The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1896-12-03
LOCAL PATRIOTISM.
YHE NEED or 1T IS FELT IN MANY
COMMUNITIES.

"A
of means whereby they may perpotuato
their family name and at the same time
confer great benefits upon their town
by William Cranston Lawton in the DC
tober Lippincott's He says in part:
The only way to win by wealth tho
well founded popularity and lasting
fame which all men desire is to invest
that wealth at home III monuments
that, while perpetuating the name of
the giver, shall be blessing to all the
generations who SHALL arise after us to
toll and strive and wither and pass. as
we shall do SO soon. 4
III amy American community, as no
where else on earth, that opportunity
stands waiting, Nowhere is wealth 50
quickly won Nowhere is each MAJ,
more free to spend his own as he will.
Nowhere, perhaps, in Christendom, at
worthy public monuments which the
community is capable of enjoying and
utilizing III fullest measure,
It is proposed TO illustrate this doc
trine as cone7etely as possible by pal
ticular though thoroughly typical OK
ample--one of our older eastern cities
In the earlier history of that town thcrs
was much to crafty healthy eivi<.
pride AS the center Of peculiarly
hazardous and adventurous industry, It's
name was a familiar one III every quar-
ter Of the globe
Within TIE city itself CT il its cl:vi
rons an extraordinary number OF emf
nent artists have their birthplace Or
childhood : home. lii circle of honorcd
families wealth, with the resultant ~
tinement has been hereditary through
successive generations In many private
homes luxury, taste, art, arc worthily
represented. For advanced education,
for the endowment Of free library so
that it may provide scholars with books
they can neither afford for themselves
nor ask from public funds, for furnish
ing the schools with pictures, music and
other necessities, "A generous example
was set by two lcgacies many years ago.
Yet this beautiful city has no place
in which to set up the numerous notable
pictures, by her own sons or by greater
artists, which private owners are more
than willing to intrust TO public charge.
Though the unique and picturesque IN
dustry with which the city's name is
historically associated is passing away
with the present generation, no attempt
has been made to gather and preserve
relics, records and memorials Of that
earlier time Though rCmoter from col
lege or university than perhaps any
other equally wealthy community, its
center of local higher instruction has
struggled Oh for nearly u generation
with one properly paid instructor, with
no sufficient endowment to justify
more. The lyceum has flckered out, as
almost everywhere else. and 10 fund,
no proper organization cven is at hlild
to enable tho visiting scholar. the re
former, the lhiiItClLlY, tie statesman,
to reach the ears of the citizens III the
long winter evenings of these stirring
years. That painting and sculpture do
not beautify the school buildings i'll
which future citizens are bred, lhat no
public music hall renders sweet sounds
as free as air and sunshine, that few or
no beautiful monuments or civic build
ings make the sire cts a daily education.
Suppose that al any time i'll the past
80 years IL single Million whether
raised by general subscriptions, bca.oN ed
by legacy from the dead hand OK Ia free
gift from the living had been paid Is II
ransom from 0cadlier tlCush less
prompt destroyed been devoted,
under the best advice, to the highest
permanent welfare IF Tic fast growing
industrial commEnity--Wha glorious
series of foundations woaId have result
ed, some of them perhaps bearing
proudly and EeTpetQatiag for thousands
Ct years the names Of men now already
forgottcn A hundred thousand dollars
would have provided a noble tuiltaing
for a museum OF local antiquities anRi a
gallery OF pAuting, Half that aHiOunr
would have furnished q gallery CT casts
including ali the chief masterpieces Of
ancient aud modern art. AECtEor hum
dred thousand might have given the
public library an edifce that would
have crowned the beautiful City is loft
lily as the Low library Will crown horn
ingside heights. The same sum, OF half
as much, would have made a perma-
nent fund whereby the 20 wisest and
most eloquent men available within 500
miles would be generously welcomed to
address the citizens and their families
in free lecture course every winter.
A great hospital might have absorbed a
similar amount Finally, if $500, 900
had been spent in the subsidy of ad
vanced education, five or six chairs of
science, literature and history could
have been endowed with salaries quite
as liberal as those paid in Yale or Cor
nell university. and something would
have remained for buildings or books.
All this, and much more, was per-
fectly attainable. With such stimulus,
the best elements in the community
would have resisted with renewed cour-
age and energy the adverse influences
inevitably felt in an increasingly indus
trial center How Unreasonable would
have been the direct educational effect