Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1904-07-14

TURNED POLITICIAN.

TURNED POLITICIAN.
AS Is was, so 1t Is, rs II Is, SO 1t will
he History moves In an ever-rcpeat
Ing cycle, human nature Is ever uni.
verSAlly the same Tho incident Is
but a parable OF the whole. What hap
pened In Israel thousa nds OF years ago
Is what Is happening In America today
OF ancient aoceess, politics. false Lead
ership, n deluded people and final fall
ure. could be translated INTO the terms
of the twentieth century and the Uni
ted States OF America.
Therein Is its value to us. Tho Bible
alone holds the mirror up to Nature"
Jerehoain, the first king of Israel
after the ten tribes had revolted from
Eehoboanl, was n character to excite
popular enthusiasm. In the first place.
he was a self-made man. He had
sprung from the people and risen to in
fuence by sheer ability. He was n
strong man. so strong that tho great
Solomon, In petty jealousy. sought his
life and drove him into exile. Reso-
lutte, courageous, patriotic. a servan.
OF his fellow countrymen and Of his
country's God, 1t Is small wonder that
when n new king was needed Jereboam
was called. This lesson is a study or
his descent from the throne OF char
acter to h mire of d~ishonorable poll
tics.
FROM EXILE TO A THRONE.
The hour OF elevation is the hour
of peril for most men. Jereboam, down
In Egypt, a hunted alien, was a better
man than that same Jereboam after
the crown Of the new kingdom had
been pressed upon his brows. The
strength of his character and his popu-
larity was evidenced by his call to as
sumo the leadership in the revolution
against Rehoboam. Still more signally
Is it shown III his amounting at the
hands OF Gods representative. Abijah
promised him that he should become
king over the ten tribes and that he
should be the founder of a dynasty,
even as David had been. Now that the
w~aywardness Of David's descendants
had thwarted the desire of jehovah. it
was a wonderful opportunity that came
to Jereboam. He had every incentive
to be n to do his best and every ;s-
surance of conspicuous success. He
had but to continue in the way he had
begun to find God and the people un-
waveringly supporting Inn. Never
was IL kingdom set up more auspi-
ciously than that which established its
capital at Shechem.
A LEADERS DILEMMA.
Office brings cares. The path of the
fighting reformer Is simpler and easier
than that of the o%fficeholder. Jere-
boam. once established on the throne,
found himself beset with problems.
When he zane to analyze the situation
all insurgent reformers. He knew
human nature we'll enough to know
that among his subjects were many
tories in whom the love of the old order
was strong. He had to reckon with the
devotion of people to things as they are.
1 n Z h~~1~-A ~
ever confront. All was we'll for a he
ginning. but what about later on? He
pictured his people going down to Jeru-
salem for the great religious feasts,
which were as patriotic as they We're
religious. Would not their hearts be
drawn to the old city. the temple and
the old reigning family? Would not
the hearts Of the people be weaned
from him and won to Rehoboam by this
revival of old memories?
AS n shrewd man Jereboam saw all
this. He understood full we'll the pow
er of the religious influence. He knew
that men were led by their hearts and
not by their heads. and that they follow
a sentiment rather than cold. cacula-
ting judgment. If they should follow
their sentiment back to the temple at
Jerusalem where would his kingship
be?
A CAMPAIGN DOCUMENT.
Here we see the gradual trasrorma-
ton of the resolute revolutionist, priz-
ing justice n ideals above his own
personal welfare, into the crafty, guile
full man of the world. He had not
taken the people n his confidence
as he would have done earlier His
faith in them and in Jehovah were not
equal to this test. sc he resorted to
politics to safeguard his fortunes and
to protect his Organization" The first
step was the issuance of a campaign
document setting forth that. in his
zeal for the people. he was mindful
long enough, that 1t was too much for
them to continue to do 30, and that
he had devised a way to spare their
efforts and save their respect, while
at the same time strengthening their
pride.
OF course it was simple pretense, as
old as politics. but believed in then by
yullible people an readily as 1t had
been believed in before and has been
believed in since. His concern for the
public welfare was merely a cloak for
This own personal ambitions. The soph-
lstry Of his statement was meant to
hide h selfishnesD that underlay 1t.
Though he little realized 1t, the fact
remains that the. document was the
spitaph OF the king. He had fallen.
Though still a king in estate he wa no
longer q ktngly character whom the
/ VSORsO SA00 StAO8O1bs 4U0 0SI0lKuI UdIn
of rectitude had been deserted. He had
decided to be q king at any cost, al
though he would have been far better
without q throne % purchased. Like
Thousands OF others he was paying
dear for his ambition. In the testing
ume which comes to all men In public
life he had fallen short.
"Onco to every man and nation comes the
moment to decide
In the strife OF truth with falsehood. for
the good or evil side:
Some great cause, Gods new Messiah. OF.
feriug each the bloom or blight,
Parts the. goats upon the left hand and
the eheep upon the right,
And the choice goes by forever 'twixt that
darkness n that light"
BEHOLD THY cooS.w
The nub Of the kings shrewd propo-
sltton was that instead Of worshiping
II Jerusalem. the people should wor-
chip b two calves Of gold which he
had set up at Bethel and ut Dan. Be
sure that the suggestion was not BADLY
Im1de to the people that they should be-
ksosne idoiaters. The king vas too
hing like thl.. probably: NOW these
are not divine. There II no virtue
tEAerent IN them. They simply repre-.
\ INIT JJ0h0v0h. Th1a wolAAa k,sN0 a