| Show spread pread of Materialism materia S ism in ih alf the V united ea states menace to na national ti onal char character ad ter by ROBERT LANS NG secretory ol of state the Thid american people and I 1 think they are no different nt from other peoples have been growing more and me more re utilitarian i in thes ter years their thoughts ands and acts act smore more a arid ad more influenced by what is called th the 0 pra practical and less less andress and less by what is called the ideal immediate a and tangible iafe tene benefit fifis is the app apparent trent goa goal of Americ american aft effort Toa to a large extent x to nt a very largo large extent it has absorbed the thou thought and energy of our people in every sphere of human activity j social religious dais political and indus industrial frial this concep i 1 tion lion of the tiling 9 desirable in our national life lifo has become increasingly potent we who are living in this period particularly particulars Y at it a ti time melike like the present ought kotake to take stock of the spiritual as well as material resources of this nation lit dt way be said that the average mani mana today has been wont to weigh in the 10 scales of expediency national du duty ty and an honor bonor all those intense sentiments sentim engg i which chichin chin in the old days kindled the souls if f men and made the united S tates states a great independent nation dedicated to human liberty by americans who cherish the spirit which inspired the fathers of tle the republic by americans who r revere ev brethe the memory of those who half a 6 century ago laid down their lives for tho right althey as they saw it by americans cas who measure conduct by a anfee benoe of duty rather than by material benefit this tendency of present t day thought has hai been viewed with apprehension for tho the future of the republic it is indeed a commentary on the american people that not a few thinking mn men have been asking with serious concern have ame american rican eyes grown dim bothe to the achieve achievements min ts of tb the e past has the blood bloo dof of patriotism ceased to ih throb robin in american veins veins have we forgotten that oui our heritage of liberty was s sealed with the lives of devoted men and tha it isa is a sacred trust which we must musi hold and transmit unimpaired to the generations to come i ivery I 1 believe most firmly that every one of these questions can jib be answered in the negative J I 1 believe belaev e that at hea heart Athe the american people pe bopf e alq are loyal and pat patriotic rao t ic P put ut to tiie tie test I 1 do not fear the out outcome dome I 1 know that the people are to be trusted andi and that batto to them the honor of the nation is dearer than ihan life itself and yet I 1 feel that the spread of materialism T has been a menace to our character to which we should not be I 1 indifferent i amena a manaca ca which fought not and must not continue the greatness of thi aliis s nations nation daes does not lie in the immensity aits of its territory nor in its As millions of population nor or in the vastness of its resources nor in the intellectual and economic progress which ch finds no parallel in history the greatness of america lies in the hea hearts ris of its ais citizens if these hearts beat trued true nothing 9 ise else m matters i |
