The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1880-12-02
A Graphic Interview With the Devil.

had no idea that the Devil was, exter-
| nallylat least, so refined and polished. Ger
tainly he seemed the beau ideal Of gen.
tleman. Neither too much nor too little
ornamentation in his apparel spotless linen;
the fit Of his coat, his collar, and his gloves
a study; cool, self possessed, amiable;
winning smile, dignifed; no tail, no hoofs,
! no horns, and with smack of informally
and heartiness; well, he captivated me, and
made me feel as much at home as if I had
known him all my life, as indeed I must
have done to have felt so much en- rapport
with him.
This has been the most successful poll
teal campaign ever instigated and infu-
enced," said the Devil. 1--WE been at the
bottom and top of it, through from the first.
You heard 'em say at the start it wasn't to
be campaign of mud, personalities, and
abuse, didn't you?"
Il think some almost forgotten hopes Of
that character We're held out, replied.
Eyes. But headed all that off. It's
easy to do that now; easier than ever"
"Why SO, Mr.. DIP"
| because there's so much material lying
around loose to do it with. You fellows call
this generation Of more refinement, in
telligence, and general goodness than any
preceding for the present century. Bosh!
Want the proof that it isn't SO right here in
New York;"
''Prove all things. Hold fast to that
which is good" says I.
''Well, you have thousands and thousands
OF boys among you who don't speak intel
ligible English apprentice boys from twelve
upward, who work by day and wander by
night in your streets. They have dialect
Of their own. Hear one pronounce the
truth and he'll call it de troot. Forbid
these boys to swear or talk the most vulgar
slang at every sixth decent word, and you
close their mouths altogether. They are
rougher than some you call savages. Ihave
harder work to get some savages drilled and
trained to my use than these boys. Your
workshops and factories are full of them.
You care nothing about the kind Of men
these boys will make. You leave all that to
me. A good many Of them during the last
thirty years have grown up into men. like
'em. They make good soldiers for me-.
doesn't our glorious common school
system dispel ignorance?" I asked. "Pop-
ular education! Popular education! There!"
"Educate?" replied the D. "You mean
you smatter. So many mechanical teachers
to SO many children; SO much memonzing,
so much progress. Good! I find no fault
with the system; it's the best you can have
Seven hundred children in herd. You
send six hundred and fifty of yours; send
fifty of mine. In three months my fifty will
convert five hundred of yours-more or less.
See?" "You don't prove anything"
"Don't evil communications corrupt good
manners? Saint Paul's Epistle to-to-
must get revised edition of the Bible
and hunt up that quotation. But Saint
Paul was right. And your colonizing peo-
pie faster than you can take care Of 'em.
You care more for population than what
the population consists of, more for quanti-
ty than quality, more that a town or city's
numbers should be indicated y ba long row
of ciphers after digit or two than that
each one of these ciphers should live in a
decent habitation and enjoy surroundings
fit for human being"
Look at our national prosperity. Isn't
that good sign?"
"Oh, you make me laugh, said the Devil
National prosperity? Good crops? Yes.
expectation to Europe? Yes. A few get
ting very rich? Yes. Millions just making
a living or getting poorer. How much nat
ional prosperity falls to the lot of a Penn
sylvania coal-miner, or a Fall River cotton
spinner. or one of the thousands of New
York's retail clerks at eight dollars per
week? amt these the people? Though, to
read some of your newspapers, one
would think the people consisted of
W. H. Croesus and rich polo-players.
"Strange!' he went on, ''strange it should
come to this, that should give my foes
some kindly advice. But can we'll afford
to be generous. I shall get all want See
here. The trouble with you is, you don't
pull together. You need all to take hand
in irving to tone yOur masses up to refine