Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1900-10-04
Continued from page 5.

Forward the tool-kIller: The tight
OF the fool-killer is not finished 9There
is much material on which he may
work. The London Review asks the
question: "Are we a nation of fools?"
Carlysle has furnished the answer:
.'Mostly FOOLS" What is true of
England is true of America Here
the fool has pre-empted prominent
place 10 politics. Some one has said,
The medieval sovereign hired fell
low to be his fool; the popular SOW
reign hires fellow to be his master,
and is his own fool. One such fool is
The Betting Fool. II will bet you
ten dollars is his ever ready argument.
Put up or shut up" is his constant
challenge. As if betting ever settled
a question of political economy, or as
il gam bling was ever sign of states
manship. AS if the right of free
thought is to be denied the man who
has but ten cents. AS if the right of
free speech is confined to the betting
buffer. A fact of finance, a law of
logic, a statement of science or a
truth of history cannot be changed,
altered or amended by all the bets
men may offer between the dawn of
creation and the cay OF judgment.
When a man is bound to bet. il is a
confession that he is crowded into a
corner. 1t is an acknowledgement
that he is .long" on bluff and buster
and short on facts and arguments.
The .'Dernier resort" of the defeated
demagogue is clustering bet. And
as one listens to the proposals of men
everywhere, to bet on subjects of
craftsmanship he proclaims with
Puck: what fools these mortals be-"
Let the boys Of Boscobel study states
manshlp, hum the halls of history
and don the armor of argument, but
let them throw betting to the breeze.
sword the ancient-too short. Ave,
so short that they cannot add to it by
taking a score of steps. Another fool
is The Fighting Fool He wants to
settle questions of craftsmanship with
his fists. He is determined to decide
matters of government with a quarrel.
AS if when a patriot Is punished, his
belief is banished AS if when you
put a black and blue finish to man s
eye or construct cupola on mans
proboscis, you have therefore settled
the ratio of sixteen to one'' FIR all
time and fixed the tax on tin for all
eternity. Why, Calico was i'm
prisoned. but the world moved for all
that. John Brown was executed but
liberty lived for all that. When
Brooks the bully, struck Sumner
while seated in the senate, he hurried
forward the cause of emancipation by
more than a score of years. He who
is so foolish as to fight over polite
may carry scars, but he will never
promote his politics. And when men
get mad because men will not or do
not see craftsmanship through their
spectacles they but advertise their
own folly. 1t was bathing amuse-
ment of boyhood to splash water in
each others faces. When one could
splash more water than the other fell
low and strangle him a little, that
fellow got mad, reached down to the
bottow and began to throw mud.
But he always soiled his own hands
and gave evidence that he was in
shallow water and was being driven
to the shore. So when men in the
stream of craftsmanship are driven to
shallow water and toward the shore,
they get mad and begin to throw
mud. They but bedaub their own
cause and show their own shallow
ness. But the fool-i-est tool is
The PrejuGiced Fool In an illus
trated paper was seen on one occasion
the picture of a ship nearing New
York. Upon the bow of that boat
stood son of the Emerald Isle, shil-
lalah in hand In the distance stood
the government building, the word
Government" only in sight. Pat
had been taught to think that all
government is grinding-that all
authority was arbitrary. Shaking
his stick at the offending word he
sputtered I'm forninst it.n So the
word Republican has upon the pre-
JUDGED politician the same effect that
the word government had upon pugi-
istic Pat and he shouts I'm forninst it.
He has horror of Hanna and believes
him to be an emissary of evil. He is
mad at Mckinley and regards him as
the servant of the saloon. He unchris-
tianizes every man who does not hitch
his piety to the prohibition pony.
His Bible is the new version. In
stead of the good old proclamation Of
Paul, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved" his
Scriptures say, believe on Woolley
and Metcalf and thou shalt be saved. :