The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-12-23
THEY ALL LIKE
TO GROW RICH.
W. T. Manning on statsn;pshiD and.
CommerciaIisp1,
TOM JEFFERSON AS A FAINTER.
George Washington Shrc,u Investor
in Western Bonds-"Old Hickory"
Bred Fine Horses-CleeIanu
and Real Estate
TOM JEFFERSON AS A FAINTER.
BY ". T. MANNING }

| tBY w. Il. -ItA-SNlN.)
The decrial of ''commercia!im,' as it is
called, has become one OF tie emotional
fads OF the period. 1t has boone a text
for preachers, theme for oraors, a topic
of editorial treatment in hndreds OF
newspapers and other publications. In the
British Parliament a few avs ago Jo-
seph Chamberlain had to deend himself
against the charge, and not aweek passes
! that it is not thrown in the ace of some
of our own public men. III, implication
IS that the men engaged n the great
industrial enterprises of the time should
I not dare to look to the nighc rewards of
public life; that lofty statin is, as it
| were, contaminated by their presence in
| it We are told that we shuld go ok
to the purer days of the republic and Sc
! lect for the commanding Offices of State
| those only that are in no WY connected
| with such vulgar concerns as financial
| establishments, corporate in a word,
the world os business and tade.
| Now what we're the conditions in that
| remote and idyllic period to which these
| reform gentlemen would haE Us return?
! To go back to --.e beginning perhaps, of
| all Americans, Benjamin franklin. His
| life is known of all men. DID, he disdain
| commercialism? Was he no bookseller.
| printer. auctioneer inventor and all for
! the money that there was inthese honor
| able callings? Did the fact that Robert
| Morris was Il banker, the cry greatest
| Of his age debar him from office as the
| ''financier" Of the colonies when they
! united in the confederation against the
| mother country?
AS TO WASHINGTON.
| Take the illustrious Washington him
! self. Long before he assumed he command
| of the Continental armies he was a pref
| ty shrerwd investor in Weston bonds, and
| the fact that he was President did not
| prevent him from engaging inCanal enter
| prises of various kinds, the stock of one
| Of which he set side in his will for the
purpose of aiding the foundation of a
| national university.
Then there was the great althor Of the
great observation-disclosures Jfferson. AS
| a planter ne prided himself on the ex-
! cellence Of the tobacco that he raised. and
| insisted vigorously on obtaining d price
for it far in advance of that .aid for the
| same article to his brother phnters. But
| that is not all; he was q, nilmaker. A
! nail factory was started by him at Mon
| ticello after his return from The French
| mission, and the output was s, excellent
| that it drove the English imported nails
| out of q large section Of Virginia.
.,
| and Mr.. Jefferson was not above sending
| him u bill when he thought the credit
| limit was overdue. With respect to that
venture. he wrote TO q French friend ::
In our private pursuits in America it is
! a great advantage that every honest en-
ployment is deemed honorable. I am my
| self q nailmaker, and ny new trade is to
me in this country what an additional
title of nobility or the ensigns of q new
n,.1a i,, $50. Jafro
went to naimaking he thought of going
into the manufacture Of potash, but con-
Guided there was more money in nails.
Madison was a good business man, and
in his earlier years pail close attention
to his market produce.
''OLD Hickory
Andrew Jackson raised for purposes of
revenue only as fine breed of horses
as could be found in ali Tennessee, and
he would not part with one of them I'M
less ne got a stiff price for it, The man
did not live that could cheat the hero Of
New Orleans in a horse deal. Coming
down the line to Grant. did he not, unfor-
tunately for himself. plunge into CONNER
cialism? Mr.. Cleveland contracted the dis
ease while he was President and made
a snug little sum in real estate venture
within the shadow Of the Executive Man
sion; and report. true or untrue, I know
not WHICH, GREATS MN Win having Dcen
in Wall Street. Take one of the members
of his Cabinar-Mr. Whitney. Was not he
a most excellent Secretary of the Navy.
and as business man where can mis- equal
be found? And there is ttlat other one
Lamont-the peerless private secretary
and the Woodworking War Minister-S
not he. too successfully welded to COM
mercialism? John Sherman was one of
the ablest men OF his generation in pub
lie life. His will proved that he was able
to accumulate two millions of dollars
while giving superb service TO the coun-
try as legislator and executive officer. ST.
mon Cameron was one of the greatest
political leaders Pennsylvania ever had,
and his business sagacity was SO keen
hat. beginning at the printers case. he
became millionaire more than fifty years
ago. August Belmont led his party in more
than one national campaign, and it has
had few better leaders since.
TOM PLATT.
New York Republicansm has had SUI
berb leadership. but it never had the
matctlless' combination of qualities in any
of its chiefs that are to be found in Thos.
c. Platt Had not Russell Sage turned to
Wall Street he might have become the
first politician OF his time. Who that sees
him or reads about him recalls the fact
that more than fifty years ago he made
the best speech ever delivered on the old
kansas-Nebra ska question, a speech that
the young Republican party scattered in
millions of copies over the country.
No one will deny that Samuel ]. Tiden
was a statesman that would have done
honor to any country in any age. Nearly
all the sreat fortunes that he made-per-
haps as an amusement-will perpetuate
his business acumen and genius, as well
as his benevolence, in one Of the greatest
libraries in the world. Nor should -Abrau
S. Hewitt be forgotten. Democracy has had
few ADLER or stronger men than he.
These are only a very few of the men
eminent in American public life in whose
mental makeup were and are conjoined
political talents of the highest order and
that ability to deal with the practical af-
fair of life which commends successful
achievement.
Only dreamers and Missionaries draw the
line at "commercalism. 1t is in the blood
of the Anglo-Saxon, and it has carried
civilization to the highest point yet reach
j-