South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-04-01


IT is incidentally reenacted
here for our readers, in the
character analysis of the four
chiefs.-Editor's Note.
among them. went with Austin
Bruce Garretson on his rhetorical
journey Railway presidents, also.
were in the company-such mighty
men from the tracks as Rea of the
/ Pennsylvania. willard Of the b. x
o.. smith of the New York Central,
! LOvett of the L. j. and Underwood
Of the Erie.
Lawyers, too. were present; mod
ern practitioners of a venerable pro
fessiOn; able men commanding
princely pay for their erudition and
sagacity.
Interested travellers they we're,
and impressed. which may have
been the object of their conductor.
over oceans and continents they
were transported. and into vanished
ages. by oral magic. To the Rio
Grande, and the deserts below,
where the vulture is sacred
bird" observed the speaker. some
what suggestively.
To Babylon, more sinful than
Sodom. in the days of Abraham: but
the details were omitted by the ora
tor To ThesSaly. the legendary
birthplace of Achilles; and TO the
River Styx, whose dreadful waters
flow past the portals of Hades To
the deadly rock of ScylIa; to an
cient Britain and, at the end. to
Chicago.
Familiar characters, big person
ages. were encountered on the
journey-as, for example, Noah,
Jonah. Caesar and Alexander the
Great. among the males, and Thetis.
mistress of the sea-nymphs, among
the females.
But the adventure over Csenators,
railway presidents and lawyers
back again in Washington, at and
around the long table of the con-
ference room), could Garretson de-
lay the strike of the brotherhoods?
The question had been formally
asked. Stone of the engineers ex-
cused himself. Lee of the brake
men passed it over. Carter Of the
fremen was silent, except for the
/ statement that he would be heard
through a substitute.
And now, concluding the last of
his two long speeches, Garretson of
the conductors stood eye TO eye with
the inquiry. There was no escape.
Perhaps none was sought. In the
question, Garretson. low of voice,
said, Il find my Gethsemane."
Ii was a dramatic moment The
brotherhoods. skilled in creating eff
fects. had, in fact, chosen the mo-
ment. Artists. they are, in some re-
spects.
II can say to my men, Put it
off, " and Garretson, seemingly. saw
nobody, as he acknowledged his au-
thority His eyes were on the NOV
ing trains out in the country and
his mind went back over his own
LIES journey.
Not just now, he could tell his
men. But. he asked. What do l
put up to them ,"
The senator's were listening and
never more expectantly. "Treach-
cry TO their comrades" Garretson
said sadly And when they find
out that l did it," and his voice
broke, apparently, without having
attained the object which they in
trusted me TO obtain, across the fair
record of 80 years is written the
word traitor
can / face ito" he asked. almost
/ in a whisper. lie said no more. But
he had said enough.
Garretson. six feet ard two inches
in stature, intellectually dominated
that historic hearing History was
at his hnger ends. Philosophy was
shot through his words Elocution
gave a glowing finish TO all that he
said. Pathos and humOr saddened
and frightened his wonderful
speech.
The law for which he pleaded was
enacted by congress.
Now. closely to analyze this man.
and justly as well. il must be said
that Garretson's supreme belief is
in himself. His Quaker parents
hoped that he would espouse the
ministry. Rebellion began there
and perhaps. unbelief. Faith Is a
wall. behind which all things abide
in security and tranquility. Take
out stone and open a sbreach. be
il ever SO small. and that which is
back OF the wall changeth-man-
kind. its vision. its purpose. its sin
cerity and its status, among the
| rest
The comrades of Garretson say
that he is an accurate thinker a
| skilled analogist. a student OF his
tory and a sentimentalist. He calls
fact and poetry into his writings
and addresses. and. though Tot a re-
liglOus man. he reads the Bible at
mis- home. in his office. during wait
ins moments. and often on his
travels
That great Book. he says. covers
the whole range OF human expert
ences and is the best OF all guides
for warriors. orators. managers and
diplomatists. regardless of circum-
stances or centuries
The conductors themselves. think
ing men and debating men. a. they
go up and down and back and forth
across the continent on slow
freights. fast freights. passenger
i