lesson, and from now it is my purpose to consecrate my life towards the
betterment of such as these. Our thoughts, our habits, our morals, our
civilization itself is wrong, else it would not be possible for just
this sort of suffering to exist."

"But you will let me help you, Philip?" said Gloria.

"It will mean much to me, Gloria, if you will. In this instance Len
Turner died a hero's death, and when Mrs. Turner became incapacitated,
society, the state, call it what you will, should have stepped in and
thrown its protecting arms around her. It was never intended that she
should lie there day after day month after month, suffering, starving,
and in an agony of soul for her children's future. She had the right to
expect succor from the rich and the strong."

"Yes," said Gloria, "I have heard successful men and women say that they
cannot help the poor, that if you gave them all you had, they would soon
be poor again, and that your giving would never cease." "I know," Philip
replied, "that is ever the cry of the selfish. They believe that they
merit all the blessings of health, distinction and wealth that may come
to them, and they condemn their less fortunate brother as one deserving
his fate. The poor, the weak and the impractical did not themselves
bring about their condition. Who knows how large a part the mystery of
birth and heredity play in one's life and what environment and
opportunity, or lack of it, means to us? Health, ability, energy,
favorable environment and opportunity are the ingredients of success.
Success is graduated by the lack of one or all of these. If the powerful
use their strength merely to further their own selfish desires, in what
way save in degree do they differ from the lower animals of creation?
And how can man under such a moral code justify his dominion over land