Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-02-05
CHAPTER 111.-{continued)

CHAPTER II1.-iContinued)
But 1t was a lively, good-natured
crowd and the fashionanly gowned wo.
men and the we'll dressed men, the
Iaklrs hcarsely crying their catch
penny devices, the noble boulevards
nned as far as the eye could see with
trees In full foliage, the magnificent
opera House with it's gilded dome glis-
tening IN the warm sunshine of June
AFTERNOON, the broad avenue directly
opposite. leading in splendid straight
hne 70 the famous Palais Royal, the al
most dazzling whiteness of the houses
and monuments, the remarkable clean
nness and excellent condition of the
sidewalks and streets the gaiety and
richness of the shops and restaurants,
the picturesque kiosks where they sold
newspapers and fowers-all this made
UP picture so utterly unlike anything
he was familiar with at home that
JEFFERSON sat spellbound, delighted.
Yes, 1t was true, he thought, the for
eigner had indeed learned the secret
OF enjoying life. There was assuredly
omething else in the world besides
mere money getting. His father was
slave to it, but he would never be.
He was resolved on that. Yet with
all his ideas of emancipation and
progress, Jefferson was thoroughly
practical young man. He fully under
stood the value of money, and the pos
session Of IL was as sweet to him as to
other men. Only he would never soil
his soul in acquiring 1t dishonorably.
He was convinced that society as at
present organized was all wrong and
that the feudalism of the middle ages
had simply given place to worse form
Of slavery-capitalisti driven labor
which had resulted in the actual iniqri-
fous conditions. the enriching of the
rich and the impoverishment of the
poor. He was familiar with the social
istic doctrines of the day and had
taken a keen interest in this momen-
tous question, this dream of regener-
ated mankind. He had read Karl Marx
and other socialistic writer's, and while
his essentially practical mind could
hardly approve all their program for
recognizing the State, some of which
seemed to him utopian, extravagant
and even undesirable, he realized that
the 3ocialistic movement was growing
rapidly all over the world and the day
a,
as today in Germany and France, 1t
would De q formidable factor to reckon
with.
But until the socialistic millennium
arrived and society was reorganized,
money he admitted, would remain the
lever Of the world, the great stimulus
tofeffort Money supplied not only the
necessities of life but also it's luxuries,
everything the material desire crayed
for, and SO long as money had this
magic purchasing power, SO long would
men lie and cheat and rob and kill for
Its possession. Was life worth living
without money? Could one travel and
enjoy the glorious spectacles Nature
affords-the rolling ocean, the males
tic mountains, the beautiful lakes, the
noble riyers-without money? Could
the Dook-lover buy books. the art-lover
purchase pictures? Could one have
flne houses to live in, or all sorts of
modern conveniences to add to ones
comfort, without money? The philos.
ophers declared contentment to be hap.
piness, arguing that the hod-carrier
was likely TO be happier in his hut
than the millionaire in his palace; but
was not that mere animal contentment
the happiness which knows no higher
state, the ignorance of one whose eyes
have never been raised to the heights
No, Jefferson was no fool. He loved
money for what pleasure. intellectual
would never allow money to dominate
his life as his father had done. His
father, he knew we'll, was not hap.
py man, neither happy himself nor re.
spectsd by the world. He had toiled
all his life to make his vast fortune
and now he toiled to take care of it
The galley slave led life of luxurious
ease compared with John Burkett
Ryder. Baited by yellow newspapers
and magazines, investigated by State
committees, logged by process-servers
haunted by beggars, harrassed by
blacknailers, threatened by kidnapers
frustrated in his attempts to bestoM
charity by the cry tainted money
certainly the lot of the worlds richest
man was far from being an enviable
one.
This is why Jefferson had resolved
to strike out for himself. He hat
warded off, the golden yoke which his
father proposed to put on his shout
ders, declining the lucrative position
made for him in the Empire Trading
Company, and he had gone so far as
to refuse also the private income his
father offered to settle on him. He
would earn his own living. A man who
has his bread buttered for him sci
dom accomplishes any thing he hat
said, and while his father had APP
peared to be angry at this open oppo
sition to his will, he was secretly
pleased at his sons grit. Jefferson
was thoroughly in earnest. If need!
be, he would forego the great forum,
that awaited him rather than be forced
into questionable business method.
against which his whole manhood re
VOTED.
Jefferson Ryder felt strongly abou
these matters, and gave them NOR
thought than would be expected o
most young men with his opportuni
ties. In fact. he was unusually seriou
for his age. He was not yet thirty
but he had done a great deal of read
ing, and he took keen interest il