New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1898-07-27
THE CAB NUISANCE.


sort. Certainly not the oratory Of De-
mosthenes, or Cato, or Wendell Phil
lipps, or Gladstone-it is not the oratorY
of lofty intellect or enthusiasm, or of
high thinking and broad and noble pa
triotism. On the contrary, it is the mere
ebullition of windy sentimentaliry, when
it is not rank and dangerous demagog.
ism. Outside Of the leading pulplts in
few of our largest cities there are not
half dozen real orators in the country.
In public life there are practically none.
There are plenty of glib takers
who have an inexhaustible gift of CAB;
but they lack the scholarship, the great
ness of mind, the ability to see things in
their relations, the unselfish love of hui
manly, and above all the profound sim
cerity and lofty enthusiasm which are
the vital essence-the very soul of true
oratory. In few weeks more the coun-
try will be overrun by what may be
called the habitual orators called
leaders of the people-who iniict their
pedantic jargon and wild vagaries or
mischievous demagogism upon the pa
tent public tevery possible opportunity.
And there are well-meaning people
who think that this sort of thing should
be encouraged. This shows that they
have not read history width view to
ascertalning the results of genuine ore
tory, and deducing from thence the pro-
bable injury inflicted upon the world by
the sham oratory of the present day.
Had they done so, they would have dis
covered that oratory has too often been
vice, if not crime. According to the
Bible the oratory of the devil and not
woman's curiosity or innate depravity
was the cause of the "fall." According
to Milton, oratory caused war in heav-
en-. Homer shows that oratory kept the
gods of ancient Greece IN a perpetual
tumult. The oratory of Cato led to the
entire destruction of ancient Carthage,
with all It's treasures of art, science and
learning. Oratory led to all the civil
wars of Rome and was the remote cause
of its falling an easy prey to the Cloths
aud Vandals. Oratory destroyed ancient
Egypt with all her glory. When a great
nation becomes addicted to oratory it is
almost certainly doomed.
The oratory of Peter the Hermit was
the cause of the c, usades, which destroyed
more lives than any fifty pestilences and
famines since the world began. His elo-
quence caused millions to forsake their
cal]ings and to abandon their families.
His oratory resulted in almost >blotting
out the civilization of all Europe. Ora
tory caused the Thirty Years. war in
Germany and the Wars of the Roses in
England. Oratory was the remote, If
not immediate, cause of our civil war.
Oratory caused the famous riot in Hay
market squarein Chicago, and it has been
the source and inspiration Of every labor
agitation and revolt that has resulted in
disorder and violence. 1t has spread more
discomfort and created more disturbance
throughout the land than all other causes
combined, because it is used to influence
mob F assion and exaggerate grievance and
render appeals to reason altogether vain.
The leaders of the battalion Of tramps
that marched across the country to
Washington few years ago, considered
themselves orators, and in point of abil-
ity and eloquence many of them were,
no doubt, the equals OF Peter the Her.
NIT. That they did not accomplish mis-
chievous results was due to the higher
average of public intelligence than that
which existed during the era of the cru
sades. To degree, their appeals pro-
duce very much tho same effect upon the
class to which they are made as did Pc
te1's upon the common people of his
day.
There is no limit to the mischief
which oratory may lead to. This much
we know, that as soon as a man falls in
love with his own voice, he becomes
public nuisance. He is certain to dis
cover a lot of wrongs that need correct
ing, and at once blossoms out into a
frst-class reformer, agitator and dema-
gogue. AS soon as man develops an
unusual gift of CAB and shows a DISPOSE
ton to cultivate and exercise it at the
expense Of an unoffeLdlng public, he
should be promptly nipped in the bud,
if not in the neck. The country has suf-5
fered enough from orators. It should be
given chance to recover ltself, Mime
apolis Times.