The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-06-18
THE PRIVILEGES OF AMERI-
CAN CITIZENSHIP

A4AG IA v VT n
CAN CITIZENSHIP.
In America, the promotion of her citi-
zens from the most lOwly conditions and
humblest walks of life To the highest
spheres of political and social influence,
has became so common an event that
We have almost ceased TO value the
methods of government and the pecu-
liarly bencficent character of those insti-
tutions which render such things not
only possible, but the rale of our system
of social evolution. The constant re
currcncc of the greatest blessings aud the
most gracious dispensations of life, in
evitably tend to render the beneficiary
insensible To the magnitude of his prl-
vileges, and IL is only when some excep-
ti0nably prominent instance serves to di-
rect the mind forcibly to the considera-
ton of the matter, that we pause to re-
fleet upon the incompatible advantages
vouchsafed to the American citizen by
the Republican form of government um-
der which lie lives
The application of these observations
is obvious to every intelligent reader.
Every one who has heard the name of
Garfield will realize their full import.
To-day there is no home within the en-
Tightening influences of the press where
til c Ohio statesman is not the object of
praise, and his wonderful career the
theme of boundless admiration. Begin
ming life amid surroundings of the most
Strengthened character, and the absence
of all those generous influences whose
ordinary effect is to quicken emulation
and to arouse 10 action the nobler ener-
gies of the mind and the more aspiring
impulses of the soul, James A. Garfield
looked out upon the future from the
threshold of a humble home, and though
his president vision saw the sun of his
destiny rising day by day, it was not
given him, even in dreams, to behold the
etfulgence of Its meridian splendor. The
boy wrought with patience, and early
success began to supplement the earnest
ness which characterized all his endeav-
Ors. Unuring industry and a generous
share of mental endOwments proved, in
his possession. the scsames which opened
the treasures of knowledge to his
waiting and longing soul, and as
years fed on apace, experience ripened
the judgment which learning had en-.
| lIghtened The measure of the students
attainments had grown beyond himself
their power had overreached the limits
of a provincial sphere, and the public
claimed for its own the acquisitions of a
mind richly stored with treasures meet
/ for the uses oi the state
The way now grew broader and in
vIted Ia still higher planes nf mental re-
search. The man whose experiences
had been confined Ia the circnmscribed
limit of his native county now began to
measure himself with other men He
came into contact with the most cult
vaicd and prominent citizens Of great
state. The process of attritiOn soon
polished the crude diamond la the high
est standard of brilliancy. and still the
star of the future statesman was in the
ascendant. From the senate of a state
he passed into the Congress of nation
where he again brought 10 the dig.
nItied and exalted position of the law
maker, all the ripe qualifications of the
scholar and the parliamentarian. The
promotion from the lower To the upper
branch Of congress marked another step
in his progressive career, and but
a few short days ago, when the
! IaSfini lao nf th,.
cation the world has ever seen were
trembling in tho hands of men shaken
like reeds in the wind, by the deep
commotion of Il storm invoked by the
conflict of divided policies, the man
whom we have followed from the portals
of his country home, through all the
gradatiOns of merited fortune, was call
ed 10 the national leadership of the par
~ whose holy mission is To perpetuate
the conditions which furnished the hero
of Il sketch So strange in its simple
truthfulncss. Ia summing up this sue.
cessiOn of splendid success, it would be
manIfestly unfair To ignore those ordi
nances of fate which operate more or less
in shaping the destiny of every mans
life, and which have doubtless lent their
aid in giving color to the history which
we have just reviewed. But this does
not weaken the lesson which il teaches
nor should it mitigate the ardor of the
thousands of young men whom fate has
destined to be the architects of their own
fortunes, and who, unassisted by the
accessories which wait upon wealth and
social influence, must make their way tC
the prize of the high calling. which in
dustrY can compass and determination
grasp. 1t is the priceless privilege o
an American citizen to have beer
born in land, the gcniu,
of whose institutions foster
all chat is worthy of development in he
humblest sons and daughters, and who's,
, laws interpose no such barriers as tn,
rules of caste set IN the way of the com
: mon people of the mOnarchicaf govern
: ments Of the old world. The career Il
the man who came up from the lowl,
position of u boathOrse driver to TIA
candidacy for president of the Unite'
e States, has hundreds and thousands q
i counterparts in the history of the nation
+ and his achievements are not of tina
l. phenomenal character which should di.
# courage ambition OF qusnch the hope c
such as are willing to labor and wal
C under the auspices of those benevoler
9 privileges which the American repubII
n extends 10 every citizen within her wild
:, domain, and which have rendered he
free shores an asylum for the oppresse
5 and down-trodden of every nation undo
:, heaven.
OVER THE STATE.
4 Troy, Kansas, reports the latest case
/, | death fro,n drinkin,r concentrated H.