The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-06-04
AT HALL OFFAME.
Senator Chauncey IL Depew Speaks
on Noted Americans.


At the Hall Of Fame, New York, Me-
mortal Day exercises Senator Depew
spoke as follows.
There has been the broadcast catho-
licity Of judgment and no passions or
prejudices of sectarians. parties or
creeds among the judges. The action
Of the tribunal is a remarkable exhibit
of the disappearance of the bitterness
of the civil war Though large majority
of the electors were from the north
General Lee is placed beside General
Grant and Lincoln received every vote
from the south. save one.
THE gentlemen upon whom has de-
volved the first selection have found
in the wide field open to their choice
only % whom majority thought At to
fill the panels of this hall. There may
be disappointment and modification
that after three hundred years OF settle
ment in our country and 1e0 Of national
life the harvest should be 50 small. But
our situation was unique and original.
We We're not conquering people. abb
sorbing and adopting the civilization,
arts and accommodations Of subject ma
ton.
If the viking could come from his
Valhalla, the Arcopagio from beneath
the temples Of Athens the arbiter ele-
gantiae from the ruins Of Rome, the
medieval knight from his arnor, Fred
erick from Pottsdan. or Napoleon from
1nvalides. to view these heroes. they
would have only contempt for this de-
velopfnent of democracy. The inventor
Of the application Of steam to naviga-
ton, of the electric telegraph and Of the
cotton gin, the artisans who were TIA
their time and in their world the herd
or mass born to bear the burdens and
work for the luxuries of their masters.
are here crowned with the fadeless
laurels which encircle the brows of the
conquerers and rulers of the world.
THE emancipation Of labor has been
followed by its recognition and the dig
nifty Of it's function in human affairs;
pathway
difficult ascent of I'arnassus. The tri-
umphs of Industrial genius have Gre
ated conditions by which millions can
live in comfort and hope where thou
sands dWelt in poverty and despair.
They have made possible gigantic for
tunes which are the wonder Of our day
But the material revolution and it's rich
results which are thus emphasized have
diverted the mind, culture and ambition
of ingenious youth to paths Of gain
rather than fame, unless, under a new
code, gain in large measure be fame.
The dollar, or it's eager pursuit weighs
down the wings of genius and prevents
its flight to the lofty heights where con-
gregate the Homers and Shakespeares.
Millions and ByrOns; the Michael Angeles
and the Raphaels and their peers Our
time does not produce their equals.
we have now no Tennysons, nor
Longfellows, nor Hawthornes, nor
Efnersons Perhaps 1t is because our
Michael Angeles are planning tunnels
under rivers and through mountains for
tAG EOnnGctlOn Oh vast systems OF rail-
ways and our Raphaels are devising
some novel method for the utilization
of electrical power; our Shakespeares
are forming gigantic combinations of
corporate bodies; our Tennysons are
giving rein to fancies and imagination
in wild speculations in stocks and our
Hawthornes and Emersons have aban-
dOned the c0nmunings with and revela-
tons of the spirit and soul which left
readers to vision of the higher life
and the joy of inspiration to exploit
mines and factories.
when this period of evolution is over
and nations and communities have be-
come adjusted to normal conditions, the
fever and the passion Of the race for
quick wealth and enormous riches win
be over. Then the grove. the academy
and the study viii again become ten
anted with philosophers, poets, historians
and the interpreters of God in man. IN
less this shall happen, then let the lux
uries and opportunities evanescent /
earthly pleasure and the disappearance
after death which comes from leadership
in business be the rewards of the sue
cessful; but reserve the temple Of fame
for those only whose deeds and thoughts
are the Inheritance, education, inspira-
ton and aspiration of endless genera
tons.