It is desirable to be a property owner so long as the government under which one lives protects one in his property ownership. The government must do two things: it must protect the person and his personal rights as a citizen, and it must also protect property and the rights of property ownership from enemies within, as from without. In order that this may {349} be done and done in all fairness and justice, we elect some citizens to make laws and term them legislators. We elect others to enforce or administer the laws, and term them executives--the President, the governor, and the mayor coming under this head. We elect other citizens to enforce and interpret the laws, and we term them judges and officers of the court. In fact, it is a principle in our government that no man or set of men shall have authority in all departments of government, legislative, executive, and judicial. You will see that the Constitution of the United States is divided into these three departments of government, and the state constitutions and city charters are, as a rule, likewise divided.
You will understand that any property you may obtain will be valuable to you only in proportion as you are protected in your rights of ownership by the government, and that the government not only protects your property, it also protects your life and its interest as well as the life and interests of all other citizens.
The building and maintenance of schools and colleges, libraries, art and natural history museums, parks, playgrounds, hospitals, etc., are carried on at the expense of the government by means of taxation, inasmuch as these things are in the interests of mankind and for its upbuilding. In the city the protection of life and property is found in one or the other of these different departments: police, fire, health, street cleaning, parks, water supply, etc.; and every good citizen should lend his hand to help in every way possible the enforcement of law in each department.
Citizenship
In any form of government, problems are continually arising as to the rights of property and the rights of persons, and it is well for us to remember this distinction: that the end of society (and by that term we mean government) is not the protection of property, but rather the upbuilding of mankind. If we bear this in mind and act upon it as a principle in life, we shall find ourselves standing and voting on the right side of public questions. We shall also be able to mark the man in private or public life who shows by his talk or his actions that he thinks more of property rights than he does of the rights of individuals. Any business that does not benefit society, but on the other hand degrades it, whether run by an individual or individuals in a firm, company, or corporation, is a business that ought by the law to be put out of existence. This is why {350} the business of gambling, for instance, is made unlawful; also why the government had the right to make lotteries unlawful; also why some states (for instance New York) have passed laws making book-making at race tracks unlawful. For all of these things degrade and do not upbuild mankind. It is for every one then, to apply this principle to the town, village or city in which he lives, and determine just what stand he will take as to endorsing and protecting such business interests in his community. One is likely to find in any community men who seem to care nothing for any interests other than their own. They stand for property rights because it is for their interest to do so; but for the rights of mankind, the rights of society, apparently they care nothing. Here is the distinction then between the good citizen, and the bad citizen, the desirable and "the undesirable" citizen.
Practical Citizenship
In nearly every town, village, and city of any size or importance, there is at least one individual, and usually groups of individuals, working for the "betterment of society." They are people who take an interest in the people about them and do what they can to improve the conditions of life in the community. If one were to take a survey of the whole country and make a study of the social workers--the men and the women who give freely of their time and of their money to make the world a better and happier place to live in--he would come to see that such service is a kind of service that grows out of the heart, and is the fruit of the kindly spirit which prompts the "good turn daily."
In doing the "good turn daily," then, one has abundant opportunity to do his part toward the social betterment of the community in which he lives. There are so many ways that one hardly knows what to write down as the most important, because all are important. It is not alone in big things, but in the little things as well, that the really great work is done.
The community--the town, the village, or the city in which one lives--has many problems to solve. The streets in the community are always interesting and one can do much in the streets to help keep them clean, attractive, and pleasing, as well as safe for the people and horses passing through. In a city where there is a large population the lives of the people are in greater danger at all times than in the country, and that is the reason why the city has to be so organized in its government that it can make special laws, or ordinances as they are {351} called, for its own special protection against the dangers of city life. The policemen of a city, wherever stationed in the daytime or in the night time, are there to protect the lives and property of individuals, at street crossings, at public buildings, at theatres, in the parks, and on playgrounds; and it is the privilege as well as the duty of all citizens to help them in every way possible to do their work well. In the "good turn daily," one may be able to help in more ways than one if he is on the lookout.
"A scout's honor is to be trusted" to obey the laws and to see that they are not disobeyed by others. "A scout's duty is to be useful and to help others. He must be prepared at any time to save life or to help injured persons." There are often accidents in the streets--many avoidable ones--due simply to carelessness. For instance, some boys were careless and threw broken glass bottles into the street, and a passing automobile came to a standstill because of a punctured tire. The man who owned the automobile and was driving it got out and called one of the boys on the street to come over to him. He did not call this particular boy because he thought he had thrown the glass, but because he thought he was a boy who would appreciate what he wanted to say to him. He told the boy that he had just had a new tire put on his machine and appealed to him as to whether or not he thought he had been treated right through the carelessness of the one who threw that glass into the street. The boy said no, he didn't think he had been, and, after a little more talk, added that he would do all in his power in that neighborhood to see that such things were kept out of the street in the future. That boy was in line for the making of a first-class scout, and the man to whom he had been talking, being a good scout commissioner, had won the boy, because instead of being angry, he had been kind, courteous, and friendly--all qualifications of a good scout.