The chronicle=news., 1914-09-18
WHAT have =.
ACITAT0Rs DONE?
From Ed Howe's Monthly.

An indignant gentleman writes
me that evidently am not familiar
with the writing of Henry George.
have read enough of his writings
to know that they do not interest
me. and that they are not import
ant. ,A
What did Henry George amount
to? Had he invented better safety
match, better plow. better har-
vester: had his thinking taken. .
practical turn-had he been prac-
tical worker instead Of thsor:st-I
would cheerfully pay him tribute.
But Henry George did nothing for
mankind except to give them another
riddle they can't work, although
they have wasted much, time in
studying it. He always declared
himself more anarchist than Social
list; and there was never An anar-
chtst whose example, WAS worth inai-
tating. or whose teaching was wor-
thy OF acceptance. t,b,- >..aI.rl,-
A certain foreigner came to this
country and invented a plow which
has been of the greatest assistance
to mankind. This man appeals to
me more than the foreigner who
comes over here with new brand
|of anarchy. r...5i u-t tn....
Another man whose opinions I do
not regard as important are those Of
Henry David Thoreau, although he
is a saint with every man who be-
lieves a thinker is more important
than a worker. Thoreau was a
bachelor who lived alone, away from
civilization, and did eccentric things.
He never voted; he refused to pay
tax. The thoughts that occurred to
such man are not of importance:
the thinker whose thoughts are of
value is the man who has had wife
and children. neighbors, and paid
not only taxes, but school bills, doc
tors bills, milliner's bills and, un-
|dertaker's bills. sfgd p
Ralph Waldo Emerson was n great
writer. but his opinion of life are of
no more practical value than are
those of a man who Is able to paint
beautiful landscapes. Emerson was
an intidel who accepted pay from a
church congregation. His aphOrisms
are clever, but no more actual value
than are clever Witticisms.
! once knew man who had had
three wives, and who had been thor
|oughly saturated with practical life.
He was a very capable business man.
and so busy that never heard Of his
reading much. He was very useful
in what Thoreau would call a disrep-
utable way; that is, he built houses.
gave employment to men. and most
OF the best young men of the town
copied his methods. This man was
not agreeable-few really capable
men are-but beloved in society, be-
cause of his common sense. could
get mere out of him in nalf an hour
than I could get out of Thoreau,
Emerson, John Stuart Mill, Henry
George. Adam Smith and any other
|of the noted dreamers, in lifetime.
AS boy he was so poor that he
carried his shoes to school before put
Ting them on. that they might last
longer; and although he made
great deal Of money, it was of more
Use to the town in which he lived
than It was to him. He got his
board. and that was all. have
heard hundred mean stories about
him, but all of them were untrue;
he was always better man than his
critics, in all respects. He would
have made better secretary Of state
than w. ]. Bryan: a better president
THAN Woodrow Wilson. He was q
safe, dependable man In every way:
and, in nearly every community in
the United States there are men
much like him. And not one of them
is an agitator: ell of them are work.