The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-09-30


throuhgout the nation He was not only
a leader Of men, but pre-eninently a
helper Of men; for one Of bis most
marked traits was the intensely 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, d man who in the
highest place served as an unconscious
example to his people Of the virtues that
build and conserve alike our public life,
and the foundation Of all public life,
the intimate life Of the home.
Many lessons are taught us by his
career, but none more valuable than the
lesson Of broad human sympathy for and
among all of our citizens Of all classes
and creeds. No other president has ever
more deserved to have his life work
characterized in Lincoln's words as being
carried on with malice toward none,
with charity toward all AS boy he
worked hard with his hands; he entered
the army as a private soldier; he knew
poverty; he earned his own livelihood /;
and by his own exertions he finally rose
to the position Of man Of moderate
means. Not merely was he in personal
touch with farmer and town dweller.
with capitalist and wageworker, but he
felt an intimate understanding of each,
and therefore an intimate sympathy
with each; and his consistent effort was
to try to Judge all By the same standard
and to treat all with the same Justice
Arrogance toward the weak, and envious
hatred Of those well off, were equally
abhorrent 10 his Just and gentle soul.
Surely this attitude of his should be
the attitude Of all or people today 1t
would be a cruel disaster to this country
to permit ourselves to adopt an attitude
Of hatred and envy toward success wor-
thily won, toward wealth honestly ac-
quired. Let us in this respect profit by
the example Of the republics Of this
western hemisphere to the south Of us.
Some OF these republics have prospered
greatly; but there are certain ones that
have Jagged far behind; that stiil con
tinue in a condition Of material poverty,
Of social aud political unrest and confu-
sion. Without exception the republics of
the former class are those in which hon
est industry has been assured Of reward
and protection those where cordial
welcome has been extended to the kind
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 backward republics,
the republics in which the lot OF the av-
erage citizen II least desirable, and the
lot Of the laboring man worst Of all, are
precisely those republics In which indus
try has been killed because wealth ex-
POSED its owner 10 spoilation. To these
communities foreign capital now rarely
comes, because it has been found that
as soon as capital Is employed so as to
give substantial remuneration to those
supplying it, it excites ignorant envy
and hostility, which result in such op-
pressive action, within OF without the
law, as sooner Or later to work a virtual
coniiscation. Every manifestation of
feeling of this kind in our civilization
shoulde be crushed at the outset by the
weight Of sensible public opinion
From the standpoint Of our material
prosperity there is only one other thing
as important as the encouragement of a
spirit Of envy and hostility toward hon
est business men, toward honest mon OF
means, this is the discouragement of
dishonest business men, the war upon
the chicanery and wrongdoing which are
peculiarly repulsive, peculiarly obnox-
ious, when exhibited BY men who have
no excuse Of want Of poverty, of igno-
rance, for their crimes. Men OF means
and above all men Of great wealth, can
exist in safety under the peaceful protec.
i,tion Of the state, only in orderly socie.
/ ties. where liberty manifests itself
through and under the law It is these
men who, more than any others, should
! in the interests Of the class to which
they belong, in the interests Of their
children and their children's children
seek in every way, but especially in the
4 conduct of their lives, to insist upon and
! to build up respect for the law. II may
/ not be true from the standpoint Of some
4 particular individual of this class, but
/ in the long run it is pTe-eminently trlU
! from the standpoint Of the class as g
| whole, no less than Of the country as q
! Whole, that it is a yeritable calamity tC
/ achieve temporary triumph by viola
/ tion or evasion of the law: and we are
4 the best friends of the man Of property
we show ourselves the staunchest up
/ holders Of the rights of property wher
we set our faces like flint against thos,
offenders who do wrong in order 70 &C
quire great wealth or who use this
wealth as a help to wrongdoing.
! Wrongdoina Is confined to no class
Good and evil are to be found among
both rich and poor, and in drawing th,
line among our fellows we must draw i
on conduct and not on worldly posses
sions. In the abstract most Of as viii
/ admit this. In the concrete we can act
upon such doctrine only il we really
have knowledge Of and sympathy viii
one another. If both the wage worllei
and the capitalist are able to enter eacl
into the others life, to meet him so al
to get into genuine sympathy with him
most Of the misunderstanding between
| them win disappear and its place vii
be taken by a Judgment broad. iuster
more kindly, and more generous; 70
each win find in the other the sam
essential human attributes that exist il
himself It was President Mckinley
peculiar glory that in actual practice
he realized this as It Is given to but few
men TO realize 1t that his broad an,
deep sympathies made him feel a genu
inc sense Of oneness with all his fellow
Americans, whatever their station o
work n life, so that to his soul the,
were all Joined with him ii grea
brotherly democracy of the spirit II !
not givcn to many Of us in our live
actually ID realize this attitude to th
extent that he did; but VIC can at leas
have II before us as the goal Of on
cndeavor- and by 50 doing we shall pa.
honor better than in any other way T.
the memory Of the dead president who's
services IN life we this day commemo
rate.