Page:Back to the Republic.djvu/48

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Chapter IV

THE STANDARD FORM

IF YOU were asked to suggest a word that epitomizes in the most effective and comprehensive manner the sum total of human effort and the achievements of civilization, what would your answer be?

Undoubtedly the word "standards."

By the processes of reasoning and experience in the various fields of activity and thought, standards have been evolved to guide mankind in the onward march of civilization.

From the birth of political speculation treatises on politics have frequently discussed the question. What is the best form of government?

The men who founded this republic answered that question by evolving the standard form of government. It is the right standard in the science of government, just as the Golden Rule is the correct standard in the philosophy of right

living; the Ten Commandments in the realm of law; the ten digits in the science of mathematics; the alphabet in the languages; the institution of

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