The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-10-04

singularly gifted to unite the discor-
dant forces of the Government and
mold the diverse purposes of men to-
ward progressive and salutatory ac-
ton, a magistrate whose poise of
judgment has been tested and vindf-
Gated in a succession OF national
emergencies; good citizen, brave SOL
dier, wise executive, helper and leader
OF men, exemplar to his people Of the
virtues that build and conserve the
state, society and the home.
Berkeley, May Is, 1901
1t would be hard TO Imagine an epi-
taph which a good citizen would be
anxious to deserve or which
would more happily describe the quail
tiles OF that great and good citizen
whose life VS. here commemorate. He
possessed to a very extraordinary de-
gree the gift Of uniting discordanc
forces and securing from them a har-
monious action which told for good
government. From purposes not mere
ly diverse, but bitterly conflicting, he
was able to secure healthful action for
the good Of the state. In both poise
and judgment he rose lever to the sew
eral emergencies he had to meet as
leader of the nation, and like men
with the root of true greatness in them
he grew to steadily larger stature I'M
der the stress of heavy responsible
ties. He was a good citizen and a
brave soldier, a chief executive whose
wisdom entitled him to the trust which
he received throughout the nation. He
was not only a leader of men but
pre-eminentIy a helper of men; for one
of his most marked traits was the in
tensely human quality of his wide
and deep sympathy. Finally he not
merely preached, he was, that most
valuable of all citizens in a democracy
like ours, a man who, in the highest
place served as an unconscious exam
pie to his people of the virtues that
build and conserve alike u public
lige, and the foundation of all public
life, the intimate life Of the home.
Many lessons are taught us by his
career, but hone more valuable tina
the lesson of human sympathy for,
and among all OF our citizens of all
classes and creeds. No other presi-
len has ever more deserved to have
his 1ifewark characterized in Lincoln's
words as being carried on with NAL
&c toward none, with charity toward
all"
AS a boy he worked hard with his
hands; he entered the army as a pri-
vate soldier; he knew poverty;he earn
ed his own livelihood; and by his
own exertions he finally rose to a man
of moderate means. Not merely was
he in touch with farmer and town
dweller, with capitalist and wage
worker, but he felt an intimate I'M
derstanding of each, and therefore
an intimate sympathy with each; and
his consistent effort was to try 10
Judge all by the same standard and ID
treat all with the same justice. Az
| rogance toward the weak, and envtodS
| hatred of those we'll off, were equally
abhorrent to his just and gentle soul.
Surely this attitude of his should be
the attitude of all u people today.
It would be a cruel disaser to this
country to permit ourselves to adopt
| an attitude of hatred and envy toward
wealth honestly acquired. Let us IN
| this respect profit by the examples or
this western hemisphere to the south
of us. Some of these republics have
]prospered greatly; but there are GER
tain ones that ave Jagged far be-
hind, that still continue in a condition
Of material poverty, Of social and DO
ltcal unrest and confusion. Without
exception the republics Of the former
class are those in which honest indus
try a. been assured of reward and
of enterprise which benefits the whole
country, while incidentally, as IS
right and proper, giving substantial
rewards to those who manifest it.
On the other hand, the poor and back
ward republics, the republics in which
the lot of the average citizen is least
desirable, and the lot of the 1aboring
man worst of all, are precisely those
republics in which industry has been
killed because wealth exposed it's ow-
ner to s%poliation. To these communi-
ties foreign capital now rarely comes,
because it has found that as sOOn rs
capital is employed so as to give sub
stantial remuneration to those supply
ing it, it excites ignorant envy and
hostility, which result in such oppres-
sive action, within or without the law
as sooner or later to work a virtual
confiscation. Every manifestation of
feeling of this kind in our civilization
should be crushed at the outs t by
the weight of a sensible public opin-
ion.
From the standpoint of our material
prosperity there is only one other
thing as important as the discourage
ment of a spirit of envy and hostility
toward honest business men, toward
honest men If means; this s ~ $
couragement of dishonest business