Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-01-24


preacher who declares that "eyery
man has his price.
Roscoe Gonkling was full of foible-
He was az naughty as Hyperion IL
literally strutted out of the SENATE
and pouted like a little lad who had
been punished by his parents. tut
the disgrace of dishonesty never laid
at his door. With him ''jobsn found
no favor speculations' no shelter:
and the accumulations of successful
villainy never gave a monopoly in
mining or manufacturing or made
his name power on . change or At
any board Of trade. The Years have
flown and passed away" but the
names Of Dick Yates and Roscoe
Conkling will live upon the pages of
history when those Of many multi
millionaires have faded into forget
fulness
To such a school of statesman ship
belonged Cushman X. Davis. Few
recent senator's of the United
States have left an estate as moderate
- that Of Senator Davis. And III this
day Of millionaires in the Senate. II ;
refreshing to turn 30 a character who
won his wav, not BY his wealth, bus
by his worth; it is a satisfaction TO
see statesman with a loftier aim
then that Of mere money making.
Yet Davis was constantly surrounded
with opportunities, legitimate and
illegitimate, to money. lie
had at his hand the and meth
DDS to control cap Corporations
craved his couL Syndicates
sought his support. But he had
learned the lofty lesson: Better is
a little, with righteousness, than
great revenues without right. He
drank from the same spring which an
Agassiz drained when he declared:
II am offered $500 night to lecture.
But | am compelled to decline al in
vtations, for | have no time to make
money.
How marked the contrast between
these men and those who are wooed
and won by the sheen of silver and
the glitter of gold!
Too many OF statesmen are like the
old Scotchman of whom it was said,
that If he saw a dollar on the other
side OF hell, he would make a spring
for it at the risk of falling in. And
the whole course Of theiF career IS
like the projected railway which was
to be built through Russia. When
that road was to be built from st
Petersburg to Moscow. the engineer
brought to the Emperor a map on
which was pathway as winding as a
serpent's trail and said: We turn
this way to reach a mine, that way to
touch a city and go yonder to reach Il
forest But the Emperor made dot
upon the map for Moscow and one for
st. Petersburg. Then drawing a
straight line between the two he said:
.,BuiId the road there" tut the en-
gineer exclaimed, What will become
Of the centres Of trade?" That is
not our concern. said the Emperor:
.'build the road there" So men
build their political pathways for
profit. Commerce crooks their
course. Trade turns their traffic.
But the path Of patriotism and profit
is.an air line. The statesman who
takes a crooked course for popularity
or profit will finally and forever fail.
Though he may make his millions, he
will be a mental and moral bankrupt.
What the world wants is men like
Kossuth lie had escaped the pur-
suit i the triumphant Cossacks and
sought shelter at the hands OF the Sui
tan of Turkey. Safety, wealth and
military command were offered rs the
price of apostacy to his faith. But he
replied Welcome the AK or the glib
bet. but curses on the tongues that
dare to make me so infamous a pro-
posal = What the nation needs is
men like Peter ut Jerusalem who to
every Sordid Simon who would pur-
chase great gift At price can say,
Thy money perish with thee
Aud vet materialism is our bane.
The eagle is too often banished from
our banner and instead thereof,
Niagara is painted as the power that
moves a mill or fills a factory.
That materialism is illustrated by
the musician who said: II defy You
to find in the whole Of Europe vii
lage where an artist OF reputation
would find himself so completely iso-
lated rs have been here. Ii in the
place Of playing the piano, of having
composed more than three hundred
pieces, and OF having given 5000 con-
certs, | had sold sailed hog for ten
years with success. my cham Der
would have been thronged with adj
mirers.
Let the young man learn the lesson
Of life from the study Of this splendid
statesman that he needs not more
money but more mental and moral
magniiicence. Let him learn that the
monument which will outlast the
Pyramids is not built with silver and
gold. not by bonds and mortgages.
not by stocks and shares. but by i
magnificent mental and moral man
hood. Cushman X. Davis is gone
from our gaze. We who in Mime so
IA marched,to the music of his thrilling
tones, and followed his flag ever down
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