The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1884-07-17
clAssEBMsocIETY.
ThsFs Are No suoh DIsUuosous IA
America.

Irrn Tie Brooklyu Eagie.
A very brief essay might b. Writ-
ten" said my philosophical friend.
on class distinctions "a society. ai3es
the manner Of the histOri6al chapiar
on snakes In Ireland, By simpiy say-
ing there are no Glasses IN American
sOciety." "But," I answered, "dOes
not that require some explanation ?
Haven't we q wealthy class, and q
poor class and an educated class ?"
FNo,n he eanaWersd, I'VE have,Wealthy
men and. learned men, and poor men
and ignorant men, bat the idea Of 3
class is sOmgthing with rigidity,
nxlty, power 20 transmit itself, and of
that we have absolutely nothing In
this country. Whom would you put
among the wealthy class ?" "Why,
AstOF,n 1 replied, land Jay Gould
and Vanderbilt "Well,n he said,
'Jay Gould Is simply the maker Of
S75, ,000, 900. He began as poor as the
poorest man on the streets to-day.
As for VandeFbilt-the present enc
he inherited from his father, who was
as poor as any other Staten Island
boatman.
As for Aster, he inherited from his
grandfather, who was no better OF
than any other German emigrant-
80 yOu observe that 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 q poor emigrant. Now,
can you honestly say that those men
make up q wealthy class ? Wouldn't
it be fairer TO say that they represent
the poorer elassf One himself poor,
the other the sOn Of q poor man, and
the other The grandson Of = poor man.
nWell,n / said, sOmsWhaf startled,
I'VE certainly have an educated ciass
composed OF LongfellOW, Emerson,
Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes,
james Russell Lowell and William
q. Bryant2 "You have named,n he
replied, "fouF dead men and only two
are now living. II they constituted q
class it follows that they would have
perpetuated their talent In the new
generation. They have not done 30.
except 10 q very limited extent Ia the
single case Of Hawthorne. He dosen't
make q class Moreover, you have
selected for your Representatives q
class Of literary workers exclusively.
What do you know Of the ancestry Of
any Of the men you have mentioned
whether they were educated or
ignorant?
tell you there are no classes In
American society And hence the
folly Of opening the English custom
Of talking about ladies and gentlemen.
Every one is q man or q woman In
the United States, and no title Is
higher than that The only two dis
tinguished Americans who are In
vRriably spoken Of as simply mister
are Mr.. Tilden and Mr. Jefferson.
Yet both were governors Of their nA.
tive state 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 hr. Tilden. So In the reyOlu-
tiOnary times men talked about Gen.
Washington and President Adams
greater than an Office, the comforting
Of title upon him saVOrs Of an in
suit. While, 10 man Is not as great
rs his Office, the comforting Of title
upon him has the flavor OF an honor.
Hence, It comes about that the highest
dignity we can confer on Tilden or
Jefferson Is simply to call them
mister.
"There are no class distinctions In
America. For who are the lowest and
most ignOFantly vicious class In our
society ?"
1.-THE poor whites Of the SOUTH" l
answered.
YES" he said, land frOn that class
came two successive presidents
Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew
johnson.
Lincoln was the product Of the
poor whites Of Kentucky. and was re-
duced by poverty below the poorest
man that you will meet In the streets
OF New York, while johnson was the
son Of q sexton Of q little church in
North Carolina, and neither Of them
had any opportunity Of early i'm
proving the natural destiny Of his ig-
nOrancs, and yet each in;tuFn became
q cultured and cultivated statesman.
Lincoln was far superior to William
II. Seward In the requisites Of his pO-
sition. Yet Seward was graduated at
Union college ct an early age, and
went south and taught school In
Georgia. have heard Gov. Seymour
tell how William ii. Seward, being I'm
Boston In 1867, and hearing there that
all the presidents were MasOns with
the exception OF jefferson, went and
Joined . Masonic lodge. You can't
Imagine Lincoln doing such q thing
as that for such n purpose. For Sew
ard owed his early distinction 10 his
anti-MAsOnic prOelivilies. Andrew
johnson also. although at the age Of
twenty-five he could not write his
name, became q cultured II not oh
stinate man. New. neither.Of these
men sprang from the class that Is
known rs the gentry, and neither
was q gentleman. And yet who was
% gentle rs Abraham Lincoln? No,
7 tell you there Is no class distinction
In our society"