The Winslow mail., 1923-08-17

a fitting and inspiring tribute to our
deceased chief executive, follows:
Whatever may be our political be-
liefs, however much we may have
questioned the judgment and policies
of our late President, we have met
today in his honor, not only because
he was our President, but because of
the man himself
The things about which good men
differ most sharply and angrily are
those which concern the application
of the simplest principles of justice
and righteousness to the conduct of
government. In former times we diff
fered about the simplest matters Of
religion. In such cases the man who
was most positive and intoIerant was
the one most likely to be wrong
The moral is not that we should
abate our zeal for justice and right
eOusness or our condemnation OF
wrong, but only we should abate in
the severity of our judgment of the
motives of men from whom we diff
fer.
SO in this spirit we have assembled
to honor the memory of the first citi-
zen of our country. We have come
together to say or hear or do some
thing that will express our feelings
toward him and his office, our res
pect for his character, our grief at
his untimely removal from the exalt-
ed position to which the voice of the
nation had called him.
Yet the deepset of our thoughts and
emotions are always dumb. The
oceans bottom has no voice but on
it lie the OCEANS treasurers. Only
the surface Of the soul like the sur
face of the sea, is vocal. So we find
our hearts holding emotions we can
not utter-feelings we cannot ex-
press.
There had come from the sick
chamber encouraging news that the
President was recovering. But when
there come from this hotel in San
Francisco, at whose door the nation
was listening, the death announce
ment, the surprise, the gr'ef, and the
shock changed a nation of hope
into a nation of sorrow. Our feelings
will find no full expression here. The
tollig bell, the insignia of sorrow,
the suspension Of business, the gath
ering of people over the nation, while
altogether fitting, are but poor ex-
pressiOns of cOuntry's sorrow. A
drowing man grasps at a straw as he
is conscious of the elements which
overwhelm him. It's all he can do.
This is all we can do.
''The bed of death, as a great ora
tor said, brings every man to his in
dividuality. A man may live as a
hero, stateman or a conqueror, but
he must die as man..
If our president had consciously
faced death we may we'll believe
there would have been enacted such
a sublime scene as our country saw
at the death of Pres. Mckinley.
Such courage, such fortitude, such
patience, such triumphant faith as
has seldom been seen. AS he felt
himself slipping into eternity his
thoughts were of others. He encour-
aged his wife to be brave. His last
words were Goods will be done.'
Surely courage, love and faith are
still the great attributes of a noble
and manly character. It was forti-
fed in these that our Pres. met death
The nation knew but little of Abra-
ham Lincoln five years before his
death. We knew but little of Warren
G. Harding until a very few years
ago. But in his passing we have lost
a great man. For he is truly great
who rises to the loftiest heights from
out of obscurity, surmounting misfort-
unes and difficulties in his upward
climb-un- noticed, perhaps, except
by the few who enjoyed the magma
nimity of his unselfsh spirit
He lived the life of the average
American boy. He exhibited no preco-
! cious signs of genius. From child
hood he worked on the farm His
schooling was frequently interrupted
by clearing land, planting and har,
vesting crops. He grew to be a boy
of powerful Misunderstanding il
outdoor sports. He went to college
worked during vacation to secure suf
ficient funds to pay his way He spill
rails, painted barns, edited college
papers, wrote insurance, though
school, studied law, tried to be al
actor, played in the town band, be
came a printer, acquired the Marion
Star, lost it through litigation. Thel
he secured a position with the Mariol
Mirror at $500 per week. This wa
a Democratic paper. 1t was durin;
the Blaine-Cleveland campaign an
Mr. Harding wore a Blaine hat t
work one morning AS a result h
) lost his job Then he borrowe
, $4,000 and with two other men VIII
furnished $4,000 each they bough
another paper This paper grew
: keeping just one leap ahead of thei
: creditors. Finally it developed int
: the Marion Star, worth $500, 100000
5 He attended many political conven
2 tions, became state senator, Lieute
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