Full text of Charles S. Hamlin Papers : Printed Matter -- "Reflections at Seventy-Five," by Josephus Daniels, May 1937, Box 356, Folder 7

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The Papers of Charles Hamlin (mss24661)
356 07 001-




Hamlin, Charles S., Miscellany, Printed Matter,"Reflections at SeventyFive," By Josephus Daniels, May 1937




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REFLECTIONS AT SEVENTY-FIVE
Li




kMBASSADOR JOSEPHUS DANIELS REPLIES TO INWIRY AS TO HO-4
AT SEVENTY-F1VE (Lay 18th, 193?) HE ;;AN DO AS TXCH AS
WHEN TWENTY-FIVE.

You ask me to name ten rules that have governed my
life. I am not conscious of having at any time adopted
rules of guidanne which are responsible for the fact
that my eyesight is as good and my general health and
ability to work at seventy-five are about the same as
they were when I was twenty-five, and which have enabled me to achieve some measure of success. However, sub-consciously my life may have been influenced
by the following practices or rules of conduct:
Like Livinc-ston,
have ever been ready to
go anywhere provided it is forward. My
fundamental optimism has been justified
by long_, experience. I have seen the ,2:rowth
of a new conception of social justice which
convinces me that the world is on the threshold
of a fairer distribution of the fruits of
man's efforts. I hope to live to see the
coming day when there will be no underDrivileced, no slums, no denial of equality.
I am confident that they are on the way and
that future generations will fail to understand how our generation tolerated semifeudalism and child labor and excessive hours,
as we cannot understand hcw our ancestors
tolerated slavery, duelling, and economic injustices. As a publisher-employer and as
Secretary of the Navy, I endeavored to adopt
standards that would recocnize tne rigtt of
wage
collective bargaining and a fair I.
for a fair day's work.
2.-

My habits have been regul.ar, with long working hours and plenty of time for sleep. I
have never used stimulants of any kind. I
early sensed the wisdom of tlenjamin Franklin,
who said: "Temperanne puts wood on the fire,
meal in the barrel, flour in the tubs, money
in the purse, credits in the country, contentment in the house, clothes on the children, vigor in the body, intelligence in the
brain, and spirit in the whole constitution."
a boy I was passionately fond of baseball and almost slert 'rith a ball and bat.
I can Prove by Connie Eack that I still love
Holivever, in my early days as a youthful
country publisher, I obtained all the exercise I needed without time out for I.
I
haS no need for exercise after using my legs
in reportorial activity in soliciting subscriptions and advertisements and in collecting for the same, in sometimes propelling the
ink roller of an old-time Washington hand
Sress,

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press, and in other handy jobs in a country
newspaper establishment. Later, when I might
have found time for sports, I had forgotten
how to play and have thought it wiser to reserve all my strength for my serious duties.
I violate all the accepted rules that prescribe a certain part of every day for physical exercise. During the World War I recall
that Walter Camp volunteered to keep the
Cabinet and other officials fit by superintending their exercise, giving his scientific
"daily dozen". I told him I needed every ounce
of strength for my daily tasks and could not
join his classes. He predicted I would break
down under the war strain unless I exercised
daily. Some of my colleagues, who joined his
class, later went to hospitals. I did not lose
a day or an hour from my official duties during the World War. This demonstrated that
keeping fit for work did not require devoting
time to prescribed exercise. In that respect
I may be an exception to sound rules. I do
not advise this course for others. Quite the
contrary, I'd like the thrill of kno-o-kine. a
home run or kicking a goal.
4.-

Because getting angry and losing control of
temper injures one's disposition and retards
efficiency, I have sought to keep myself free
from giving way to wrath. Temper is a blessins, if kept under control. when it is master
of a man it destroys his happiness and usefulness. For selfish reasons I have tried,
but not always with success, to maintain
equanimity of life and speech in personal
intercourse with my fellows.

5.-

As a journalist I early learned the wisdom of
the declaration of a notable editor, who said
that no man could measure up to his duty as
an editor unless, as he reL1,d in his morning
paper of the wrongs and injustices in the
world, he was so stirred with indignation that
he became animated by a high resolve to do all
in his power to redress the wrongs and bring
about justice. The paper that is not u prosecutor of evil deeds and evil men falls short
of its public responsibility. Righteous wrath
is as essential to editorial influence as keen
interest in all that goes on in the world.

6.-

I have always placed loyalty as a supreme virtue and us the very mud-sill of character.
Without loyalty to convictions, to friends,
to principles, to good causes, to religious
faith, to party, no man may hope to achieve
his highest goal. Loyalty, however, is a virtue that may degenerate if it causes one to
condone wrong in friends or makes one a slave
to

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c

to party.
7.-

I have always been indifferent to money or its
aticumulation or the power it confers. I have
never tried to make money or been actively
associated with any enterprise established
for profit. I have always been too busy with
other things. Love of money may not be the
root of all evil, but it is sure to canker the
soul, dry up generous impulses, and corrupt
the public service.

8.-

I have always been in close association with
youth and with men of youthful and forwardlooking ideas. My closest associates have
been my four sons, the young men on the staff
of my paper, and older men who believe "the
best is yet to be". For many years I taught
a Sunday school class of college students.
That experience was the best receipt for looking at things from the standpoint of tomorrow.
These associations, following the guidance of
a wise mother and the blessing of a true helpmeet wife, have crowned my life with happiness
and a large measure of satisfaction. My faith
in the wisdom of these two woman early influenced my advocacy of giving the ballot to
women and opening wider doors to them.

9.-

From early boyhood I had deep interest in
politics, but resolved when a young editor
never to become a candidate for public office.
I was not willing to risk the temptation of
writing with a view to getting votes for myself, or of being exposed to the suspicion
that editorial utterance was influenced by
personal ambition. I have regarded editorial
duty as public service as truly as holding
office. In the positions I have held I have
endeavored to live up to the Cleveland creed:
"Public office is a public trust."

10.-

A man is as old as his arterias and his interests. If he permits hi b economic, religious,
or social arteries to harden, or loses interest in whatever concerns mankind, he will lose
faith in his fellows and in his world, thereby
benomins' prematurely old and will need only
six feet of earth. If he maintains active
interest in the affairs of his home town, his
state, his republic, and the world in which he
lives, and seeks in every way in his power to
improve the welfare of his fellow men, particul.:_rly those who may not be able to help
themselves, he will realize the wisdom of St.
Simon: "The golden age is before us, not behind us." And if he accepts the philosophy of
Cuyler as I have tried to do: "Every step
toward Christ kills a doubt; every thought,
word and deed for Him cLrri3s you away from
discouragement", I am persuaded that there is
no sere or yellow leaf as one moves toward
the sunset.

Mexico, D. F.