St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-01
GLASSES IN soc1E TY.
A Demonstration That, There IRE No Such
Such Distinctions i1a 4Sl1ei-ica.
Tp-ool.T,,r rs,1o


"A very brief essay might be written, y
said my philosophical friend, con class dis
tinctions in society, after the manner OF the
historical chapter on snakes in Ireland, by
simply sayiny there are no classes in Amer
lean society," But, y answered, ''does not
that require some explanation? Haven't we
a wealthy class and a poor class, and an edu-
ted class?" ''No'' he answered, ''we have
wealthy men and learned men, and poor
men and ignorant men, but the idea of q
class is symething with rigldity fxity, DOW
er to transmit itself, and of that we have
absolutely nothing in this country. Whom
would you put among the wealthy classl''
Why, Astor," / replied, ssand jay Gould
aud Vanderbilt - Well he said, Jay Gould
IS simply tie maker of SIS, coo, 600. He be-
gan as poor as the porest man on the streets
to-day. As for Yanderbilt---the present one
he inherited from his father who was as poor
as any othr Staten island boatman.
As for Astor, he inherited from his grand
father, vino was no better off than any other
German emigrant. So you observe the three
names that you give comprise one man who
made his money himself, one the son Of q
poor man, and the third the grandson of
poor emigrant. Now, can you honestly say
that those men make up wealthy class2
Wouldn't 1t be fairer to say that they repre-
sent the poor classl One himself poor, the
other the son of poor man, and the other
the grandson Of poor man. i''Well, - I said,
somewhat startled, I'VE certainly have an
educated class composed of LOngfellOW.
Emerson, Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell
Holmes, James Russell Lowell and William
G. Bryauti' you have uamed, - he replied,
-four dead men and only two who are now
living If they constituted a class it follows
that they would have perpetuated their talent
in the new generation. They have not done
so, except to very limited extent in the
single cass Of Hawthorne. He doesn't make
Il class! Moreover, you have selected for
your representatives of a class literary work
ers exclusively. What DO YOU know of the
ancestry OF any Of the men you have men
ti0ned-whether they were educated or ignor-
anti
tell you there are no classes in American
society. And hence the folly of opening tine
English custom Of talking about ladies and
gentlemen. Everyone is a man or woman
In the UEited States, and no title is higher
than that, The only two distinguished
Americans who are invariably spoken Of as
simply mister are Mr.. Tlden and Mr.-Jeffer-
SON. Yet both were governors of their ma
tive states and each, in turn, was elected
president OF the United States. We always
speak Of Gov. Seymour and Gov Hoffman,
and we always spoke OF GOV. Dix; but also
we simply say, Mr.. filden So in the Reyol
utiOnary times men talked about Gen.
Washington and President Adams and Mr..
Jefferson. When a man is greater than an
Office, the conferring Of a title upon him
savors of an insult. While, if q man is not
as great as his Office, the conferring Of a title
upon him has the flavor of honor Hence,
it comes about that the highest dignity we
can confer on T3lden and Jefferson is simply
to call them mister
There are no class distinctions in Ameri-
ca. For who are the lowest and most ignor-
autly vicious class in our society!n he asked.
''rhe poor whites Of the South, - ] answered.
YES ne said ''aud from that class came
two successive presidents-Abrabam Lincoln
and Andrew Johnson,
Lincoln was the product of the poor whites
Of Kentucky, and was reduced by poverty
below the poorest man that you VIII meet in
the streets of New York while Johnson was
tie son OF a sexton of a little church in
North Carolina, aud neither of them lad any
opportunities for early improving the natur-
al utSgllAl VI Lls 10 lOIGuCC1 an jCb SGCH III
turn became a cultured and cultivated states
man. Lincoln was far superior to VILLAIN
H. Seward in the requisites Of his position.
Yet Seward was graduated at Union College
at an early age, and went south and taught
school in Georgia. I have heard GOV. Sey-
mour tell how William II. Seward. being in
Boston in 1867 and hearing there that ell
the presidents were masons with the eXcep-
ton Of jefferson, went and joined a Mason
ic lodge. You can't imagine Lincoln doing
such thing as that for such purpose. For
Seward owed his early distinction TO his anti
masonic proclivites. Andrew Johnson also,
although at the age Of % be could not write
his name, became a cultured if an obstinate
man. Now, neither Of these men sprang
from the class that is known as the gentry,
aud neither was a gentleman. Aud yet who
was so gentle rs Abraham Lincolnl No, 1
tell you there is no class distinction in our
society"