The record-union., 1899-04-14
PRESENT DAY THOUGHTS.
Nv G. Grosvenor Dave.


in New York of which there mas peeh
so much mention in the papers. MANY
another dinner that has cost as he,le
and even very much less has peen eaten
before this Then why so mucn com
ment and even excitement about TINS
ore?
In the first place, because that Wnlcn
ct the outset was to be purely partl-
san celebration in honor OF Ihomas
jefferson has become so broadened IN
It's scope that it can no longer De caileu
either Democratic or Republican, but
both. for to ii will be gathered men of
all the political stripes and manlfold
labels that our very active and splen-
did nation can boast. 1t is highly prop
er that we should all, when considering
our great dead, drop as far as posslpie
our partisan bias and praise man Tor
what he attempted and what he did,
even though we are unable to agree
with him in all that he either did or
attempted. The high plane in such
matter is for us to look rather to
mans motive and his courage than 10
find ourselves agreeing with him in
everything. We all stand in need of
that sort of charity sooner or later, IT
we are at all public in our characters.
Yet after all the chief notewOrthiness
of the occasion is not to be found in
the unanimous praise of Jefferson, on
the part of men of widely divergent
views The almost historic character
of the dinner is that it is intended as
ct Ia xv1l1O 6iSnlaV
wealth and of the unamerican exclu-
sfveness that accompanies it, This is
what has united such diversified ele-
nlents in such diversified community
as New York
The original Jefferson dinner was one
that was to cost the public ten dollars
per plate. Such a price is not an ex-
traordinary one in New York, for that
city is accustomed to a great deal of
display in such matters But when
great, simple man-WhOse very utter
ances in favor of the rights of the op-
pressed are worked into the warp and
the woof of our national life-was to be
honored by such a Sybarite feast, and
in such manner that the great COM
mon people would have no chance to
attend, then there first arose a protest,
then came the suggestion of another
simpler dinner; then the rush of men
of all parties to take part. Different
voices on different sides of the political
arena will be heard and differences of
opinions will doubtless exist, but one
chief point will have been made in the
sight and hearing of the nation-that
We must move back to simpler ideals
of life and of success if we would wish
by future historians to be judged wor-
thy of ranking with the unselfish ones
who have served us and gone to rest
Be he Democrat or Republican, care
not which or neither-the right think
ing man, who can see further than the
tip of his nose and down deeper than
the surface of things must be alarmed
at the tendency which exists to meas
ure political success by the length of
the pocketbook that has resulted from
the service of the country" So far
has this tendency spread that it is con-
s'dered a matter worthy of comment
should public man leave his public
career a poor man. Honest men are
by no means so rare as we in orr
wrath are sometimes tempted to de-
clare, but nevertheless a strong ten
dency exists TO think that a man has
neglected his opportunities if he con-
tinues to regard public office as pub
lie duty instead of as a private snap"
Both parties have a touch of the same
brush. therefore it is more than fitting
that the protest should come from both
The thing that spoils the life and ef-
fort of so many of us is that we start
out with wrong standards, and then
subsequently have to unlearn them be-
fore we can begin to make of life all
that il ought to be. We must, there
fore, welcome this great object lesson,
SO soon TO be given to the plastic minds
of our young men. 1t will show them
that there are things more to be con-
sidered than the mere piling up of
money and more precious than high
living. A man cannot be selfish and at
the same time a good citizen. He can
not be a defrauding politician and at
the same time a good man. In other
words, notwithstanding certain puz-
zling facts about our complicated ma
lures it may be set down as a very
safe rule for our young people to follow
that man who leads ought not to be
both light and darkness; if he is then
the discovery of his duality ought to
send him back to private life.
If we lose faith in our national life it
is sad indeed for us (perhaps some of
us are tempted to occasionally because
of the noise and apparent prosperity Of
those who do wrong to our national
traditions) But surely this outburst
of healthy protest that has taken such
a peculiar form in New York as to ex-
press itself in a public dinner must re-
assure us that though thousands may
and do bow the knee to the modern Baal
of filthy. ill-gotten wealth there are
yet thousands remaining of true hea
and straight limb to shout defiance al
all tendencies that would undo the
good work done by the fathers. at a
time when to be patriot meant Lean
ness not lucre. danger not delight, good
ness not gluttony.
There is much that ought to be said
regarding the gain to us all should we
be more simple in our daily lives of
comparative obscurity: but that is a
different matter. 1t may well be de-
ferred to more convenient season.
may say in passing. however. that I
believe a great deal of the misery to
our own hearts and of oppression and of
misery in the lives of others is a result
of the complicated and speedy civili
zation that we all try to keep up with.
We would all be better off for a return
to simpler ways. If this is socialism.
then socialism is humanity. IF this is
socialism, then socialism is sense. of
this more anon