Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-10-29
Wan,fed
[Elbert Hubbard in The Fra for October

Plato once defined man as two
legged animal without feathers"
One Of his pupiis-Diogenes, who
was a joker as we'll az philosopher
upon hearing this. Immediately left
the class. He reappeared shortly,
bearing q plucked Rostand rooster.
Holding it at arms length, he exclaim-
ed, Here il PiatO's mainland the
class in the Grove Academy roared.
But Plato precluded the possibility of
a repetition Of the joke by adding the
words, with broad, fiat nails" to the
definition.
Since Plato's time many and various
have been the definitions of man.
He has been likened to almost ev-
erything: from son Of the sun to a
sonovagun, to a bifurcated radish and
a cheese pairing.
Generally speaking. the popular con-
ception Of what constitutes real man
was based upon the idea of leadership.
We thought he must be a masterful
man, he must excel. he must have an
unbending will that bends all minds
to his own.
and that the strong man, the leader.
becomes q menace. if not a positive
curse!
Look over the sea. Europe is suffer-
ing from being over-led. And in Am
erica the people have handed over
their thinking apparatus to profession
al politicians, and We have govern
ment by experiment.
We are being swept along by slo-
gans. lured along by mirage-like' pic.
lures Of future prosperity and happi-
ness, being joshed. jollied and cajoled
into the belief that if somebody can
be destroyed prosperity will flow
Thus are votes purchased and de-
liyered.
AS far as l can glimpse the situa-
ton, this country just now is in need
Of a man.
We are suffering from a plethora of
lawyers. a multiplicity of laws. and a
flood Of egislation-most Of it mega
tive.
There are businessmen in America
with wide. generous outlook on the
lsworld-Quiet men with executive abil-
Fifty who realize that the sweetest
words in the world are these: EN-
closed please find check"
And then for roseate beauty there
is nothing quite equal to the payroll.
This country is suffering from in
dustrial status.
We have every requisite here in Am
erica for the greatest prosperity the
world has ever seen. Yet things halt,
and we practise the hesitation.
SfOcke oonHc re1uood ood
money is plentiful, but brooding over
us is psychological condition" This
condition is one Of uncertainty, appre-
hensi0n, doubt.
Lawyers maintain no payrolls. Nine
tenths Of them live by getting the
law" on somebody.
The reign Of the lawyer does not
make the waste places green; nor does
the pedagogue make the pay envelopes
pudgy.
The biggest thing in America is bus
mess; and what we need is business
man with legislative experience as our
chief executive.
Herbert Spencer has enumerated
those men who have lived in history
who are so far beyond the rest of
mankind in mentality that they form a
| class by themselves.
And they were not conquerOrs or
"leaders'-they were all working men,
familiar with ways and means, not too
good, and with no fine pretensions as to
setting themselves up as different from
the rest of mankind
They were not too wise, nor too Writ
uous, for daily use.
James J. Hill, Henry Ford and Ell
bert H. Gary, all have jobs of their
own. SO they can't get away.
In looking over the country. scan
ming the horizon for a quiet, common
sense. practical, man who, can strike
the rock of our national resources. so
that the gushing waters will flow
forth, it looks to me that John Win
gate Weeks of Massachusetts, is the
man.
The popular route to the White
House Is via the Office of public prose-
cution.
Why not via the Office of Public
Defender? Defamation has had it's
day. Let's build!
The man wanted is the average man,
focused and Observation-Disclosures conse-
Grated. We need man who has
something in his idea garage, who uses
his head, hands and heart.
I think of no higher tribute you can
pay a man than to say that he has
commonsense and knows how to cash