Vol. XXIII

word, and certainly fewer abide by, in their daily attitude towards their form of government.

The word "Citizenship," as considered in this discussion, implies that definition which stands for democratic government of, by, and for the people the modern republic.

Citizenship and education are inseparable either is materially weakened by the absence of the other; no matter how earnest the desire to be a good citizen, the individual's citizenship is weakened by the absence of a basic educationand a high school education is certainly not more than basic, if that; no matter how well educated the individual may be he is a liability and not an asset to his community and to his country without the proper conception of citizenship. Citizenship is the keystone to the

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arch of the republican form of government and a false conception of the word terminates in the destruction of this arch. Some one has aptly said that "Monarchies perish through poverty, and republics through wealth." Why through wealth? Is it destructive to a nation to become rich and powerful? Certainly not, provided the ideals of Christian Humanity remain the goal of this rich and powerful nation; the author of this quotation had in mind, of course, that wealth of a nation which applies to the individuals composing it, those individuals who have become engrossed in greed, personal gain, opulence and luxury and have lost, if they ever had it, the proper conception of true citizenship; when this type of citizen predominates the particular nation begins to reach the end-the fall of Rome is a glowing example; the love of ease, luxury, and an avoidance of civic duty to the state spelled ruin for that powerful nation.

THE ELEMENTS OF CITIZENSHIP

The essentials of citizenship are classified into four general groupings, namely:

a. The Christian religion.

b. A clear and concise understanding

of the republican form of government. c. Love of country in peace and in

war.

d. The principles of health and of hygiene.

The first essential, a Christian religion, needs no discussion; it is a mental state without which any individual attempting to qualify in true citizenship would prove a failure; it is axiomatic.

The second essential, that of understanding the republican form of government, involves a careful study of the constitution of one's country; its powers and limitations ought to be

quickly perceive their failure to function as intended at the time of their creation.

In connection with the study of civil government, the student ought to be indelibly impressed with his obligations to this federal, state, and community government and that, by virtue of the fact that he enjoys freedom of speech and action, he must make a return for these benefits by an ardent support of these agencies which permit this freedom; he must have the proper respect for law, order, and constituted authority and realize that the best way to

thoroughly imprinted in all of their fundamentals upon the memory of every citizen; he should understand thoroughly the legislative, judicial, and executive branches in order that he may appreciate their usefulness and intelligently support the fulfillment of their purpose and on the other hand

repeal a bad law is to enforce and not to evade it; evasion of any law germinates disloyalty; the government must be supported, not cheated.

The third essential, love of country in peace and in war, was aptly framed by one of our old statesmen, when he said, "Our country, in her intercourse

with other nations, may she always be right, but right or wrong, our country always."

Love of country in time of peace involves all those things which promote the welfare of the nation in industry, in economy, and in the wisdom of preparing a defence which will insure its future existence-for, the economic existence of a nation is dependent upon its power to defend that existence.

Opposed to this much desired love of country in time of peace are those insidious traitors disguised as extreme pacifists, conscientious objectors, and

the steady, home-loving, property-owning individual who has a definite aim always before him, but in addition to this vocation his avocation should be that of bettering himself to serve (whether man or woman-there is a place for all) his country in time of great emergency; his country, from the standpoint of armed defence, needs him only in time of war, but when war comes the nation does not want encumbrances, it wants men and women trained in the elements and essentials of the service for which they are needed.

"No-More-War-Advocates"; those people who cannot differentiate between a righteous war of defence and a war of aggression and oppression.

Every prospective citizen should prepare himself for his vocation in life, understanding that the best citizen is

How may these patriots prepare themselves and their country in time of peace? The answer is, by investigating world conditions of to-day; by looking backward over history to the extent of approximately thirty-six hundred years, studying the history of

nations and seeing that incompetency and defenselessness have caused the downfall of each; by looking over our own American history to the extent that our need for armed forces has been imperative at approximately each twenty-year interval of our brief existence of about one and a half centuries; and having thus formed a basis for an intelligent opinion, exert and keep up every pressure to fit the nation for maintaining itself-whether the preparations be great or small; base these exertions and efforts upon what experience and conditions demand and not upon what some society of the "ism" variety attempts to influence by hiding historical facts.

President Adams once said that one of the cardinal duties of a statesman is the national defence. The citizen is the elector of that statesman, he should see to it that his will is carried out and not subjected to partisan politics.

Love of country in time of war, provided that that war is in a just and righteous cause in the eyes of the nation of true citizens, means force, effort, and service on the part of every individual without stint of measure.

The fourth and last great essential, health and hygiene, is as important to good citizenship as any of the others; the health of a nation is one of its greatest assets not only in time of war but in time of peace; the strong and healthy nation must necessarily soon leave behind those nations less physically fit. The causes of the diseases and pestilences so prevalent in foreign countries, and in certain industrial centers of our own country largely populated by foreigners, is due almost entirely to an ignorance of those sanitary measures necessary to good health and sound bodies.

What does an ignorant and illiterate individual know of the essentials of a healthful community? Who is going to rectify his erroneous conception of his duty-not only to himself but to his neighbor as well, unless this is done by the good citizen? The individual making the making the correction must have formed his ideas beforehand and must furnish concrete examples as to just what the ignorant offender can and must do to improve the healthfulness of his locality. Who but the good citizen is going to correct the illiterate?

The recent World War had many startling disclosures to make concerning our nation; in a comparatively young nation, not overly populated and not subjected to the various pests and plagues centuries old, our draft law disclosed the fact that thirty per cent of those men drafted were unfit to serve their country-think of it, three men out of every ten physically defective.

CONCLUSION

And now in conclusion, assuming that the reader admits the worthiness of the above-named essentials and agrees to conscientiously investigate each of them, the good citizen has one other duty to perform-that of going to the polls at every opportunity (and this opportunity must not be qualified by the word "convenient") and voting his convictions; politics, as now existing, are deplorable and at best they are subthe result then when worthy and unject to many imperfections; what is worthy candidates aspire to the same office? If the good and well informed citizen remains away from the polls the unworthy candidate is elected because his supporters were corruptible; the presence of the good citizen prevents, or at least always lessens corrupt practices. His absence permits the per