The Land of the Free

Correspondence regarding d’Annunzio

The Land of the Free written by Author:I. A. D.

Review;Masefield:Ruskin the Prophet (N. N. W.)

Correspondence in The Canadian Forum, February 1921, p. 151

To the Editor, The Canadian Forum.
Sir:—

For many generations Canada has been looked upon by the downtrodden peoples of Europe as the Land of the Free — the land where the workman gets the same justice as his master.

Of late we have been struck by tyrannies on a large scale, and with these the nation is trying to deal, but by petty tyrannies of all kinds Democracy itself is bidding fair to disappoint us all. We find the lesser forms of selfishness, greed, and graft at every turn. Shall we not show by example what our ancestors showed to us, that by self-control, diligence, and generosity, we shall not only gain the whole world, but also save our own souls?

It would be interesting to know how many parents, while busying themselves with petty and pharisaical [p. 151] laws for their fellows, are teaching self-control to their children. An astounding amount of graft goes on each day in many an ordinary household. If the bribe is not large enough, the child proceeds to disobedience. "Father said he would give me fifty cents if I would help with the dishwashing till he comes back, but I don't need to, I have more than a dollar!" The mother has to bargain with her child before he will go to the store for some necessity. The child, the hope of the nation, is not taught his duty to his family, takes all, including love, and gives nothing for nothing. He has learnt the power of money and possessions, and is a little Jacob from the beginning.

Or again, while we are all stirred by the dangers from drink, do we not hear from many a mother sayings such as these: "I simply can't do without my candies every day!", or "At times I have such a craving for something sweet, that I am sure I need it!" Is there much difference between them and the drunkards who cannot pass the Bar-parlour? All a matter of taste! The doctors and dentists are discovering that the causes of trouble in our eyes and the beginnings of many obscure diseases lie in our gums, and this candy mania is apparently weakening the wills as debilitating the bodies of the new generations.

Perhaps it is the candy-eating ladies who now wish to make laws against tobacco. We have been taught for some time that if used before the age of twenty-five it arrests development and threatens future generations; therefore tobacco is to be abolished because forsooth the youths brought up to self-indulgence, and always having money at their command, have no principles to guide them. Their parents have always taken the second place, have existed, in fact, only to supply the wants of these young gods. If it is to be "milk for babes", then milk is good enough for the parents, and their age and needs are not to be taken into consideration at all. The man who toils all day in all weathers must have no stronger food than his little son; because his son does not see why he should not have what he wishes as well as his father, the brain worker must have no pipe to soothe his tired nerves, and settle his brain for another spell of work.

Reverence for duty does not come naturally to any of us, it has to be taught like all other virtues. In forgetting to teach it to their children parents are certainly forgetting to practise it themselves. The good gifts of this world are offered to reasonable beings, and science is teaching us more each day of their benefits and dangers. What we need most of all is the honesty to study the new conditions, not to denounce as fads discoveries that show up our pet weaknesses, and — what has been better than law from the beginning of the world — the will to carry out our duty.

Yours etc.,  I. A. D.