Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-03-19
THE AMERICAN TYPE.


He may not be able to produce title
deeds and bank accounts, or other tan
gible evidences of wealth, but he is born
heir TO innunerable qu;trter-sections in
land of promise not always accessible
to the ordinary voyager, but through
which he roans continually in quest of
the pirate-hidden gold, the bonanza
mine, the great invention, the lucky
speculation, which shall open up to
him a rapid transit route to affluence
just at the present moment he may
find himself little cramped, but there
is better day coming, a day quite near
athand when he shall burst this pinching
chrysalid shard, and soar aloft upon
auriferous wing, the free and brilliant
butterfly destiny intends him to be-
come.
In the meantime, as far as his purse
will allow, he forestalls fortune. Born
an heir, it is incumbent upon him to
live on scale commensurate with his
expectations. To-day he has only the
1865 of twelve hundred dollars to
spend, but us tomorrow he may have
that amount multiplied by an indefi-
mite factor, to save any of it would be
the height of parsimonious folly
No genuine American ever believes
he will die poor, or suffer irreparable
loss or misfortune of any kind. Nay,
even when such loss or misfortune has
overtaken him, he will refuse to give it
the countcnance Of his recognition, and
will cxpend his last breath in unfolding
some scheme for the lettering of for
tunes already past all earthly mend
ing.
The American is fond of Splendid
undertakings He revcls in schemes
for building gigantic roads and man.
moth bridges, for digging impossible
canals and inland seas. But such mat
ters must be taken in hand speedily,
and pushed with energy, or he is soon
tired OF them. Affairs that move slow
ly, do not move at all for him.
He feels the impetus of the age upon
him, and to say of any project. at
will take time, it will take time,f is to
relegate it to some unknown limbo,
quite beyond the sphere of his consid-
Grafton.
He loves to play the role of prince
and patron of enterprise. Or he will
be the brains, if you will; the sinews-
never. His to glorify the work, to talk
it up, write it up, to drum for it at
good salary, to persuade others with
large expenditure of eloquent breath,
to invest hard dollars in it, but that he
should WELD spade, or trundle a
wheelbarrow! why what waste OF
brain-power were that!
Brain-power!-th that is the shibboleth
of the American; the totem which he
blazons not upon the grave posts"
but upon his own forehead; the potent
charm with which he expects to conjure
fortune
And by brain-power, be it understood,
he does not mean the power exerted by
a thoroughly informed, broadly culti-
waited intelligence; for the typical Amer
lean is not aelose student.
The distastc for continued applica-
tion and routine, which marks his ef-
forts in fields of material labor, pursues
him into the intellectual fields.
He believes devoutly, though secretly,
in inspirational knowledge, sort Of
atmospheric influence, as it we're, which
accomplishes for him all the results
attained only by hard study on the part
of the routine ridden European.
Brain-power with him means nothing
more than certain intellectual alert
ness,a readiness in grasping the salient
features of the situation, a facility for
summarizing and utilizing the know
ledge Of others.
He has no time himself to go into
subject exhaustively. What he wants
is results, conclusions, canned, so to
speak, like his peaches and peas.
A notable lack of local attachment
characterizes the typical American.
His country is SO large, that he cannot
concentrate his affection upon any par
ticular valley or mountain-side.
1t is all America, and it is all his.
Bidding farewell to his birthplace
upon the Atlantic slope, he will trans
fer himself and his belongings to the
shores of the Pacific, with all the ease
and gayety of heart that would attend
hou'tJ oASui SAoA biuOliS noic
staple people.
To him nostolgiais an unknown emo
tion, or at most, passing sensation,
quickly dispelled; and the immigrant,
sick with longing for Fatherland, he
classes in his mind under the head Of
and unaccountable phenomena.
He will follow the line of new rail-
road. pitching temporary tent at every
station, and settle down at last at some
point half a continent distant from his
starting place, influenced in his choice
Of locality by no more weighty consid-
GRAFTON than that of an advantageous
opening for real estate investment. But
even when settled, he is by no means
fixed; his home being often little more
than pied-a-terre, where he keeps wife
and children, and other non-portable
and to which he returns at
intervals, for brief snatches of rest and
~. ~ ~
The typical American is always an
Individual, and strongly bent upon re-
an Individual. He does not
end himself readily to organizations,
nor blend with smooth uniformity into
society. The heady wine Of freedom
works too strongly in his blood to al
ow protracted submission Of his part
o rules or customs. He may for time,
md solely to please himself, pay obser-
-ance to convention, and rutfle it in the
courts OF fashion; but even such modi-
led subserviency soon becomes hateful