Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1914-03-26
~. March n

this afternoon by the vote Of 46 to "a.
The measure seeks to increase the pow
ers of the state railroad commission in
the matter Of regulating railroad freight
rates, and the portrayal of the life and
character of Kentucky's martyred gov
ernor by Congressman A. o. Stanley
lust before vote on the bill was TAX
en- is credited with having more to do
with its passage than anything that
had gone before. The senate some
weeks ago postponed indefinitely fur
Their consideration of bill identical In
point Of text to the Finn measure that
passed the house this afternoon, but
advocates of the bill hope to bring
about n reversal of the senate attitude.
Congressman Stanley spoke in the
house chamber, the occasion being the
unwilling of the GOebel monument That
stands at the foot of the stone steps
leading to the capitol entrance. In an
eloquent tribute to the memory of the
man whose life was snuffed out by an
assassin's bullet, delivered in dramatic
style. Congressman Stanley enumerat-
ed the various occasions on which Goe-
bel stood on the side of the people as
opposed to the corporations and held
up his example in that RESPECT as one
worthy to be followed.
Not representative who voted on the
Finn measure this afternoon failed to
hear the eloquent speech of the con-
gresham from the Second district
Had the advocates of the bill planned
the speech of Mr.. Stanley it could not
have been n stronger argument In IA
vor of the Finn measure than 1t was
Mr.. Stanley's address was as follows:
Come to the bridal chamber. death;
Come TO the mother when she feels
, For the first time her firstborn's breath.
And YOU leave in your ruthless wake no
sadder scene than this piteous taking OF
Of william Goebel
| He sat for an hour In the seat of au-
thority gazed into the admiring eyes OF
his assembled countrymen, heard the tu-
multuous applause of devoted thousands.
and then In the flower Of his virile ana
vigorous manhood he fell at the very
threshold of the splendid vista OF honor
and distinction that opened before him.
"A
! reer passes In panoramic view before US.
I We see him starting upon hfe's journey
in poverty and obscurity, behold the hard
ships he endured. the battles he fought,
the enemies he overthrow, till at last ne
stands at the summit like crowned con-
queror and there before the laurels have
withered upon his victorious brow sSthe
death damp gathers there and petores tne
echoes of the cheering throng had died In
/ the streets of the capital they are filled
with the lamentations for the dead.
Told in years, his sojourn was brief.
Yet this life is not to be measured by
the fleeing hours. but by heart throbs'
by high aspirations and by noble deeds.
In labor patiently endured, In actual
achievement, his was, after ALL long
long life
Eminence was the immediate reward of
his energy and attachments. A born
leader, he marched at the head OF the col
umn, honored and trusted by his fellows
He never sought TO look down from a
lofty place upon struggling men below.
I He was always of them and for them,
/ No man had a better opportunity to tread
/ the primrose path to place and power. In
| his youth he sat at the feet OF the
| Gamalel of the bar. The professional as
/ sociate of Stephenson and Carlisle. he suf-
/ fered not by the contrast. He knew the
| the law.
Tempting retainers were offered him.
/ Great corporations eager to avail them
selves OF his learning and talents rendered
| their rich rewards; but. having tasted
poverty. he remained steadfastly the
champion of the poor. Having endured
wrongs, he continued the defender Of the
I oppressed.
| A single Incident throws a flood OF light
upon his whole career. On one occasion
/ he was visited at his old offices on the
/ corner of Fourth and Scott streets by the
/ representative Of a great railroad sys-
TEN. He was told that he might name his
/ own retainer If he would only agree to
dedicate his learning, his experience and
! his talents TO the survice of this great
corporation Mr.. Goebel listened In 81
| lence He stood near a second story win
/ dow overlooking Scott street. On the 9TH
/ or side n couple Of ragged urchins were
playing in the sand left In the gutter by a
4 recent shower. lie gazed intently at the
1 little fellows for some time before reply
/ inc 10 the man who had just laid at his
| feet a kings ransom as the price OF his
| deserton of the cause of the defenseless
! and the poor. At last he said, Sir am
/ already employed by the other side.
/ 'Who." said the astonished magnate, has
retained you on the other side2 Then
pointing To- the children in the street be-
| low, he declared. They. sir, are my eli
ents. Il cannot and / will not desert
/ them"
That devotion which others have CEN
| tered upon wife and child he consecrated
| 10 his kind He was in very deed IA
| Their 10 the fatherless, a refuge TO the
homeless. a shelter In the time Of storm
10 an who were buffeted by misfortune
and disaster
Labor. caught In the pitiess meshes OF
a federal injunction, bolted and barred
from light and liberty, saw prison doors
open wide and the clanking chains fall
from ia snewy limbs at his command
lie freed the highways OF Kenton county
from the petty tyrants who had levied an
inordinate toll upon the traveller He
stood upon the great bridges that span
the Ohio between Cincinnati and the Sis
ter cities Of Newport and Covngton and
saw thousands Of foOtsore toilers wend-
ing their weary way from the cottage and
tho tenement TO the shop and the bench
Tie saw the min hand IN his oyeralls and
the factory p'r I'm her tattered shawl sub
NIT 10 plumber as the price OF passage
and he said 10 the bridge owner as 10 the
eXpl1tor OF the highway, You may
charge reasonable toll. but you shall moi
wiring an cXtortionato tribute from the