The Washington herald., 1910-01-02
BY JAMES B. MORROW.

subJect-it was written IN six days
turned George Evan Roberts. an Iowa
editor, into famous fnaneIer.
The book helped to elect Mckinley and
to beat Bryan. and Mckinley appointed
its author Director of the Mint Two
years ago. Mr.. Roberts was elected presl-
dent of one of the strongest banks in
the United States-the Commercial Ma
tional Bank, of Chicago. with S10,OOO,0O0 Of
deposits and $40, 3O0.OOO of resources. other
wise capital, surplus, and undivided
profits.
The son of a potter, who began to learn
the printers trade at the age of sixteen,
has become more than a practical bank
er, a member of the scattered and power
full combination of men who actually con-
troll the business of the country; he is
also a great teacher of the fundamentals
OF finance, and an international authority
on money
Genius. it has been said. is simply a
matter of industry. The definition is I'M
satisfactory. but 1t could be improved in
its application TO thinkers. orators, and
writer's If II were made to include lucid
ity. George Evan Roberts has the talent
for understanding things, for getting
right at the roots of the common sense
of things and OF early preceivtng the
almost unconscious movements Of popu-
lar opinion He multiplies the human
nature of a single American neighbor-
hood and obtains the total result of a
whole nation Furthermore. and perhaps
as important he can clearly state on
paper all that he has seen, together with
his own reflections and convictions.
Wrote the Iowa Platform.
Before Mckinley made his Buffalo
speech--his hint at recantation, some have
called it-and before Cummins warned
his party in the intense and emotional
language of an outraged and ardent
prOselyte. Roberts. tremendous party
man. had written the now celebrated
Iowa platform declaration that the protec-
tive tarin should not be used as a shelter
for trust-mongers and mOnopolists. He
had been writing platforms for years
platforms that said something and were
not obscured or open to various inter
pretatlons Public men I'm his own State
asked for his counsel, not that they had
any fear of him as an editor, but that
they were reluctant to act before get
ting his advice Besides, there was char
scter to influence men TO undertake such
errands. Every inhabitant of Fort
Dodge" an Iowa judge once told me.
respects George Roberts manly, honest
and Industrious life"
81 have often heard" I said to Mr..
Roberts, as we talked in his Office at
the bank. that you were the shrewdest
politician in your State?"
Happily. no such delusion ever got
into my own head" Mr.. Roberts gravely
replied. "Shrewdness in politics implies
characteristics that hope I do not pos
sess l made some effort. II is true. TO
understand the people and was helped by
my experience as a country editor. Farm
ers, mechanics, and villagers came 10
pay their subscriptions and talked TO me
about the questions that interested them.
and concerned their welfare 7 learned
their point of view, and thus. by a simple
process Of reasoning, to know the senti-
ment Of other communities. The United
States, you must remember. IS an aggre-
cation Of neighborhoods with similar OBJ
jects, errors, and principles"
Progressive Movement First.
Going back to the historical beginning
of the progressive movement among
the Republicans Of Congress. 1 said: In
1901. you.wrote the Iowa tariff plank that
subsequently occasiOned so much dis
cussion throughout the country"
Il shall have to admit that I am guilty
of the charge" Nir. Roberts answered, his
black eyes and dark face being softened
by a momentary smile. I was Director
Of the Mint at the time. but had gone
back home 20 attend our State conven-
tion and had been made chairman OF the
committee on resolutions. Conditions We're
changing in this country. it seemed to
me, and high protection. when not need
ed, was no longer acceptable to the peo-
pie The plank, afterward so widely mis-
understood and distorted, recommended
any modification Of the tariff schedules
that might be necessary TO prevent them
from becoming the shelter of monopoly
It was claimed, under the liberty taken
by professional interpreters, that the
plank, in spirit at least, confessed that
the Dinghy law was, in reality, a shell
ter for trusts and monopolies. But the
interpreters read into my words mean
ing I had not given them"
Did you consult Mr.. Cummins about
the plank?'
NO; although the convention was to
nominate him for governor. Nor had I
shown it 70 President Mckinley. The
late Senator Allison and Mr. Deliver,
then a member of the House of Rep
resentatives, were the only conspicuous
men who read the plank before it was
submitted to the delegates for their
action"
Born I'm Iowa.
Your name indicates" I said. that
you are of Welsh extraction?"
My grandparents came from Wales
and settled in Utica, N y. Nv father
learned the potters' trade and emf
grated To Iowa sailing down the at
lantic Ocean. around the end of Florida,
into the Gulf of Mexico, and thence up
the Mississippi River to his destination.
I was born at Colesburg, I'm the second.
county west of Dubuque, a hamlet that
was as big then as it is now, but we
moved to Fort Dodge. where my father
established a pottery for the manufacture
Of coarse earthenwaTe.
But you" I said, learned to be a
printer
Il left the high school at the age of
sixteen and went to work in the Office
of a weekly newspaper called the Mes
senger. was encouraged to write local
items by the proprietor. When I was
twenty / had a chance to buy little
paper in the country for $780, Ny father
helped me with some ready money. In
six months l sold out and made $780,
Immediately went to Sioux City where
I worked on the Journal as a reporter.
At. the death of the active owner of the
Messenger. I returned to Fort Dodge.