The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-10-12
DEPEW ON VANDERBILT
TRIBUTE TO THE CHARACTEB AND ABTLIIY OF THE COMMODORE"

uib WonuertuI bOresisht anu cAoeu'i'e Abillty-Had No sympathy, but Was Eminentiy Just-why He Succeeded Where Others Failed.
 Nashville, Tenn, Oct. n.-~At the un- yelling of the statue of Cornelius Van derbilt, at the Vanderbilt university here to-day, Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, delivered the principal address, an ab- stract of which follows:
 The American commonwealth is built upon the individual. It recognizes neither classes nor masses. That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of hap piness," are the words of the immortal Declaration of Independence. These truths are not only the language of American liberty; they are interwoven into the character of American citizens, who are taught from childhood and re- ceive by inheritance the lesson That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" We have thus become a nation of self-made men. We live un- der just and equal laws, and all ave- nues for a career are open. It has be- come a proverb that there are but three generations from shirt sleeve to shirt sleeve" from the necessity to work to work from necessity. Neither the system of the past by which the few were born to privilege and proper ty and the many to struggle and priva- tion, nor the advanced views of the present by which the capacity of the weakest shall be the measure of sue cess permitted to the strong, find any recognition in the workings of our in stitutions.
 If the result of our system is the sur vival of the Attest, experience has dem onstrated that it is possible to so tenn per the doctrine that the efforts of the born leaders of industry shall uplift whole communities to greater happi- ness and to better standards of living by originating enterprises and develop ments which give to thousands new oc- equations and larger returns for their labor. Every youth sees about him in spring examples. They are not few nor isolated They are found in every settlement, however, small it may be, and in most families. All men who have risen above the conditions of birth and surroundings and maintained their advance are illustrations Freedom of opportunity and preservation of the re- suits of forecast, industry thrift and honesty have made the United States the most prosperous and wealthy coun- try in the world.
 Commodore Vanderbilt is a conspicu- ous example of the product and possi- bilities of our free and elastic condi- tions His father was a small farmer with a large family, and it became nec- essary for the son to look out for him. self when very young. Ordinarily his career would have been to work on until he could take a little farm for himself, run in debt for it, and labor half his life in the effort to pay off the mortgage, But he knew of some and read of many who from the same be- ginnings had become successful in bus mess. He was healthy and strong. His mother had confirmed him in good hab- it's and principles. He had little educa- ton, but a marvelously clear head and sound judgment. At sixteen, borrow ing hundred dollars from his mother, he began the battle of life and he died the richest man in the world with the reputation of having made more money than was ever before accumulated in a single life. He had an exhaustless cap- 1tal of courage and common sense. His motto was simple and straightforward, like every act in the wonderful drama of which he was the chief actor. What other men have done I can do,' was the handspring of his eXertions.
 The qualities which make a great writer, or orator, or statesman, are easily recognized. The world knows the clements of mind and character which made Hannibal the abest of generals, Caesar the greatest of con- Querors and rulers, Cromwell chief of reformers and Washington first among patriots. Authors reveal themselves in their works. The contemporaries of a successful man of affairs never tire of discussing the question whether his rise is due to good luck or good judgment. The destructive words in our language are "if and Out There are not books enough in the world to hold the explanations of tired and tiring millions telling of the brilliant things they would have done 'if'' something had not hap pened, and but for the unexpected. These words are hurled at every strong man to account for his career. For tunes made by the discovery of a mine or the possession -of a patent for use full invention are common accidents.
 For sixty-six years Commodore Van- derbilt was in perpetual warfare. He neither asked nor gave quarter. The same country, the same laws, the same { open avenues, the same opportunities which he had before him were equally before every other man. The keenest competition and the earnest rivalry of I able and ambitious opponents met him at every step in his career. Wary ad- X versaries were watching for weakness J in his schemes, or failure of his plans. k Each day renewed an old fight or be- ! gan new one. He was often checked, sometimes forced to retreat and take < another position, but he was never de- feated. He ultimately remained mas ter of the field and pushed straightfor- j. ward to the accomplishment of his pur- poses. He was not the creation of luck # nor chance nor circumstances
 # It is not just to judge men by arbit- % rary standards. A few broad rules are