Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-08
Chapter IV-Continued.

nomination for county prosecutor cheHy
because none OF the other lawyers. not
even those secretly directing the reform
campaign, was brave enough publicly to
provoke the power trust. l made a house
toulouse, farm-to-farm, man-to-man cam
vass. We had the secret ballot and was
elected. The people rarely fail to respond
to that kind of appeal If they are convinced
that response cannot possibly hurt and may
help their pockets. And, by the way, those
occasional responses, significant neither of
morality nor of intelligence. lead political
theorists far astray. As If honor or hon.
esty could win other than sporadic and
more or less hypocritical homage-practical
homage, l mean-among a people whose
permanent ideal Is wealth. no matter how
got or how used That is another way of
saying that the chief characteristic Of
ever We may profess, cherish the human
ideal universal in a world where want
Is mans wickedest enemy and wealth
his most winning friend. But. as 1
was relating. / was elected. and my
majority, on the face Of the re-
dred. 1t must actually have been many
thousands, for never before had Dominick
'doctored' the tally sheets 50 recklessly.
Financially / was now on my way to the
political parsonage also. Was l not in pos
session Of the most powerful Office in the
county? l was astonfshed that neither
Dominick nor any other member of his
gang made the slightest effort to conciliate
me between election day and the date Of
my taking Office. did succeed in forcing
from reluctant grand turies indictments
against few of the most notorious, but
least important, members of the gang; and
1 got one conviction-which was reversed
on trial-errors by the higher court.
The truth was that my power had no ex-
1stence. Dom1nick still ruled. through the
judges and the newspapers The press was
silent when it could not venture to depre-
cate or to condemn me.
But l fought on almost alone / did not
fail to make 1t clear to the people why l
was not succeeding. and what a sweep
there must be before Jackson county could
have any real reform. 1 made an even
more vigorous campaign for reelection than
did four years before. The farmers stood
by me fairly well, but the town went over
whelmingly against me. Why? Because
would be still worse. The corporations with
whose law-breaking 1 nterferred were
threatening to remove their plants from
Pulaski-that would have meant the de-
parture of thousands of the merchants
best customers, and the destruction of the
towns prosperity. l think the election was
fairly honest Dominicks man beat me by
about the same majority by which l had
been elected.
Bad for businessr'-the most potent of
political slogans. And it will inevitably re-
suit some day in the concentrat ton of abso-
Lutte power political and all other kinds in
the hands of the few who are strongest and
cIeveTest. For they can make the people bit
terly regret and speedily repent having tried
TO correct abuses; and the people, to save
their dollars, will sacrifice their liberty. l
doubt II they will, in our time at least. learn
to see far enough to realize that who cap
lures their liberty captures them and, there
fore, their dollars, too.
By my defeat in that typical contest l
was disheartened, embittered-and ruined.
For, in my enthusiasm and confidence l
had gone deeply into debt for the expenses
of the reform campaign. At midnight of
election day l descended into the black
cave of despair. For three weeks 1 ex-
plored 1t. When l returned to the surface
was a man. ready to deal with men on
the terms of human nature. l had learned
my lesson.
For woman the cost of the attainment of
Woma MOODS maturity Is the beautiful. the
divine freshness of girlhood. For man the
cost of the attainment of manhood's full
strength and power is equally great, and
equally sad-his divine faith in human ma
ture his divine belief that abstract Justice
and right and truth rule the world.
Even now. when life is redeeming some of
those large promises to pay which l had
long ago given up as hopeless bad debts;
even now, 1t gives me a wrench to remem-
Der the cruelest chapter in that bitter les
son. so certain had l been of reelection
that i had arranged to go to Boston the
day after my triumph at the polls. For 1
knew from friends of the Crosbys in Pu-
laski that Elizabeth was still unmarried,
was not engaged, and upon that l had
built high romantic hope.
made up my mind that mother and l
must leave Pulaski; that must give up the
law and must, in Chicago or Cleveland, get
something to do that would bring In lv-
ing at once. Before l found courage to tell
her that which would blast hopes wrapped
round and rooted in her very heart and,
fortunately, before 1 had to confess to her
the debts / had made, Edward Ramsay
threw me life line.
He came bustling into my Office one aft
ernoon, big and broad, and obviously
pleased with himself and therefore, with
the world. He had hardly changed in the
years since we were at Ann Arbor together
He had kept up our friendship, and had In
sisted on visiting me several times, though
not In the past four years, which had been
as busy for him for me. Lattery his
letters urging me to visit him at their
great country place. away at the other
end Of the state, had set me hard task
OF inventing excuses.
Well. Well" he exclaimed. shaking my
hand violently in both his You wouldn't
come to see me. SO I've come to you.
/ tried not to show the nervousness this
stirred I'm afraid you'll
find our hospitality rather uncomfort-
able was all / said. Mother and 1 had
not spread much sail to our temporary
gust of prosperity; and when the storm
began to gather she straightway close
reefed.
Thanks, but can't stop with you this
time" said he. I'm making an inspection
of the Power Trusts properties. and I've
got mother and sister along. We're living
In the private car the Company gives me
for the tour" He went on to tell how,
since his fathers death, he had been
forced into responsibilities, and was,
among many other things. a member of
the Power Trusts executive committee
Soon came the inevitable question, And
how are you getting on?"
so So" replied 1; mot too we'll, just at
the present. was beaten. you know. and
have to go back to my practice in Janu-
ary."
Wish you lived in my part of the
state" said he. But the Ramsay COM
pany hasn't anything down here" He
reflected a moment then beamed. II can
get you the legal business of the Power
Trust If you want It," he said. Their
lawyer down here goes on the bench,
you know-he was on the ticket that
won. Roebuck wanted good, safe. first
class man on the bench in this circuit"
But he added nothing more about the
Power Trust vacancy at Pulaski. True,
my first impulse was that 1 couldn't and
wouldn't accept; Also 1 told myself it was
absurd to imagine they would consider
me. Still. 1 wished to hear. and his fail
ure to return to the subject settled opce