The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-03-24

schedule from Alexander'S time and
if you attempted to emulate him some
cop would have You by the neck within
half an hour. He was great man.
and he made things hum while he lived
and for some time after, but you must
be content with the fact that he is dead
and buried and there is no cash de-
mand for AieZanders at this date
There Is no manner Of doubt that
Caesar was a bully boy. He had a way
Of his own, and that way was q bad
He licked everything IN sight for good
many years, and acquired a lot Of terri
tory, and when he died at last the bot
tom almost dropped out Nevertheless,
don't butt in under the idea that there
is room for another like him. or you
VIII be sadly disapp pointed II the origt-
nal ana only Caesar were to come to
life ana to America tomorrow he
couldn't even down the weakest side OF
the Standard Oil Trust, while the Beer
Trust would grin IN his face and ask
him what he was going to do about 1t.
You just keep right on saving wood
and looking for a better Job and let
Caesar rest where they laid him.
Dlogeaes sat in the gutter in a tub
and get or bits Of philosophy and
thereby became known to fame. You
may be signing to do the same thing,
but in the first place the crowd would
take you for 2 faker. and in the next
the Judge would make It thirty days or
ave dollars fine. Your philosophy
would be called chestnuts and the
freckies on your nose commented on.
II you are working on a farm at six
teen dollars q. month and found stick
to your job and let the tub business
side.
It was this same Diogenes who went
around with a lighted lantern in the
daytime and answered that he was
looking for an honest man. That was
q pretty good thing to get Off five hun
dred years ago but don't try it now.
learning the shoemaker's trade mind
how you drive the pegs, instead of
thinking about getting off something
smart. If you hit on anything the
would notify you that it had been pat
ented twenty years ago.
You viii find men ready to bet you
two to one that Joseph's coat of many
| cOlors didn't have but four colors In
it. You can waste two days in argu-
ment, or you can earn four dollars and
pat It into meat and potatoes. Joseph
and his coat have long been gathered
IN and trains are running too regularly
to make any dispute profitable.
Napoleon was It and no mistake. Any
one who opposed him got the grand
wallop in short order, and was made
to wish that he'd been good. To read
his history is to feel thrills Of adnira-
! ton go up and down your back, and
the first impulse is to go out and be
Napoleon. Resist 1t. young man-re-
sist it. Same old story-things have
changed. Napoleon lived his time and
wanted him just then, but has never
wanted another. The Iemon-squeezer
OF America are Of more real value to
her than three such men would be. If
you are q young carpenter, keep right
on showing the jackplane and let the
Napoleon business alone.
There seems to be a demand in this
country for revision Of the tariff, but
don't sit down with slate and pencil
and figure for a few evenings and then
rush off to Washington and yell "Eu-
rekai' in the ears of Congress and ex-
pect to be hailed as a saviour of your
country. Whenever the wise heads in
Congress can spare time from the busi-
ness Of the trusts and corporations that
sent them there they are at work on
the tariff problem, and in fifty or a
hundred years more they will get it
down pat You may be a good book
! keeper, but don't butt in. Neither
honor nor cash money would be yours,
and overworking yourself might be bad
for your liver.
What we call the race problem has
been bothering this country for the
last hundred years, but don't think that
you can take a day off and hit the nail
on the head. If you think of the mat
ter at all you'd better conclude that
the colored man is an American just as
much as you are, and has just as many
1 legal rights in the matter as you have,
and let it go at that. What you want
to figure on is getting your salary every
Saturday night without deduction for
lost time.
There are heaps of things wrong
with our laws. Any man who has ever
got the worst end of a lawsuit will
agree as to this. Don't start IN some
Monday morning and do a weeks
thinking about it, however. You can't
strike anything new, and you cant get
any changes made, and youil only start
baldheadedness on yourself for moth
ing. OF course, all the leading law
yers in the country are thinking how a
law can be lodged or broken, instead
of bettered, but things may change
some day and even the Catnip Trust be
brought to book.
Lastly. my son, don't formulate any
new rules and demand that the country
live by them. We have all got com
fOrtably settled down and don't want
to tear up and go to houseeleaning
again We pay some little attention to
the Golden Rule-we are as honest as
| charity when we can't get out Of it. and
I while things might be bettered in some
4 particulars we are all fairly we'll salts
fed. Just attend to your own knitting
and let others attend to theirs
If we lack in great generals. states
men, poets. artists and philosophers,
We yet have the figures before US that
] more pickles were barrelled and more
/ tomatoes canned last fail than ever in
and we must be proud Of the fact and
/ try to worry along somehow until the
] Rocky Noun tains take a notion to sink
/ out Of sight and leave level land enough
for AL of US to have our own straw
berry bed.