Ends and Means.
The main principles that guided me abroad will guide me also as President. True, they are only a framework. Their practical application will depend upon circumstances and upon the persons with whom I shall have to work; and, in a democratic Republic, it is the duty of every citizen to work for the public weal. Under popular government all have a right to take the initiative, all are called upon to act, all are responsible—though, even in a democracy, many are called and few are chosen.
The difficulty of passing from an aristocratic and monarchical to a democratic system arises from the failure of monarchical aristocracy to accustom citizens to bear responsibility and to take decisions. Monarchism and Caesarism have left something of aristocracy and absolutism in many of us. To give orders is not always identical with leadership. Our Republic has to educate its citizens in democracy. And, for the sake of our whole future, it is important that the main lines of our development should be laid down from the outset. The general direction is weightier than the details. We have to decide upon principles and tactics so as to create a sound tradition, to march with firm step towards our national goal, and not to oscillate about “a golden mean.” My own principles and aims have grown organically out of our history in which I have steeped myself. My guide and master was Palacký, the “Father of the Fatherland,” who gave us a philosophical history of our nation, understood its place in the world, and defined our national objective. He perceived that, in virtue of our geographical situation and of our past, we are a part of the world as a whole; that we need to realize this position and to act in accordance with it. He saw that Europe and mankind were tending towards unification, and he told us what part we were to play in the “centralization of the world.” He added:—
The miraculous power of steam and electricity has set up new standards. The old barriers between countries and peoples are disappearing more and more, the families and tribes of humanity are being brought nearer together, into closer reciprocal contact. . . . International rivalry has reached a degree hitherto unknown. It will grow and grow. Those who stand out of the race will decline and presently be past saving. I ask myself whether our people, gifted beyond others, is to stand aside, through neglect or incomprehension on the part of its leaders, whether it shall take no part in the emulation which can alone assure its life in future.
