Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-11-08
UPS AND DOW wns or LIFE.
wsy n I. Ka~ssr TO Govern Than TO nun
. Grocerv store.

E<8A8S IL was an observa- |
Wy. tion quite worthy Of
him, and one Of general application, for |
there are many men who find IL very difiicuit
to get living on their own resources, to
whom 1t would be comparatively easy TO be
q very fair sort OF governor. Everybody
who has no official position or routine duty
on n salary knows that tho most trying mo
ment in the twenty four hours Is that in which
he emerges from the oblivion OF sleep and
faces life. Everything perplexing tumbles
in upon him, all the possible vexations of the
day rise up before him, and he is little less
than n hero II he gets up cheerful
II is not to be w6Ddered at that people
crave Office, some saIaried position, in order
20 escape the nnxietiek, the personal RESPONSE
bilities, OF a single handed struggle with the
world It must be nluch easier to govern an
fsiand than 20 carry On almost any retail bust
ness When the governor wakes In the morn
ing he thinks first Of his salary; he has not
tho least anxiety about his daily bread OF the
support of his family. His business is all
laid out for hin: hb has mot 10 create it.
Business comes TO him; he does not have to
drum for it His dAy IL agreeably, even if
sympatheticaily, occupied with the troubles
OF other people, and nothing Is 80 easy 10 bear
as the troubles OF other people. After he has
had bis breakfast, and read over the Soon
stitution,r he has nothing 10 do but to
govern for feu o...-, that is, 10 decide
about things ON general principles, and with
little personal application, and perhaps about
large &ncerhs which nobody knows anything
about, and which arc much easier 70 dispose
Of than the per,,lexihg details of private life.
He INST vote several times day, for giving
q decision is really casting a vote; hut that
Is much easier than to scratch around in all
the anxieties of a retail business Many men
who would make very respectable presi-
dents of the United States could not sue
ccssfully run a.retail grocery store. Tho
anxieties Of the grocery would wear them
out. For consider the varied ability that the
grocery requires the foresight about the
markets, to take advantage of an eighth per
cent. off or ON here and there; the vigilance
required to keep full line and not over
stock, 10 dispose Of goods btfore they spoil
or the popular taste changes; the suavity
and Integrity and duplicity aud fairness and
adaptability needed TO get customers and
keep them; the power 10 bear the daily and
hourly worry; the courage 10 face the ever
present specter OF pfailnre,n which Ia said TO
come upon ninety merchants in a hundred; !;
the tact ueeded TO meet the whims and tho
complaints Of patrons, and the difficulty Of
getting the patrons who grumble most to
pay In order 10 satisfy the creditors. When
tho retail grocer Waxens in the morning he
feels that his business is not going 10 come To
him spontaneously; he thinks of his rivals,
q hts perilous stock, OF his debts and delin-
quent customers He has no .sConstitutions
10 60 by, nothing but his wits and energy 70
oct against the world that day, and every
day the struggle and the anxiety are the
same. What a number Of details he has 20
carry in his head tconsider, for instance,
how many different kinds of cheese there
are, and how different people hate and love
tho same kind, and how keen must
be his appreciation of the popular
tAstel The complexities and annoy
ances OF his business are excessive, and
he cannot afford to make many mistakes;
II no does, he will luEe his business, and when
man fails in business honestly, he loses
hts nerve, and his career Is ended. IL Il
simply amazing, when you consider IL, the
amount of talent shown in what arc called
the ordinary businesses % life.
It has often bsdn remarked with how little
wisdom the world is governed That is the
reason it Is 50 easy to govern. Uneasy lies
TIM head that wears q crown does not refer
tothe discomfort OF wearing 1t, but to the
danger OF losing 1t, and OF being put back
upon ones native resources, having TO run q
grocery or TO keep school. Nobody Is in such q
pitiable plight a. a monarch or politician out
of business 1t Is very difficult for either ts
get living. A man who has once enjoyed
the blessed feeling of awaking every morning
with tho thought that he has certain salary
despises the idea OF having 10 drum up
business by his own talents. It does not dis
turb the waking hour ut all 10 think that q
deputation Is waiting In the next room abou
spostofiiee In Indiana or about tho Goldfish il
Newfoundland waters-the man can take
second map ON any such affair; but IL b,
knows that the living OF himself and family
that dny depend upon his activity and intel
iigenee, uneasy lies his head. There Is some
thing 80 restful and easy about public busi
nessi IL IL NJ simplei Take the aver
ago congressna The secretary O
tho treasury sends In an elaborat.
report-a bud get, in fact--involving
eornpiete and harmonious scheme Of revenu'
and expendituFe Fe. Must tho Congressman
read iti No; N Is not necessary 10 do that
he only cares fdr practical measures. Or
financial bill ID brought In. Does he stud,
that billi He hears IL read, at least by title
Does he take pains 10 inform himself b,
reading and conversation with experts upol
its probable dffectf Or an internationa
copyright law IA proposed, n measure tina
viii relieve tho people Of the United State
from the world wide reputation of sneakinI
meanness toward foreign authors. Does b
examine the slIbicct, and try TO understap
III That Is mob necessary. Or 1t In . ques
fion OF tariff. He 10 20 vote 'syes' or "no
on thess propqkalz Tt Is not necessary 70
him 70 master these subjects, but IL Il ncce'
aary for him tp know how 70 vota And hoy
does be find opt thati In the frs plaoe, D
inquiring WHIST effect the measure viii hsy
upon the chan nce Of election OF the man
thinks will be nomia ated for president, an
IN the second place, what effect his vote vi
have ON his own reelection. Thus the priT
eiples Of legislation become very much sin
pliaed, and thus Y happens that 1t is con
paratively somnoA easier 20 govern than
is 70 run q grocery stora-Editors Draws
An Harper's Magazise
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