evaluate the actions of the individual. However, individual acts do not form a haphazard aggregate of unrelated deeds, for back of the act are dominant principles that assure a certain continuity in human action. With knowledge of the temperament and trend of mind of a given man, his action under given circumstances may be fairly predicted, due to the fact that behind the shifting play of emotions found in the mental life of everyone there is a background of permanent emotional associations and processes which change slowly, if at all. This stable background of the moral life is character.