ns of the Republic can
be made comfortable and rich without regard to fortune or ability or
frugality or merit.

In one sense discontent is a good thing. It is the opposite of
self-satisfaction. [Laughter.] It is a good thing to appreciate that we
have not done our best, and then try to do it. It is a good thing to
understand that we have not made the most of our opportunities. In this
sense, discontent is the spur of ambition, the incentive to better work,
the mountain of progress up which, from height to height, civilization
has climbed to where now with shining face she stands still pointing
upward to heights unknown. [Applause.]

But there is another kind of discontent, born of ignorant and jealous
envy, that seeks not to repair its mistakes nor to profit by its
failures, not to build up, but to tear down. There is in many a sense of
hopelessness over hopeless misfortune; and with these it is more to
pity than to blame. But, withal, in these discontents there is a menace
to the Republic. They afford the opportunity for the demagogue and the
cheap candidate for public office. [Laughter and applause.] Glory to the
American people! They cannot be fooled all the time, nor some of the
time. They are too level-headed, too intelligent, too patriotic to be
caught by appeals of the demagogue and the social revolutionist, to the
dictates and sentiments of envy, hatred and malice.

May I venture to suggest that there are some ways by which it is
possible for us to minimize the danger we find in these discontents? The
American people, as I have said, have not up to date been fooled. They
are the nation's court; they deserve a better certificate of character
than a certain colored man who, when he was about to leave his master's
employ because of the mysterious disappearance of certain small articles
about the house, asked for a certificate of character to take to his
next employer, and his employer said: "Well, 'Rastus, I can give you a
good certificate for energy and ability, but I cannot say much about
your honesty." "Tell you what, boss," says 'Rastus, after a moment's
reflection: "can't you put it in that I am just as honest as my
instincts will let me be?" [Laughter.]

The first remedy I would suggest, and it is one that is to be ever
applied, is education. Reduce the percentage of illiteracy. Let the
public schools teach not only reading and writing, but let public
schools teach all the principles of American popular