The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-24
RIVER AT s A. M.
THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS.

There are those gloomy persons who
believe that, If ever humanity gave
down the milk Of kindness, it long since
went dry, It's milk absorbed in Its own
selfishness. Others, not confirmed pes
simists, have been inclined to doubt
the tactical supply since the financial
depression set in, checking the inflow
of the root of all evil, while leaving
the channel for outflow as capacious as
ever There is the same disposition in
such circumstances, to make every
thing bend to preservation that
there Is on shipboard when wreck
is threatened, and every one Is prone
to look out for number one with an
Indifference as to who it may be that
will take the hindmost. Now and then
there comes, even in these parlous
times of hardness, instances to revive
faith in the existence of the source
and sufficient supply Of that kindly
milk that revives the fainting, resus-
citates the starveling and infuses hope
into the Respondent.
Col Kiefer, who has contributed so
-auchNto the joyouszsrss Of life, whose
stentorlan tones have been lifted in
the hall Of congress in behalf of the
mashed potato and the diluted starch
industries, and who was the happy
victim Of his own ready letter writer,
comes again to the front Of the public
to refute the pessimist and cheer the
doubling with q striking illustration
Of the truth Of the perennial flow Of
the milk Of human kindness. Atten-
tive readers Of the G l b know that,
after one Of the colonel's improvident
letters in which he asked for but one
more congressional nomination as a
vindication and promised that it would
be positively his last appearance in
public as a candidate for seat in the
national house of representatives, after
this letter, we say, had been flashed
on him when he intimated his willing
ness to serve yet another term, he grace
fully took himself off the track. But
his philanthropic impulses to serve his
fellow men had not been stated by two
congressional terms, and he looked
about for another field where he could
show, thet he, too, like Abou Ben
Ahmed, loved his fellow man, and Sc
lected the commissionership of immi-
grafton as a large and sufficing field.
Ordinarily, as too many poor fellows
know from bitter and humiliating ex-
perience, it becomes necessary for one
who has selected a sphere for his pub
lie usefulness to begin a lively hustle
for Endorsements, sometimes refused.
often grudgingly given, and oftener
given as the easiest way Of Kidding the
givers Of the opportunities of the seek
er. 1t Is from among these that the
ranks Of the doubters Of the mi1k-of-
Kindness theory are recruited.
But the colonePs experience, as re-
lated by himself to an evening contem-
porary. shows that he, at least, had
nothing to do but hold the pail to catch
the generous flow. When 1t became
known, says the colonel, with that
charming modesty that so distinguishes
him, that my name had been men
toned" for that position my entire
delegation called personally on the
president" and urged him to honor
himself by appointing the colonel This
was purely voluntary act Of the dele
cation Of which the colonel was not
aware until after the generous deed
was done. But the flow Of milk did not
stop there. Members of the two con-
crosses Of which the colonel was so
prominent a member, 100 Of them,
rushed to his support and fairly dazed
the president with their unsolicited
recommendations of the gallant ex.
Behind them came trooping a volun-
teer corps, composed Of the legisla-
ture Of the state Of Minnesota, with
its governor. trigged out, undoubted-
~, in all the glittering array Of the
commander-in-chief Of the states mill
tia. charging upon the placid man who
sits and smiles benignly where sturdy
Grover ruled, demanding, in the name
of the sovereign state, the uncondi-
tional surrender Of the immigration
commissionership that they might bear
1t to the retiring colonel and lay 1t at
his feet. To the rattle Of the musketry
Of this light infantry there was added
the roar Of the heavy artillery of the
''entire Germap-American press, Re