Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-01-30
ArouSfng a Con science
By CLYDE MONTAGUE
tsa 2
 fConxricht 1908 by Daily Story Pub. Col

l \ U IN CD 1AC0 tAC Wollu LII WClCOne
 O and unprovided for; nourishet grudgingly and nfean1y; thrown out in. to the current and strife of human en- 1 deavor while still an infant; pushed l along under the spur of necessity anC compelled to hold his own; miniature
 man at 5, child at 20; gifted with some
 marvellous heritage from the misty
 mirrors of the past; unknown, un- claimed, untrained and uncared for this was the history and antecedents o1 1 Robert Melbourne.
 Where he got his name was a mystery as profound as that of his birth and parentage. Everybody knew him as Rob and it was tradition that a prodi. gal Australian doing" America gave him the surname. . Anyway he grew up in the street with no schooling and only the education which comes from the training of ne cessity, supplemented by the force o1 his own personality At he was a nuisance, at 10 a terror, at 12 leader at IA king. While always boy of the streets, he showed at all times and places a character and quality smack ing of another sphere. A typical street i arab, he deliberately broke into night school--and thrashed the boy who jeered. He worked hard selling papers and blacking boots, but he always read the papers and talked with his boot blacking patrons. So eventually he got his feet on a higher round of the ladder and started in new life. He became lawyers as- sistant--to dig up evidence on the street; then law student; then full fedged lawyer,
 And finally at 25 he found himself fairly well educated, ultra worldly wise and self-confdent, power in city poli- tics, a lawyer of recognized ability and man of more than ordinary perception and education.
 This was at 25. At 35 he had made his mark. He was a gentleman of presence and address, a lawyer much sought for ana a politician whose knowledge of human nature and the conditions in the great cities was the marvel ot the party leaders from New York to San Francisco. Incidentally he was mem Der of congress and an orator whose clean logic, ready imagination and con- vincing rhetoric always filled the gal leries and drew tardy members to their seats when he held the floor.
 Never had Robert Melbourne made a more brilliant or convincing speech than the one on the Bracken bill, and when he finished colleagues and op- ponents alike crowded around him with congratulations. It had been bold po- sition to take and required courage to defy criticism and censure, as we'll aa ability to sustain his point. His effort accomplished the purpose. Despite the fact that public sentiment was opposed to the bill and party leaders were afraid of 1t because corporation was its inn mediate beneficiary, Melbourne had thrown the great ultimate benefit to the people and the country in contrast with a mere present sentiment so strongly that it stiffened the backbopes of the wavering members and the bill had passed immediately after his argument.
 The bill was for the reclamation of a vast arid territory. It gave extraordi- nary powers and privileges to a corpo- ration formed for the purpose on condi- tion that a mammoth system of irriga- tion be established and maintained.
 A great opposition had developed from two sources. On; one hand the natural hostility of the public to grants to private corporations and the inev- itable screaming of demagogic politi- clans and newspapers had aroused a clamor. From another source came 8 cry that had enlisted 8 more reputable and intelligent protest. In the, plans to reclaim the wilderness 1t was necessary to wipe out the claims to title of an in- considerable number of small settlers. These claims to title were very shaky and the value of the property involved was almost nothing. It was necessary to have clean title to the entire tract and the bill provided clearly for the wiping out of the vague shadows of claims held by the squatters. This aroused protest which helped out the demagogic antf-corporation vail until the opposition had become so formida- ble and the talk of ''boodle'' so great that many members who were really in favor of the bill dared not vote for it, He had assured himself that there were favorable votes enough if the mer bers dared vote. So he had taken the floor at the last moment and met the opposi- tion face to face-granted that a pri- vate corporation would be the bene- fciary and that hundreds of settlers would be obliged to move on or perfect their title under the new conditions which presumed tribute to the new company. Then he turned and Dic- tured with master hand the transpor- tation of wilderness almoc- uninhab- tied into a garden spot teerning with life and overfowing with milk and honey-a trackfess desert avoided by man and beast changed with an Alad- din's touch to an empire inhabited by happy and prosperous men and women and children and able to feed Half the nation. And this Aladdin who was to do this was the new corporation and his lamp the countless thousands of gold dollars to be spent before the dream could be real. He showed the safe- guards thrown about the rights cf the people and the limitations placed on the company. He referred with scorn and