The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-01-08

The man who, with other than a life
tenure, holds an office creates for him
self an artificial life-crisis TO which the
run OF everyday citizens are strangers
by virtue OF the more or less tardy
yet completed adjustment of their
llFeS TO ordinary purpose and incident
routine. But no matter how fixed may
have become his walk IN life, he who
wins an election has not alone the
sense of change which is a corollary to
his success, but also ever before his
eyes-ghost or angel as the texture
and temperament of the individual
may decide-the day when the honors
and distinction of place shall fall away
as a winters husk from the fruit of &
tree that has weathered the smiles
and storms Of fruiting season. Even
in the hour of initial triumph, when
the Dlau1its sound from palms unan-
imcus in praise when the band plays
and the people cheer themselves hu;,l Sc
ana women cry with the nervous clI-
thnsiaSm of the moment and the one
man stands smilingly responsible in
the midst. with his throat swelling ct
the emotion of being-himSelf--th
handspring of the tumut-even min
sled with that delerium, headv rs The
eldest wine, hangs ever in Suspension
in the pureSt cup of hope and conf
dcnce, the prophetic dregs OF the last
LAY VI lilC bci III, lIlc 1OuUI Co W tie
written page of action, the suspense of
q future that contenplates a future
DAY.
Nothing is so sweet as office II
touches the vanity which is the essen
tiGl bas of self-respcct 1t is the food
of ambition, the mamma of effort And
there is none such dangerous attain
ment. 1t creates its own false value
its own argument Of its own miscon-
ceived suffeiercy. Bought OF eXert'or
and self-education and Stlf-reStr2int
il strangely enough tends to a numb
ing of the intellect, to the intOxicatiol
of that very Judgment which made il
possible to the individual. IT is like
little mill which, looking out into
bank of low-hanging mists. cithel
dreams itself the highest hill Of all
or loses in the shallow character O.
the view the dipping path through tn
civide that leads to the SURROUNDING
| heights. lii either ease, too much is
apt to be made of the HILL too little
| of the valley from whence the journey
| came, and whittier it must go. The
specks along the stream and in the
fields are terrible in Their Signiiicunce
to the average man upon the hin Coz
| that in his heart be knows, and they
Hooking upward likewise know. that
he. too, is speck. prominent per
| haps against a skyline undetiled-
! DuL IdIeQ To the Ndlley LtT lne It!5nt.
| After all, it is the lowlands the bot
toms along the passive rivers, which
| give to the race the sustenancc for its
| climbing after transitory views, and
! il is only the red-lidded vuiture, tele-
| scoping the valley for its meal on
death, that circles always among the
clouds
So the crucial moment is-with the
/ iCin Of ciD KING 9; CrlnY'r Oi
amber mountains still floating as a
! glowing memory on the retina Of his
wistful eyes-when the traveller. lean
| ing OIL his stick against a stumble
comes again to the folks shut in by
! the walls of circumstance and duty to
the work of the fields and the Tlonoto-
ny of the placid red river following un-
eventually the destiny of its stoid use,
This is the mans second crisis. more
potent even than that first one which
| he faced as a. boy, which made pos
| sibla the stay upon the hilltop over
| the valley. What viii he do when he
| has come to home aagin? Will he ask
another leave of absence, or Will he
| jcin the busy crowd detained below?
That is as it may be- but there, too.
there turks another danger. He must
not ask unless ne can attain! The bus
mess of being a candidate is a harm
! less one until there comes the Iirst
success Then does it become charged
/ not with dyna mite, bIt with that most
terrible and unreasoninG of al things,
! the nocuouS gasseS of a public Weari-
ness He must be big man. with a
sure touch and a strong will who, hay-
ling held high position, can safely seek
Of the people who have sent him for
ward on the road another chance. He
the taste Of office fingers and recurs.
es The craving fer strong drink bursts
| from its confinement and Starvation
all the stronger for its fast. 1t is a
delicate position in which the traveller
is set upon his return. His neighbors
will ask questions and advice They
viii look to him as one who has KNOWN
and has seen with timid Hidence
shat. realizing themselves as the
source of the distinction they recag-
ni2e. Is QUICK 10 take affr0nt ana Ter
| lible In revenge. Your retired states
man must be dignified 10 sustain the
Judgment of the people in the past
! ard he must be genial lest he prod the
sensitive pride of thai mass Waich
| knowing its mastery is i'll its
! bulk is insanely jealous Of its sepa-
F! sate and molecular contribution
| To power. The actual cloak Of power
beng doffed he must don that Of its
memory, which Ie easier Of touch but
even mere important to be we'll pre-
served. The people still feel their
right to the man. to the benefit OF his
experience gained on the mountain
top; yet he must neither pfate or the
V sion, nor live in it--nof yet make OF
it the excuse of q superiority which,
concealed and obliterated in thought
and deed and act he is still under the
expected obligation Of exenplifying ir
his life.
For these reasons, 4 seems to me
! that Governor Charles Rrantly Ay"ock
is today, Wtttin some siHty hours OF
being a private citizen, the most inter-
esting character n tho Stale For foul
years he has been. perhaps more COM
pietely in the pubic eye than any man
in g, generation. as all strong men, he
has been criticized and admired almost
with an equal intensity. More. pos
sibiy, than any other man who has
he'd public place in The state. has he
been loved hy men. He has not bees
Idolizcd as was Vance: he lacks per-
| Aaps the grip on the people in the mass