The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-02-28
A LITTLE OF
EVERYTHING
BY RAM MBLER.
MY BROTHER AND |.

MY BROTHER AND l.
We love to preach about the brother
hood of man, but there is not much of
that doctrine found in actual practice
among men. Lately we have read of
many men going to financial ruin because
OF bad investments Occasionally we read
that some victim of some king Of finance
has killed himself because of his misfort-
une great corporation is organized
The capital stock is guaranteed to pay
certain dividends at stated periods. Some
great fnancier is the promoter of the
scheme and his name lures the man or
woman with a little money into investing
it. Things run along nicely for d year or
two and then business begins to fall off
The concern fails to pay it's regular di-
Vidend. The price of the stock drops down.
down, down. The little investor is ruined
The great financier is all right because he
watered the stock until he is safe at al
most any price. But he sold it to his
brother man and ruined hint may be
killed him. Now you would not do that
sort of thing would you?( You think you
wouldn't but you would. In fact most of
us do just such things frequently. You
sold your brother man a horse that was
| u
knew it and felt proud of it, You sold a
bale of cotton that had lain out in the
rain until it had absorbed several pounds
of water. You sold your customer piece
of goods that was not as good as you led
him to believe it was. You have in these
cases done in principle, Just precisely
what the king of finance did to his broth
er. 1t is pretty hard to love your eigh
Dor as yourself, but most of us could do
better than we DO 1t would be a revela
tion to us if we could see ourselves as
others see US. We would be a great deal
better if We would examine our motives
before we act The men who organized
the Steel trust and the Shipbuilding Trust
are robbers, and possibly murderers, and
should be punished as such. But they are
only guilty of common sin-a sin that
lies at all our doors. l owe it to my
brother to deal honestly with him before
l can complain of his dealings with me.
JUSTICE HARLAN DIssENTED.
A negro named Giles was refused the
privilege of registering as a voter in the
State OF Alabama because he did not
meet all the requirements of the election
laws of the State. He took the matter
into the courts, finally getting it before
Some months ago this highest court in
the land decided against Giles. He man
aged to get the case before the Supreme
Court again, and again he lost his
case. The dispatch announcing the deci-
sion Of the court ended with this sentence:
Justice Harlan dissented.H OF course he
did Who ever expected Justice Harlan
to do otherwise? Mr.. Harlan is a great
! lawyer-probably the greatest and ablest
on the Supreme Court bench-but he just
cannot lay aside his preiudices in any
case where the political rights of a negro
| is concerned. His preiudices in favor Of
what he calls the rights of the negro are
probably stronger than those of any other
prominent man now living. Mr.. Harlan
! lectures on constitutional law in a Wash
ingtOn law school and d young lawyer
told me a few years ago that some OF
! his lectures on the constitution were one
sided discussions of the rights of the ne
gro, and that others were Republican
stump speeches on the tariff. 1t is a pity
! that such an able man should allow his
preiudices to outweigh his better judgment
But Justice Harlan is not the only dis
senter on the bench whose dissents are
the expression of prejudices and not of
the law He secured his position because
|
came to the ermine by the same route.
| 1t is mad reason for making man
! Judge For the sake of Justice let
us hope that we may never have this to
say of another judge of any kind. Justice
Harlan would have made a great Senator.
He would have made a great judge if he
could keep his prejudice out of the law.
He is all right, if no politics are involved.
BECAUSE 1T WILL PAY.
1t is all right to consider profits when
one invests his money. And it is all right
| for a nation to look out for the financial
and commercial interests of its citizens,
but the bare question of profit should not
be the ruling motive in any national or
personal act. This country needs a ship
canal to connect the Atlantic and the Pa
ciic oceans. We have BEEN talking about
one for fifty years, and last year it was
decided to build it. Everybody is familiarly
acquainted with the failure of negotiations
with the United States of Colombia, the
secession of Panama, and our before
breakfast haste in becoming wet nurse to
the newborn bastard. We did it because
we saw an opportunity to strike canal
bargain. There are a great many more
people, however, who seem TO think that
the question of morals does not enter into
the matter at all. They say we need the
canal, and that we do not care to consult
conscience We want it because it will
build up our commerce. The STANDARD Of
right is made of dollars. The canal will
pay. We need it because it will pay. We
are therefore, justified IN doing thing |
that under other circumstances would |
shock our conscience. And so we reduce |
our sum of reasons down to this: We did |
it because it will pay. To old-fashioned |
Southern statesmen this sounds very new
The quality of public honor is measured
by the quality of personal honor. The old
statesmen of the South would not think OF
treating with Panama. There are several
statesmen in the South now, however, who
say they are willing to shut their eyes
to Questions OF honor. because the canal
will pay. They may be right. There may
be one code of morals for individuals and