Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1908-07-17
HiS ExceIse17s
 JudEyf7 esp1.
IOrigiHal.l 1


 myself political career Some boys in their hero worship run to great military or naval heroes. My heroes were always statesmen. l didn't aspire to be a statesman myself. but did aspire to be politically prominent. Before l was old enough to vote was running the politics of the ward in which lived. Every one said, Watch him; he will some day be great po- Gtical manager"
 But if there yAre elements in me to advance me there seemed to be those to pull me back. l didn't seem to forge steadily onward. I would go up a peg and fall back two pegs. Yet was energetic and pushing. When ever a campaign was on l would go to the leaders of my party and give them my views as to how the cam- paign should be managed. They al ways listened to me attentively and seemed to be impressed. Sometimes they took my advice and sometimes they didn't But, while l was always prominent in general way, somehow I was not selected to fill any promi- nent position.
 One day my friend Crook said to me: ''There is one thing of supreme impor- tancc that is q blank ill your mind. You don't realize that no great success can be made in this world except by hanging on to some one else's coat 4oi1 ] shn rriv ,,I1 tf enable you to see it in that light, you would behold line of men each hang ing on to the skirt of the man ahead of him, like the tail of a kite reaching clear up into the sky. These arc the successes Those who are drifting about below figuring by themselves never gel anywhere. Now. l know Phunnyman. who is our candidate for governor He is an original and q genius: never does anything like any body else have influence with him, for in one small respect he is a hanger on to my coattail He told me the other day he was looking for Il sccre- tary for the coming campaign work If you like I'll get the position for you
 'Shale old man.. said "You've hit the nail on the head
 The next day my friend informed me that he had told the candidate for @ov- ernor all ;lhout mn frankly including my ill .ilecess;. Phunnyman Lad thought a moment, then said in his quick waH: "Sead him to me, can make use of him.
 I was engaged by the candidate at a salary of $2G0 q month as assistant secretary. He had a secretary who did all the work, l occupying a much high CT position became q sort of poit fcal confidential adviser Whenever anything of importance would come up he would take me into his private room, tell me all about 1t and ask my opinion as to the best course 10 pursue The right way always came to me at once, 1t seemed, by intuition, and never had to deliberate. Phunnyman was very secretive man and never said, You are right" or "You are wrong" He made no comment what ever; but, since he continued to consult me, I concluded he found my advice valuable
 Of course my position was a very pleasant one. A box of cigars was al ways at my disposal, and decanter with glasses was kept in closet for me. Phunnyman almost always took me out to lunch with him. for it was then that he could best confidc all the various problems that came tip before him. There's no sphere which requires such constant exercise of Judgment as politics. Not day but d number oi questions came up, and many of them had to be settled at once. There's whore my faculty fer recognizing tho pith of a question came in.
 Well, Phunnyman was elected by the biggest majority any candidate had received for sixteen years. When it was all over l supposed he would take all the credit to himself, but he didn't was at his house the night of the election, where a telegraph apparatus mad been set up and as soon as sufli- cient returns had come in to insure his election he grabbed me by the hand, exclaiming joyfully: "It's all due to you, my boy. If it hadn't been for your advice I'd have been defeated in every county"
 NOW, that's what 1 call honor where honor is due. The governor retained me in my position, for you must know that the position brings more prob lems than campaign to get it. He uoupled my salary, and there wasn't man In the state that had better position than I. Besides, I had lots of opportunities to make money through information I possessed, and l made is every time, though in this no judg- laent was required I simply bought when got the tip.
 when Phunnyman was sent to the united States senate he took me with nim. He didn't have much use for my "uvice there, for he was obliged to do as the party leader directed, so asked mako