Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-03-08
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WASHINGTON, March IA group Of
nembers Of congress and government
Dflicials were sitting in the easy chairs Of
! hotel parlor . few nights ago, talking
About the Astors and their wealth, the
growth Of the money power, the rise Of
lrsnsts, and the probabilities Of the future
v 10 the Capitalization Of capital. A ma
iority Of the gentlemen present took .
gloomy view Of the situation. They con-
lended that In the new order OF thinga .
poor man, even In the United States. hes
not fair start In the race Of life, and
that the tendency Of the times is to make
tho rich richer and the poor poorer. Fl
nally one gentleman. . prominent figure
In congress and In national politics, with
. good deal Of seriousness stood against
what seemed TO be the prevailing opinion,
and argued that a. wealth is 60 much
more conspicuous than poverty. its dis
play always exaggerates its relation to
the average condition OF things.
Let me tell you story from actual
life to illustrate my position" said he.
II think I can show you from rcmark-
able incident, or, rather, q series Of in
cidents, Of coincidents, that In the United
States Q man needs neither the prestige
Of wealth nor family to enable him to
win conspicuous success In business or
professional life.
FIFTY years ago was q barefooted
boy living with my parents ON farm in
Ashland county, o. The country. was
comparatively new, the markets were
not good, and the agricultural people
were hard pressed to get a living out Of
the soil. Money was scarce. nearly every
one was In debt, and no ono was pros
porous or content. At the cross roads
in Green township, near which we lived.
there used to be an old blacksmith Of tho
name OF Studebaker. He was q good
old man, whoworked pretty hard at his
anvil, but for all that had o constitu-
tional tendency to financial prostration.
He had some boys who were active
young fellows and who tried to help their
father out, but In spite of all they could
do, and all the old man could do, the
blacksmith found himself moro than
once every year sued for debt before .
justice Of the peace known In the neigh
borhood a. Squire Allison. II was un.
derstood In the neighborhood that the
old gentleman Studebaksr owed nearly
every one in that part Of the country.
and every merchant In the county seat
whom he could induce to trust him. In
the same way about half the farmers In
the township owed him bills for sharp
ening plow shares, for repairing wagons
and implements and shoeing their horses.
The farmers were too poor to pay, and
Studebaker was therefore unable to pay
the merchants who had sold him supplies.
Zone day, to the surprise Of every one,
old man 6tudebaker loaded his family
and few household goods into covered
wagon and started west. All the neigh
bors had confidence In his honesty, and
were sorry to see him 90. The next we
heard Of him was THAT he had located al
South Bend, Ind, where he aud his lusty
boys had made first one wagon and then
another and sold them at fair prices tc
the prosperous farmers of the st. Joseph
valley. 1t wasn't long before he had
made wagons enough TO enable him tc
start an extensive wagon shop, and In q
year or two he came back to Green town
ship. Ashland county, o., and paid every
debt which he had left behind him.
remember how proud the old man was oi
his ability TO do this, and how glad hi,
former neighbors were TO see him pros
pering. Well, you all know the rest
You know how that wagon shop grew
and grew till it became the largest insti
tuition Of its kind In the world. YOU
know that his sons are immensely
wealthy and highly respected men.
"The Squire Allison whom have
mentioned was poor man, too. II,
had son, Bill, who was fond of chew
ing tobacco and playing ball and o
shirking his work on the farm. Bill ant
were churns, barefoot boys together
and remember that he often said hs
was going to leave the farm at the frs
opportunity. Finally he got chance Il
go to Ashland, the county seat, and
study law with firm there who knew
his father, and in time he was admitted
to the bar and hung out his shingle. HI
didn't have many clients, and for a tim
had to go through the process of starva
tion and insolvency which Is the fate O
all young lawyers in country town
He naturally turned toward politics
and when the Republican party wa
born enrolled himself as one Of its mem
bers and stood for county attorney OF
the Republican ticket. Ashland wa
then and still is a stanch Democrat
county, and young Allison was snowe,
under. He took this as hint that tina
neighborhood was not congenial for him
and started west. He went TO Dubuque
Ia, and within five years his abilitie
and his popularity as a man had wo
Tor him nomination and election 3
congress. You all know the remainde
Of the story-how he served a numbe
Of years In the house, and then steppe
up to the senate, where ne has been 70
seventeen years. Senator Allison ha
never been q success financially, thoug
you will often see his name in the paper
as one Of the millionaires of the senate
The truth is he is not worth $50, 600, an
the entire devotion Of his time to publ
affairs has left him without the inclins
ton or the ability to take hand in tn
money grabbing enterprises of the times
But his life has been a great success
nevertheless.
"By some strange dispensation Of fat
that neighborhood of Ashland county
o., has given large number Of famou
men to the state Of Iowa. Old Samu,
]. Kirkwood, the war governor Of Iowa
was poor boy in Ashland county, VIII
also studied law and for time practice
before Squire Allison and other justice
Of the peace. Those who recollect hin
say that even then he had the sau
qualities Of rugged honesty, eloquent
and shrewdness which have since mao
him on ,tl ao N ,,<,nplar 1aalo