Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1912-04-03

indomitable will forged the links
between opportunity and wealth.
Perhaps 40 other man Of recent
times has been SO praised and exalted
by his admirers and condemned and
censured by his enemies. But should
we condemn man before we under
stand him? The world is just
beginning TO understand Rhodes and
to realize the noble aims and ideals
for which he strove throughout his
short but brilliant career. He is
pictured by his enemies as rude
selfish. INSCRIPTIONS money getter,
But his faults are SO far outweighed
by his virtues that they are barely
worthy Of mention
He was always greatly impressed
by the passage from Aristotle :
Virtue is the highest activity of the
soul living from the highest object
in a perfect life. and this was his
plain intent This was the light
which guided him during his whole
life. His course was clear. He
would live and work for the better
ment of mankind and the furtherance
of peace and happiness on this earth.
He thought he saw in the Anglo
Saxon race the means by which free
dom, justice and happiness should be
enlarged. He could widen the bounds
of light and make the skirts of
darkness narrower. Rhodes had
found his allegiance. It remains to
be seen how he fulfilled what he
considered was demanded of him on
this earth.
His first duty was to his country,
to further the interests of the British
Empire. Her interests we're To
advance civilization and the cause of
universal peace. What could he do
He would 'paint as much as possible
of the map of South Africa British
1ed.' But his vision extended beyond
the boundaries of the Empire. What
could he do for the cause of humanity
and to advance civilization He
anwsered himself that the Anglo
Saxon race was the race of the present
and the future-the instrument of
destiny. Therefore he would devote
himself to the ideas which that race
represents In his belief it stood for
the principles upon which the we'll
being of nations depends, the
principle ofjustice. liberty and peace.
Yes. peace. He would work not only
for England but for the restoration
Of Anglo-Saxon unity" and the
foundation of such a power as to
hereafter render wars impossible. !"
These are the ideas for which. when
little more than boy, Rhodes
resolved he could live and work. Are
not they noble ambitions?
He must be armed for the coming
struggle and he early decided that the
key to power was money. But he did
not want luxury, he merely wanted a
lever. Whats the good of having
big ideas if you have not got the
money to carry them out?" he once
said. He needed money only as an
instrument to carry out his great
plans. The large field of opportuni.
ties offered by this new country
enabled him to aquire large fortune
when little more than boy. But he
had only mounted the first round of
the ladder of success. Wealth was
his; he was armed for the conflict !;
but he had an aim far above money.
He never made wealth an end !;
wealth to him was always a means
After all, large part of the abuse
that Rhodes suffered is due to his
great wealth. But is this alone to
mould ones opinion of the man Did
he not acquire it honestly. in new
enterprises in a new country2 Is the
acquisition of wealth to be made a
presumption against MANI 1T is
excellent to have giants strength,
! it is only tyrannous to use it like a
giant" We shall see how he used it
to carry out the dream OF early man
| hood.
I have said that Rhodes possessed a
wonderful imagination and that
faculty was one of the mastering
powers in his life. But behind his
imagination was his energy and his
powerful will His dreams were not
merely air-castles, which vanished as
easily as they came: they grew to
purposes which in time were realized
Rhodes saw the great resources and
commercial value of the vast I'M
mapped region north of Cape Colony.
He would secure it all for England
and English they are almost to an
acre today. In acquiring this
territory, he encountered a life long
struggle with the Beers. In this
struggle lies one of the chief sources