The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-09-13

hoHoT, save III Ills own country.
This is true of all the prophets.
Stones have been their bedeand bread
Away back there in gol1,1 ae. CT
absolute democracy, when majority
banished by the votes of his fellow
countrymen. Upon asking, What
crime have committed that Tshould
be driven into exile the reply was
made, I'VE are simply tired of hear
Ing you called Aristeides the Just.
Wellington was mobbed in London
on the anniversary of the battle of
Waterloo. Had the recall been in
vogue, Washington would have been
recalled during the Genet episode.
Madison would have been recalle /
during the agitation preceding the
War of 1912. Cleveland would have
been recalled while he was fighting
for the maintenance of a sound fin
ancial policy.
Yes, and Abraham Lincoln woul I
have been recalled before the close
of his first term. No public servant
never suffered more unjustly at the
hands Of heartless critics than did
the great emancipator. He was car
tooned as gorilla, pictured as a
buffoon and denounced as a tyrant.
The abolitionists declared that he
was reactionary, in sympathy with
the slave power, tool, If you please,
in the hands of the slave trust. The
conservatives declared that he was
secretly in favor of abolition, that he
was ready at any moment to destroy
the vast wealth represented in the
system of human slavery, anu that
he was, therefore, most dangerous
man. In the midst of all this cal
umny, the wild storm of misrepre-
scntation and abuse, he maintained
absolute silence. Being reviled, he
reviled not again" One day he took
up his pen and wrote these words:
IF ] were to read, much less answer
all the charges made against me, this
shop would be permanently closed
] have but one ambition, namely, to
do my duty. If i am right, nothing
said against me can hurt. But if
nm wrong, ten archangels swearing
/ an right cannot help"
Thus it has ever been. For living
leaders we have epithets; for dead
ones. epitaphs; hut we must be
sure that he is de2d, so dead as to
occupy no space, contest NJ claims,
arouse no resentment, SO dead that
what We see is din shA NV, IS
tant spectre, rather than a palpitat-
ing personality. Than we get cour-
age for the bestowment of delayed
magnanimity. We lavishnbeatitudes
where we begrudged bread. Better
70 recognize AMI honor these peer
less leaders while they are at work
in our midst than to wait until it is
too late. Could Lincoln have heard
the faintest echo OF tumultuous ap-
plause that now greets his name, the
prolonged night through which he
passed would not have been starless.
Could Mckinley have heard the
agonizing groans Of the nation above
his cotIined dust, lis arm would have
been strengthened during the bur-
densOme, ominous days of the Span
ish-American war. There is another
in our midst, working so silently
that we are scarcely conscious of
histpresence, planning and executing
with such frictionless precision that
T. I1C a M aitaic ct ra n
quietude and potency of nature, to
whom Ut least partial payment of
the debt due him. little, rccogni-
ton TO which his vast accomplish
ments entitle him. VIC aid be Of more
service to him at time when he
needs ii than whole Niagaras of
praise and burnt offerings of eulogy
when the epoch in which he is work
ing rolls into accomplished history.
The stone cutters of the Parthen-
on were so blinded by the lust of the
blocks at which they were chiseling
that they could not see the full splen-
dor and magnificence of the temple
which sprang from the brain of
Ictinus and crowned the hills of
Athens. All the passing centuries,
however, have seen it. So 1t Is diff
ficult for us to catch the full outline
and magnitude of great man. We
must stand back just a little in
order to make our measurements.
When we study the character of
President Taft we are overwhelmed
with its vast outlines. The mere
scaffolding is enough to occupy the
time and thought of the. ordinary
student of men and affairs. The
great qualities blen1 in his charac-
ter like the commingling of many
streams; meekness without stupid.
ity; patience without Incidence;
courage without rashness; caution
without fear; justice without vim
dictiyeness; patriotism without os-
teptation and statesmanship without
advertising and spectacular display.
His genius is not built upon a small
plan nor Is IL adapted to small things
Pericles once said. 81 10 not know
how to play upon fiddle but know
how to transform a village into a
city of worldwide power" Presi-
dent Taft is not proficient in toying