The Greeley tribune., 1912-02-29

invitation of our commercial club.
| listened to the speech that he de-
livered before our business men,
He told the simple but stirring
story of his souls awakening. l
wish | could tell that story as he
told it there. He has none of the
arts of the orator; l suppose he
never made a speech until he be-
came reformer, but you would
not forget that story if you heard
| him tell it, He told that night how
making fortune in business he in
vested some money as matter of
business in the stock of gas COM
pany, then he elected himself as
director. He began to investigate
the affairs of the company and he
found them in bad shape and when
he tried to remedy them he found
the directors We're back of it, and
the stockholders elected new
board of directors. Abe Ruef ap-
peared and offered his services to
represent them before the council.
They told him they didn't need
him He came back again and
again with propositions that We're
rejected. Finally he came and pro-
posed to go into combination with
Mr.. Spreckles and others to pur-
/
less than par and when Mr.. Spreck
les told him that such bonds would
bring more than par, he said they
would not when they were sold.
Then ne outlined his plan. He was
going to call a strike, going to get
every laboring man out in the city,
and then with business Frustrated
he said he would give par for the
bonds. When he was reminded that
that meant bloodshed he said that
didn't matter, and then for the first
time Rudolph Spreckles saw the
depth of iniquity involved in this
system of graft He became a re-
iormer and when he started out to
reform he found his social ac-
quaintances against him, he found
his business associates against him;
ound big business and big imam
: ciers and even the courts back OF
the grafters, and it was not until
i a year ago last fall that a victory
was won, and then for the first time
in thirty years California elected a
, legislature that the Southern Pa
cilic did not own (Applause.)
: | went directly from Lincoln,
2 Neb., to hear that speech to Bost-
t on, Mass, and in Boston | met L..
= 1randyce. He is a graduate of Har-
= vard man of culture and refine
ment, lawyer of large practice and
t | success, but he had come into CON
: tact with wickedness of big business
e and his soul reyoited. He finally
d reached the point where he was
: willing to serve without pay in u
: law suit involving u million dol
k lars, and | need not tell you that
y when lawyer reaches the point
/ where he will serve without pay il
II a 27 million dollar suit, there has
II been moral revolution somewhere
l. in his neighborhood. (Applause.
= And l am not rejecting on lawyers
1t either. (Laughter) 1t would il
ss become me to reflect upon the pro
N ession; my father was a lawyer,
J. was trained TOR the profession.
t. practiced law until | was draw
t. away from law into politics. | have
e a high opinion OF the profession,
1t believe there is as much altruism il
y the average lawyer as there is il
e the average man outside the pro
d fession. But l.. Brandyce not onl!
II helped to bring that victory i'll a
e suit in which he served without pay
II but in another suit in which he
l. served without pay but had the
a pleasure OF seeing the secretary OF
II the interior Withdraw from the
/, hands oi the syndicate the coal
:. lands of Nebraska. | have given
e a illustrations. one from Cali
e lornia, one rom massachusetts and
k one from Illinois. / must not pass
II over New York.
= Two years ago | was in the city
d of Atlanta. a man brought me a
: note. / found it was an invitation
/ to supper signed by Frederick
a Townsend Martin. | said, Who is
o Frederick Townsend Martin, He
: said, He is a brother OF Bradley
a Martin And then l remembered
y that a man by the name OF Bradley
y Martin had given an expensive din
II ner in New York some years ago
0 that aroused good deal of criti-
0 cism. | said, rs that the iamily?"
d He said, THAT is the family"
|. said, What is Frederick Town
Il send Martin doing down here?" 20
o he is down here in the interest OF
i the establishment of homes for am
i bassadors. And then | remem-
Il bered there was such a movement
S on foot, and that | had already
o manifested some interest in it.
e had found that the diplomatic
k branch of our service was the only
i branch of which the rich had a
e monopoly. l had found that a man
e could not be appointed to a high
I diplomatic position unless he was a
( man o. large means. and l had gone
E before the committee OF congress
1 to make an argument in favor OF
n the purchase OF homes for ambassa-
1 dors, putting it upon the double
a ground, first, that we could not af-
5 ord TO have any branch of the pub
e lie service from which poor man
+ was excluded if he was otherwise
/ qualified Second. that we should
own the homes of our ambassadors
that we might regulate their style
e of living and make they live like
! Americans and not ape the aristoc-
= racy of the old world in their extra
l NnpnnciaS And here found