The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1900-03-09

friends Of MI. Rhodes. Most OF my
Rhodesian friends cannot understand
why / should oppose the war, and the
friends Of peace are equally at a loss
to understand how II is that, detesting
the war as 1 do, 1 should persist in my
regard and admiration for Cecil
Rhodes. Possibly when they read this
sketch both parties may be better able
to understand my position. and It may
help some OF those who have been mis-
led into ignorant denunciatiOn Of the
personality Of a man they know moth
ing about to understand some OF the
reasons why those who know him best
believe in him most"
OF Rhodes in South Africa, Mr.. Stead
says, inspart:
Cecil J. Rhodes, a dozen years ago,
was unknown outside the narrow con-
fines of the Cape Colony. Gen. Gordon,
who had been in South Africa, had met
him there sixteen years ago, and
formed SO high an estimate OF his char
acter that when he started on his
heroic mission to the Soudan in 1884,
his first act was to telegraph to Mr..
Rhodes, asking him to accompany him
to Khartoum. Mr.. Rhodes was then
treasurer of the Cape Colony, and so
he was unable to accept Gen. GordOn's
invitation. Had it been otherwise, the
recent history Of Africa, both Norm
and South, would have to be rewritten;
for the life Of one OF these men and
the death Of the other are the two
great factors which at this hour DOM
mate the destinies of Africa.
1t is well to approach the study OF
Mr.. Rhodes from the standpoint Of
Gen. Gordon's invitation to Khartoum.
The ordinary standpoint from which
Mr.. Rhodes is judged is that Of the
hnancier or the politician. Those who
look at him from either the Stock Ex-
change or Downing Street never dis
cover the key to the strangely com
pick character, which is the fascina-
ton of his friends and the despair Of
his enemies. If you want to under
stand Cecil Rhodes, it is necessary to
begin by remembering that Gen, Cor
don knew him we'll and trusted him abb
solutely. Gen. Gordon was the Bayard
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selhess man ever served his country
and his queen.
Yet this man was the friend of Cecil
Rhodes. Gordon knew him, believed
in him and trusted him so much that
In the supreme moment of Gordon's
career when he took his life in his
hand and Jared forth to the post OF
duty-and as the result proved, Of
death-at Khartoum, his first thought
was to send for Rhodes-Rhodes, who
was not even a soldier or a diplomatist
and who had no experience whatever
of the problems OF the Soudan. Cor
don, however. who was a keen. shrewd
Judge OF men. knew Cecil Rhodes to be
a man after his own heart. And L,
who knew both men, can well under
stand the secret Of his confidence in
Rhodes.
Cecil Rhodes is at this moment, not
w~ithstanding his temporary eclipse
after the unfortutats affair OF the
Jameson raid, the Greatest parsonage
in the British empire. bar two; the
greatest man bar one The queen and
the queens prime minister, Lord Sal
isbury, alone tower above the African
empire builder in the estimation Of the
world, both within and without Greater
Britain. After Mt. Rhodes. Mr.. Cham
berlain is a bad fourth. But Mr..
Rhodes is so much greater than Mr..
Chamberlain that he could afford to
accept the odium of a parliamentary
censure In order to save Mr.. Chamber
lain from an exposure which would
have extinguished his political career,
and to emerge practically unaffected by
his sacrifice.
II is not necessary here to introduce
any detail as to the way In which Mr..
Rhodes built up his fortune. II did not
probably differ much from the methods
in which other ~millionaires have made
their piles. A fortunate selection Of
diamondiferous soil was the beginning
OF 1t all, followed up by patient manual
toll In the digging and the washing Of
the dirt. Then when enough had been
found to constitute a nucleus Of a for
tune, there began the speculation in
buying and selling claims which goes
on without ceasing In every mining
camp. Young Rhodes was very for
tunate In his financial operations. BY
degrees Il became evident that he was
coming 10 the top. The Jews there. as
elsewhere, proved too many for the
0entiles. But there was one Gentle
whom they could neither circumvent