Tradition 7
tier is more evident than its reflectiveness. For a time self-
confidence may be a substitute for the handicap of igno-
rance about the civilization of the older world ; indeed, in the
pioneer’s first stage it might have been folly to be wise. But
the continued rejection of the sifted experience of civiliza-
tion results in waste or distorted values, for even from the
rubbish-heaps of the past a great deal of gold has been and
may be separated out, and the pioneer will suffer from an
inflated currency if he remains too long off the gold standard
of the world’s cultural commerce. The old is not so effete as
the pioneer thinks it is. Valuable though his forth-rightness
and originality are, they cannot take the place of inherited
culture. But if these supplement one another, thought guid-
ing energy and fresh insight quickening wearied reflection,
there will be a beneficial interchange of virtues.
Strange though it may appear at first sight, but not so
strange on fuller consideration, the pioneer is as a rule a
traditionalist in matters of conduct and in outlook on life.
His fundamental morals continue to be those which he
brought from his old home. In his new surroundings he has
not had the necessary freedom from the material pressure
for a living, nor been in the mood, to pursue sustained re-
flection. But in some respects he is better off than the new
rich of the cities. “Main Street” on the frontier may be
sincerer than suburban “Babbittdom.” America has de-
vised and created with almost unparalleled ingenuity the
externals of life which make it possible for the average
person to live in a degree of physical comfort that has
probably never been equalled; and in elections there is no
commoner cry than that the standard of living must not be
lowered : a perfectly legitimate slogan if there were danger
that conditions would be reduced until civilized humanity
would be compelled to wear threadbare garments, live in