The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-13

Wr Phodes was a standing example Of she truth of Lord Beaconsfield's adage ahat "a man can get anything ne wants : : he only wants it enough FATTY m hie he acquired the rare art or ioohns
 Facts as they really are-not as ne "isneu to see them; and accordingly ne pS'1ea ,,oa That the mere possession or weaitn ID no. In itself any advantage even as the raw material of happiness. In this he sho"eo rare insight As an end in life the pos session of money never seemed 10 MI Rhodes worth the toilsome ana exhaus- live expenditure of energy which US
 nuisftion involves. But as the means iol Inc realjzs tion of an idea money IS as necessary to the idealist as water 10 d 6ab or air to M. Santos-D -Dumonts s bai- yoon-ship. The first note struck Tn MT. Rhodes's life history was accordingly, a note of distinction. Whatever may po said of other episodes in his life, or or the manner in which he alone among modern statesmen has amassed large fortune in politics. nobody can say .hae he has used his wealth to live softly. rare telicateIy or to pamper himself. He, at least was no Park Lane millionaire. He. like Lycidas has "scorned delights ana lived laborious days" Unsel1shly ne mas used his fortune as a trust-a seif-impos- ed trust-for the benefit Of others, not TOT himself. It is even said on authority tnat
 
 when he can no longer administer his I'm perial trust. the bulk of his fortune will he devoted to the prosecution of his Inn perisI Idea, not to the enrichment ot rel etives and friends or even to the display of post-humous pride in the foundation of a charitable institution.
 Mir. Rhodes lived and moved and had his being in his Idea. What is 1t? He found his own soul and the destiny of iodz pf the idea of extending the British Empire and the foundation of the higher civiliza- ton that is found only on soil under the ehadow and protection of the British flag All policy and statesmanship may ne Judged by the answer given to simple uuestion-what Is it's effect on the homes of the people? The unit of the nation IS the home If Mir. Rhodes's policy and schemes have multiplied, or will in the near future multiply. the number of hap by homes under the Old Flag. then his career and his life-work will be Judged by posterity. not by his share in the lame son raid, or by the E10,000 which he gave 10 Parnell, but by the happiness ne VIII have given to many simple homesteads established in what arc now the troubled lands south of the Zambesi
 MT Rhodes's idea, like democracy, mon erchy. or free trade, will be judged by results At present, opinions about him differ violently: One set of good men regard him as the 'Machiavellan ernbodi- ynent of all that is worst in an age of bad rnaterialsm. Another set of no less wor- thy souls regard him as the soldiers ot the Old Guard looked on Bonaparte after Austerlitz; as the personihcation of wis dom. courage strength, and foresight. TO whose masses of men his voice Is as the voice of a god. He can do no wrong With them his magnetism Is ail-pervad- hat a g. sernblage so carnal as the De Beers min ing corporation was successfully hypno- fized bv him and induced to change its trust deed so as to divert money rom the pavment of dividends to the development of Empire Is a tribute to the character and wilI-forcc weded by MT. Rhodes He is freak among the tribe of mil lionaires Is there any other personality, living or dead, who could have done as much with money-getters? s. Francis dAssisi or Moreau possessed no more power over animals and birds than MT. Rhodes has exercised not once. but again and again. over the minds and wills of the proprietors of the. De Beers and Chartered Companies.
 His Life.
 Tn Mir. Rhodes's ancestry of graziers is to be found the prenatal influence which led him to fame and fortune through the open air Like Nelson, and many Of Eng lands greatest men. he was a country parsons son-one of seven brothers-and was born on July z. 1853. In 1871 he went 10 Natal to join his brother Herbert on cotton plantation. From thence he went to the dry diamond diggings at Colesoerg kopje-now known as Kimberley In lsI3 he returned to Oriel College, OXtord' to matriculate but was compelled by lung trouble to return to South Africa-doomed by the doctors to meet an early oeath, sidl, Omen air however the virtues Of which have at last been discovered by BrilSh consumptives. re-established his hea!th. A partnership was entered into with MT C. D. Rudd. ana the Iouuuati9ns 9 D oh hin, then a faculty for silence and renection which Carlyle would have admired: fac- ulty that grew with years. until he be- rame completely self-reltant His dream now took shape and materiaized as wealth came to hand-almost at the bid ding of a wizards wand. The frst great step towards the final goal was actually achieved by the amalgamation Of the dia- mond mines at Kimberley. For thIs pur- pose large capital was required The Rothschilds's aid was solicited. NlsltlnS their counting house in New Court. St. SWithin's Lane, as suppliant, it was hot long before MT. Rhodes himself be- came one of the princes Of finance. snort iy before this great initial success l saw Mir. Rhodes in Kimberley. He was QUICK iv to emerge from the chrysalis stage. The Bechuana Expedition under SIT L. Warren was about to return. Much per sonsl animosity has always entered in- 10 Cape nolitics. 1mputattons of base mo tlces fly about in South Africa as thick lv as iocusts in swarm MT RhoHs had received more provocatton than falls to the lot of most men. He was charged with having made a dlsgraceful treaty; with having broken his pledges, with having destroyed the interests oI the m habitants of the Cape Colony. His speech on the Bechuanaland settlement. delivered in 1885 which is printed in volume en- titled Cecil Rhodes: His Political Life and Speeches," by Vindex, is a monu- ment of foresight and wisdom. I was on inc spot at the time. and in the war or words that went on 1t was difficult Tor mere stranger to disentangle the facts. Each side charged the other with wrong doing. There Is no question. on looking hack that Mir. Rhodes and Sir Hercules tweon 1885 and 1888 MT. Rhodes did not take a very active part In politics at the Zane He was consolidating his position Iorena rations for the northern expansion wore in hand. He was engaged in estab- I,shirg his political influence at the Cape; t acnuirlng the friendship and confidence
 S Mr Hofmevr: and in enlisting the sen- ,inent of the Dutch electorate in the lih-
 raI and imperial conception which after wards found expression In the memorable ,brase coined bv Mfr, Rhodes of-"Equal rrIgbts for all white men south of the Zsmbesi,' .;- -l Mfr pbods. S.d ,soured the complete confidence of tIsrrIIAs Robinson and m long pr
 A ~ ttrnc elspsed before the will and rrss.srfui personality of tho young i'm rarIsiis, had completely dominated the ,.,nS of +he Governor For the race for