Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-01-10


l Independence. That indepen-
dence was not a contempt of counsel.
1t was not the impudence that could
say with Vanderbilt The public be
d d. But it was the independence
that
..Dares to do aught save wrong.
Fears nothing but to be unjust.
And stands unmoved amid the jostling OF
opinions
Well does the writer remember his
administration as governor in 1874-15.
He had been swept into his seat by
the anti monopoly wave. His lecture
on Modern Feudalism brought many
radical reformers to his standard
men whose reform meant ruin; men
who seemed to think that to correct
meant to crush. They did not realize
that the rhetoric of a lecturer would
not be the policy of a governor. They
were disappointed in Davis. They
showered him with scorn and SANDER,
but SO far as changing his conserva-
tive course was concerned, they might
as well have hurled boiled peas at Glib
raltar Still other radical reformers
aSSailed the governor. They were men
with more zeal than discretion with
whom to differ was to commit ''un-
pardonable sim" They were the
temperance fanatics. With methods
of warfare that prize fighter would
Scorn they "struck below the belt"
With a savagery known in Timbuctoo
and the temple, they fired upon his
former foibles and held him up in hat
red and horror as a :'haS- been" The
end of the governors term drew near.
A denomination and reelection might
have been secured. He had but to
Crook the PREGNANT hinges of the knee,
That thrift might follow fawning."
But the eagle soaring to the sun de-
clined to descend to the plain to
mingle with crows and feed on carrion.
So the governorship of a great state
slipped from his grasp and was given
to another But he maintained his
manhood. He preserved his iudepen-
dence.
This same characteristic was mani
tested in after years. Early in the
second term of his senatorial career,
the great labor riots at Chicago blocked
the federal mails and paralyzed the
federal courts. In the interests of an
archy, Senator Kyle introduced reso-
luton declaring that, The detach-
ment of Pullman palace or sleeping
cars from mail trains shall not consti-
tute an offense against the United
States" On behalf of the American
Railway Union telegram was sent to
Senator Davis requesting his support
of that measure. 1t was the request of
a powerful organization which had
hypnotized hundreds aye, terrified
To antagoniZe that army
of working men, seemed like political
suicide So ores of statesmen,
Before il fell in humble plight confound-
ed;
And made debasing sings to catch the eye
And uttered bulky words of admirationvast.
But Cushman X. Davis, standing up
in his dignity replied, II will not sup
port Senator Kyles resolution. 1t is
against your own welfare. 1t is blow
at the security, peace and rights of
millions of people You might as well
ask me to vote to dissolve this g IN
ment"
The same independence was more
recently manifested in his offering a
a free trade amendment to the Porto
Rican bill The majority in congress
was against him. The administration
was opposed to him. 1t was no light
differ with his own party. But
he determined to obey the promptings
of conscience rather than follow the
suggestions of statesmen and thus he
showed again that he was not "a politi-
cal puppet to be pulled into position
by popularity. So from Daniel to
Davis, the men of mark have been
those who have said Il will not" SO
from Moses to Mckinley the distin-
guished have been those who dared to
differ.
Columbus in discovery, Luther in re-
ligion, Fulton in invention and Sum
ner in craftsmanship are the proofs of
this postulate 1t is because the mass
of men sink their selfhood, that they
become like bricks in the wall. like
marbles in bag, like peas in "A pod.
1t is because men follow the fashion
and court the crowd that they are
overwhelmed with obscUrity. and be-
bone the nonentities of after ages.
Let the young man learn the lesson
that,
Not in the clamor Of the crowded street.
MOI in the shouts and plauditS of the throng
But in ourselves are triumph and defeat.
Let him beware Of the dangerous
dogma. ''Vox populi, vox Del 1t was
the voice of the people that stoned
stephen: that imprisoned Gallileo,
that hurried Huss to martyrdom and
that crucitied the Savior of Mankind.
1t was the voice of the people that
mobbed a Lovejoy, prosecuted a Gar
rison and sustained the system of
slavery. and it is the voice of the peo-
Pile that is today the support and shell
ter of the saloon. In Scandinavian
sagas we are told of Nalhalla a COR
geous palace of the after life. which is
reserved only for the souls of heroes.
Into it beauty cannot enter: wealth can