The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-08-07

Public opinion holds the imperson-
al attributes Of a first cause. When
lit moves, or when It strikes. there
lis the fo-ce Of predestiuation IN its
faction. Like the swelling flood oppo-
Isi;ion only furnishes ii With a tenn
fporary reservoir Of even greater en-
ergy. Human antagonism : futile
against its edicts. lad Up Of the
igreat composite judgment q human-
lily. il ac~cunulates slowly and pro-
Iceeds to its conclusions with the alb
@solute disregard 81 a process If ma
Iture. No man can stand against it.
or change its course: it is the will OF
man expressing itself feariessly. II
cannot be smOthcred, corrupted or ca
joIed. 1t speaks its judgments with
~plriless f~nality. Started in motion. as
H. frequently l.. by pasion or %indigna-
ton it attains at the end 10 the i'm
which, Of the people, is above them.
II Is the great phenomenon Of the
dcIicateIy fashioned civilization Of
man. the one force which acts like
tine higher law. unsWaycd by money,
untouched by sentiment, yoicing in
its milion-cadenced tongue the great
er destinics Of the race. Before it
lkings shudder and thrones remblc at
the base; from it's impartial courg
1.-THE trivial greatness which may be
compassed in a life fees in terror with
Iimpotent hands thrown back to shield
its shrinking shoulders. Public opin-
ion takes its MONDAY rest, but wakes,
ever. ruler supreme.
The past year in America has wit
messed one of those periodical throw
ing down Of idols by which nations
kick free their feet from clinging
vines. Crash after crash has resound-
ed. Regulations have been destroyed.
Under the debris, there have fallen
those who stood on the tower, from
whose lips and in whose behalf have
issued the bitter Wailing Of regrets
came too late. But the master
was aroused He swept on. Behind
there were breaking hearts and blast
ed lives, the time was not one for
quarter. A name that was almost
sainted in business was shaken aloft
like a rag; q man whose skin trick
led with piety walked naked to the
stocks: there was a pause, a shocked
acclaim, Il subsequent contempt that
was more cruel than invective. The
whole nation reused and looked and
examined and tiayed. Newspapers
filled their columns with exposures,
with charges, With ridicule. Some
times there was injustice, but more
often truth. The tide went on. 1t
is still running to the flood, regard
less OF the wrecks, careless of those
who stand ahead appealing to it to
stop, praying that it may recede.
Mccall, caught in the lime light,
stopped the ridicule and contumely |
with which his name was greeted
everywhere by going off to die like
a rat; Hyde and McCurdy with their
vanished from public gaze,
silent and cringing amid the contempt
rain in which they peat their re-
treat; DepeW, the model of benign
and wit, the cheerful optimist
With the heart of gold and the shin
face Of love, is d d on the
veranda of a sanitorium, a wrecked
old man, picking at the rugs in which
they sWathe his knees, wearing away
his life in vain regrets, afraid yet
fascinated to hear the changing voice
of the people whose praise was the
breath of his nostrils! And, now, we
have q plant from Ole John D. Rookie
Teller, richest man in the world, hu-
fish, shriveled deaths head, skel-
cton-tingered stranger in the hire Of
gold! He. too, it seems. has felt
that parchment hidei John
ID. has not yet surrendered but he
Squirmed. For him, ~impenetrable
genius of corruption, it is a startling
confession. He who has ignored the
people, who has stood above the law,
who has first robbed the public and
bought away their wrath, throws
out an excuse. For the ma gnitude
Of the victory, there is almost reason
O cOndOne the sacrilege of the relig-
-ous cant with which he accompanies
lis pleading. Rockefeller has so often
lnconsciously blasphemed. that it is
ike the aid head, which he cannot
lelp. TO Il newspaper man in Cleve-
and he said Iecently:
Il eve despair. Sometimes things
said of me are cruel. and they hurt
but L I'M never a peSSilnis. | believe
in men and the broths:luod of man,
md am confident that everything wilt
come out right for the good OF all in
he END. You are just 4 young nlan
MI Won pnr IN u. NV lkrn yI- - n !, oil /
er than you and have seen the Morld-
you can always believe in real men,
Il know l have talked nluc.l With
you, but YOU are Il perSeNalins young
man. | know how hard you have tried
to see me, and | admire persistence.
1t is cOmmendable, especially in S"Gny
men, and it will win in TIE end"
Regarding his trip to Europe, lie