The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-04-12

lighting, what contrasts! he asked me
! a few vivid questions that showed what q
| thorough gript1ic had of the thing, closed
| the whole business y up with snap IN
scarcely more time than 1t takes to tell
at and had the papers ready for me
next day. III sE X & 2ji # VII M Is
ENRICHED BY AN AMERICAN. B. IDEA.
1t was an8American invention too that
made Mr., Chamberlain q rich man. His
father a well-to-do manufacturer, was
partner in the firm Of N ettlcfold & Co. of
Birmingham, ma crs of the old-fashioned
wood Sorrows. Not long after the younger
Chamberlain entered the firm they
bought the English rights Of nh American
patent for modern screws, and, armed
Herewith, got q monopoly Of the business
In short order. The charge has been
brought that by$1neans OF the American
patent the firm simply crushed tho life
out of all its competitors, but business
associate Of Mr.. Chamberlain tells me
that, although the other fellows could
have been driven out by competition
alone, yet they received q good price
unless they showed too much fight.
The Chamberlain Of the young Birming-
ham days must have been q renlarka Bile
youth. There was no end to his activity.
and It seems to have been due to some
thing considerably more potent than luck
that all these activities tended In the one
direction Of boosting their author He
helped organize a debating society, and
although he broke down hopelessly on the
occasion Of his first attempt to speak, and
stumbled and halted painfully on many an
occasion thereafter, he kept at 1t until by
sheer persistence he began to get the rep
utation Of saying things that were to the
point, and hitting back quick and hard.
and OF having the knack of beings on the
practical side Of q qucstion-all Of which
were effective in getting him launched In
politics and made him Mayor Of Blr-
mingham. 3i5,
lie used to have class in Sunday
school, too, and won thereby the reputa-l
ton for making nn unrulyB lot Of boys sit
up sharply and attend to the business of
getting moral instruction at tho risk of
biting satire on the part of the teacher for
any inattention. However much Or little
good he did the boys. 1t gave the teacher
a name for being very much aliYe-ard
also helped him with the women folk In
the days when he began to want votes.
LUCK OR AsTUTENDss?
Then he was great on schemes for i'm
proyement Of the army Of workmen en-
| ployed by his firm. Hc spent a lot Of
| time and money on them, holding classes
and giving them opportunities for free
! education. with the result that when he
ceased to DO Radical practically every
| man jack Of the Nettlefold employees
changed political faith with him.
And SO 1t has been straight on over
since. Whatever happened turned out to
be for the good Of j, Chamberlain Flo
was supposed to have signed his political
death warrant when he broke from Mr..
| Gladstone OH the Home Rule question,
but it Is Home Rule that Is practically
dead to-day, while Mr.. Chamberlain Is
| more alive than ever The jameson raid
/ was counted on to finish him sure, but
| he fought his way through the Rhodes
| trial, took FOR himself all the knocks that
| might otherwise have come pretty near
hitting the Prince of Wales, and emerged
with the loyal friendship Of the man who
is King.
cat last we have himr' said his enc
mics when. through understanding
Kruger's obstinacy IN the game Of bluff,
he helped to bring on the Boer war.
| But there again he scored, for ne Is
| undoubtedly In better position To-Day
| than he would have been without the
] war. a.t * alS5a aEfkA8t'
Tho great obstacle In tho way of Mr.,
Chamberlain's straight and narrow path
| toward the Premiership was his lack OF
caution in speech. He got into trouble
over an unfortunate reference to ian
alliance with the United States; he
caused his features to form the face Of
one OF the most popular patterns OF GUS
pidor now In use In Germany by an un-
diplomatic reference to the attitude OF
that country; and he created Irritation IN
France In n similar way. but OF late ne
has been safe to a degree and diplomatic
enough to suit any taste
HE LIKES US,
Mr. Chambcrlain's attitude toward the
United Sta es has always been one of out
spoken friendliness.
II know hundred reasons why we
should be friends he once said; mons
why we should be otherwise. and belleve
that has been the true feeling OF TINS
country toward the United States tol
many years. All misunderstandlnss haVs
been happily removed ana the co1np,llh'
ton of the two Englsh-speaking nations
would fear no other alliance Our mag
ination must be fired when we cpntem
plato the possibility of such coIdla
understanding between tho seventy MI
lions OF people Of tho United States an.
our fifty million Brtons-an understand
Ing which would guarantee peace and CIV
ijization to the world We shall wei
come the United States In their new cie
reer as a co!onizing nation because W.
know they are animated BY the sam.
methods and love justice as onrselyes,'
If narrowness OF chest. pallor Of fac
and general appearance Of physical frau
ty count for anything. Mr., Chamberlain
ought to have retired to hospital thlr
| ty years ago. YET he came back from
| q, A Tvi, ~ fatp "a ODn u
record Of seventy speeches. thousands O
miles of hard travel and countless I'm