Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-02-26

Inquire. MI course he NSStSt &ldTSS elS-f
ure. Your wealthy public man wishes
to appear generous to all charitable
and religious appeals; and indeed, to-
be perfectly truthful, most of them are
sincerely generous 1t is not alto
gether and exclusively a matter of cal
culation with them. :.
So Tit is the most natural thing in
the world land the right thing-for
charitable and religious workers and
for all others interested in the com
mon good, who are raising thousands
for these admirable purposes, to call
upon and get as much as possible out
of the millionaire public man. Then,
of course, every other public man IN
that state, rich or poor, must give on
scale measured by the ontribution
of the rich public man. This proper
ton is not graduated upon the relative
means of these various public men,
but exclusively upon their relative OF.
fetal positions. Somehow or other less
is expected Of a congressman than OF
a senator, though the salaries are the
same; less is expected of state otfi-
cial or treasurer than of a governor,
although the former may get several
times as much out of his Office as the
latter; and the same amounts are ex xi
pected Of senators, though one may be
worth many millions and the other '
have practically no financial resources:
I repeat that=the lifting Of the scale
of prices in washington is directly
traceable to the extremely wealthy
men who are crowding into public life
and the perfectly natural desire OF
their families to live on a scale jusstf-
fed by their means. This desire is by
no means reprehensible. But the re-
suit Of it is a very serious matter TO
all of us.
This result is that the time is com m
| ing, if indeed it has not already ar ar
| rived, when that great body OF govern
| ing ability which is to be found among
/ the plain people will be as completely
/ excluded from any part of the conduct
of the peoples government as II there LEI
were a law forbidding them to hold
any Office within the gift Of the nation
Yet the fact is; SO well known that al II
lis trite, that now, as during all the
past in this and every other country "
men. endowed with natural gifts OF
craftsmanship are. as "a rule, unsncs
cessful in accommodating wealth. Even
1if these natural legislators and ad-
llministrators were also talented 3 as
business men, it would take their ex-.
lclusive attention for the best of their
1 lives to amass modern fortune hon.
testify
And yets3the golden years Of these
/ mems lives ought to be given to- the
a service of the nation. No man has any
{ right to spend his best energies ar and
highest abilities on his own affairs
and then round out his career By
giving the driblets and fag ends Of his
strength to his country. And SO itsis
quite clear that the Daniel Websters
! and Henry Clays and Abraham Lin
Icolns who are developing this very
minute among the young men who
i have sprung from the soil, must live
Hives of uncertain success In private
effort instead Of giving their abso lute-
4 " priceless talents and onsecrating
u their peculiar public gifts to making
4 and administering laws for the people
4 from whom they come and whom ma
4 ture has so signally fitted them to
4 serve M
Even Charles Summer, who was
man of considerable wealth for the
4 time in which he lived, could not exist
\ LIN Washington today except under con.
4 ditions which would humihate his spir-
lit or the spirit Of any other manly
4 man, unless he gave a large portion
I of the time and ability which ought to
4 be given exclusively to the country TO
I the making of extra money, which
] even the humblest living would cost
him over and above his senatorial sal
airy. Men such ais the three examples
with which this paper opened, living
3cheaply as they do, spend much more
than their salaries, and must earn this
4 additional amount either by lecturing,
4 by writing. or BY a fragmentary prac.
4 tice Of the law. $s
Senator Hoar wrote many magazine
Il articles, but so conscientious was ne
that he would sometimes spend half Of
Il the price he received for an article in
4 buying books and searching out origi
| nal information to verify the state
ments he made. II know one public
man who makes his extra money by
writing articles and this labor has te
be done after long hours OF public
work are over and when the more Tor
tunate have gone to their rest
AS to the practice OF the law TO carr
additional money necessary to live II