The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-03-04

ers are gentle. you know-there is dan
ger that you win jump at a conclusion.
You will do this. at least. If you are q
victim of the obvious. You win de-
eide that Abraham Lincoln himself
was consciously playing for the pres
idency. II so, think you will fail to
measure the man and will do him great
wrong. There Is no evidence that he
had such an end In view. That he had
dreamed Of the presidency doubtless Ia
true. What ambitious man In politics.
or out Of 1t, for that matter. has not7
Yet when he was urged for the nomi-
nation a year or more later he at first
held back, believing that he could not
get the nomination and was not fitted
Tor the place even If he could get 1t.
No; / interpret the Freeport incident
differently. Lincoln had little or no
thought Of himself in the matter. He
knew that Douglas would be the Dem
ocratic candidate for the presidency.
He wanted to make Douglas election
impossible. This he desired to do re-
gardless OF whether or not he hfnseIf
was to be the candidate and whether
or not he would personally profit by
the defeat of the Little Giant" He
did 1t for the sake of the party, for the
sake Of the principle Of the nonexten-
sion Of slavery. To accomplish SO
great a good he was even willing to
throw away his own election to the
senatorship. This Interpretation Is
borne out by Lincoln's uuselfishness
shown at other times. At least that is
the way l read the soul Of the man.
OF the Freeport incident this must
have been true in the very nature of
the case. There was then not one
chance in twenty that Lincoln would
be nominated for the presidency. If
he were defeated for the senatorship
in all moral probability there was not
one chance in a hundred Of such a
consummation. Thus in throwing
away the senatorship in order that be
might defeat Douglas for the presi-
dency the motive could not have been
selfish.
Abraham Lincoln often said he made
no move in politics for the purpose Of
advancing his own personal fortunes.
Almost every incident in his career
bears out the statement The rea!
truth Of the Freeport matter. then, re-
solves itself into this:
In 1858 Abra ham Lincoln renowned
his chances of being chosen to the
United States senate In order that q
Republican president might be elected
in 1860. A few years earlier he hao
renounced his chances Of election tc
the same office in order that Lyman
Trumbull might be elected Still q
few years earlier he had cast aside
his popularity as congressman thai
he might get at the truth as TO the
origin of the Mexican war. His career
is replete with similar examples
How is such a series of facts to BE-
harmonized with the statement tha-
he was cOnsummate politician? Sim
ply thus: Lincoln was not politician
for self. He used political methods
for advancing certain ideas. If he
personally could advance along with
these ideas. he was pleased to do SO.
II he saw a chance to advance the
ideas without himself advancing, he
did that. II he found opportunity to
further the ideas at the expense of his
own career, he also did that. This is
the secret of the public life Of Lincoln.
Study it from the beginning to the enc
and you will find him consistent to
this policy at every point.
No wonder the politicians could not
measure him; no wonder the COM
mon people trusted him. Their IL
stfnct found him where the wisdom o.
the great men failed. In this vita
respect he was of a different order
from any public man we have haf
since Washington. BY public man"
l mean men in political life, of course
and not teachers and reformers.
know Of no other prominent official In
our history Of whom | would care to
say that he would advance principle at
advance self unless he could also ad-
vance principle. Herein was the es-
sential difference between Lincoln and
Douglas. With the Little Giant the
advancement Of self seemed the first
consideration. that Of principle second
airy.
Therefore the triumph Of Abraham
Lincoln over Stephen A. Douglas forms
one Of the most inspiring events in our
national history. May its profound
lesson be learned by every man who
aspires to political career.