Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-12-24
A SCION OF THE BOOB.
The Hon. Boics Penross HAs Great Claim

to Distinctton.
The Hon. Boies Penrose II IN illustrfous
man. He himself has said It. The STATE
OF Pennsylvania will rejoice whom it reads
the autobiographical sketch 30 widely dio
trtbuted to learn that he comes from 20
long line OF illustrious ancestors and 10
descended from some Of the best stock a
New England" The Hon. Boies Penroes
never loses an opportunity TO advertise
the fact that his blood Is blue, and that hs
Is one Of che kid glove aristocraoy. In
the same sketch he is careful to tell Of ths
achievements of his great grandfather,
j. ). Boies, his great grandfather on
the paternal side, Clement Biddle PEN
rose, and his grandfather, Charles Bing.
ham Penrose."
Ii is possible that the business men, the
farmers. the miners and the hard listed
laboring man will all hasten to do him
homage. They should be happy for ths
privilege Of lending their aid to Q man 50
illustrious as the Hon Boies Penrose pro.
c.--ims himself to be. A man who can
glory in his grandfather must certainly
be the man the people should follow. The
Hon Boies Penrose undoubtedly thinks
SO, else he would not make such point
of It.
world People who have ths aud " to
believe that in this land OF the fire. illus
trious descent Is not a claim 70 pre'ere rence
II smacKs too much OF foreign manneu
and customs which the men Of that stripe
ape SO ridiculously. Here the people are
taught to believe that a man is what he
makes himself. But of course they can
not be right for the Hon. Boies Penross
extolls his grandfathers and the blue
blood he got from them as a strong claim
to excellence.
But, to be serious, this Is likely to make
him the subject OF good nstured ridicuis,
rather than TO convince any one Of his At-
nessfor the honor to which he has the
temerity to aspire. But it should not be.
He should be dealt with kindly. tits per
haps his strongest claim to distinction,
and therefore such comments as the fol-
lowing from the Pottsville Republican
will be read with genuine sorrow:
The papers which are vociferating 90
Justify for Boies Penrose as successor to
Senator Cameron, on the strength OF his
blue blood and nobility Of ancestry, for
get to give their readers the coat Of arms
Of the royal family Trot 1t out and lei
us see what it looks like. A plain Amsri-
can citizen-a man who does not boast Of
MS ahScStFl kOE S8ko-Wb9 8oV0
enough to elect as president Of the United
States the other day. A plain American
citizen who has carved out his own for.
tune and fame In life Is good enough for
the plain people of Pennsylvania to repre-
sent them in any office or In any senate"
This latter reference Is to John Wana-
maker. He Is only tho son Of q brick
maker, and he commenced life without
dollar, without an nlustrious ancestor
and without blue blood. He was q
plain, every day man, just as he Is today.
But he had pluck and he had brains He
is, prominently, a self-made man. He
was one Of the people at the beginning Of
his career, and he is one Of the people
still. He has carved his own way, and
whether In his business career. his public
ife or his lsbors for his fellow mon, he
has depended upon his own resources
and not upon the achievements of "hia
great grandfather on the paternal hde,"
nor upon any other 'illustrious ancestor"