Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1912-08-08

I10 IN General yOur BUSINESS. lQ0Ee
are women. In the world who could
marry q man like you and be happy.
but | couldn't And the more l cared
for such a man. the more unhappy |
should be. You see, my unhappiness.
In turn. would tend to make him un-
happy. I should make a mistake, and
he would make an equal mistake,
though his would not be so hard on
him because he would still have his
business"
"Business!" Daylight gasped.
What's wrong with my business?
play fair and square. There's moth
ing underhand about 1t, which can't
be said Of most businesses, whether of
the big corporations or of the cheat
ing, lying, little corner4grocerymen. l
play the straight rules Of the game,
and I don't have to lie or cheat or
break my word"
Don't you see," he went on, "the
whole game is a gamble. Everybody
CANDLES in one way or another. The
farmer CANDLES against the weather
and the market on his crops. So does
the United States Steel Corporation.
The business Of lots of men is straight
robbery of the poor people. But I've
never made that my business. You
know that I've always gone after the
robbers"
I missed my point" she admitted.
wait a minute"
And for a space they rode in ST.
lence.
I see it more clearly than I can
state it. but it's something like this.
There Is legitimate work. and there's
work that-well. that isn't legitimate.
The farmer works the soil and pro-
duces grain. He's making something
that is good for humanity. He actual
~, In a way. creates something, the
grain that will fill the mouths of the
hungry"
And then the railroads and market
r1ggers and the rest proceed to rob
him of that same grain" Daylight
broke in.
There amt much difference be-
tween playing halfway robber like
the railroad hauling that farmers
wheat to market, and playing all rob-
Der and robbing the robbers like l do.
And. besides, halfway robbery is too
slow a game for me to sit in. You
don't win quick enough for me-"
But what do you want to win for?"
Dede demanded. "You have millions
and millions. already; why can't you
do good with all your money!"
Daylight laughed.
Doing good with your money!
Amt 1t funny, to go around with brass
knuckles and a big club breaking
folks heads and taking their money
away from them until I've got a pile,
and then, repenting Of my ways, going
around and bandaging up the heads
the other robbers are breaking? |
leave it to you. That's what doing good
with money amounts to-. Every once
In while some robber turns soft
hearted and takes to driving an m
bulance. That's what Carnegie did.
He smashed heads in pitched battles
at Homestead, regular Wholesale head
breaker he was, held up the suckers
for a few hundred million, and now
he goes around dribbIing 1t back to
them. Funny? I leave it to you
He rolled a cigarette and watched
her half curiously, half amusedly. His
replies and harsh cancellations of a
harsh school were di~sconcerting. and
she came back to her earlier position.
II can't argue with you, and you
know that. No matter how right q
woman Is, men have such a way about
them-well, what they say sounds
most convincing, and yet the woman
Is still certain they are wrong. But
there is n thing, the creative Joy;
and it's a higher joy than mere gam
bling. Haven't you ever made things
yourself log cabin up in the Yu-
kon, or a canoe, or raft, or something?
And don't you remember how salts
fed you were, how good you felt,
while you we're doing it and after you
had 1t idone?"
While she spoke his memory was
busy with the associations she recall
ed. He saw the deserted fiat on the
river bank by the Klondike, and he
saw the log cabins and warehouses
spring up, and all the log structures
he had built. and his sawmills work
Ing night and day on three shifts.
why, dog-gone it, Miss Mason.
you're right-in a way. I've built
hundreds OF houses up there, and /
remember I was proud and glad to
see them go up. I'm proud now, when
l remember them. And there was
Ophir-the most God-forsaken moose
pasture Of a creek you ever laid eyes
on. l made that into the big Oph1r.
Why, I ran the water in there from
the Rinkabilly, eighty miles away.
They all said l couldn't, but l did it,
and l did 1t by myself. The dam and
the fume cost me four million. But
you should have seen that Ophir-pow-
er plants, electric lights, and hun.
dreds of men on the payroll, working
night and day. I guess l do get an
linking of what you mean by making