The Raymer enterprise., 1923-02-08
WORLD PAYS IRI3VT-
TO The "GREATEST
AMERICAN"

thfulis s.S---the peo!ie ray tribute 10 tue
n,clnigy of Abraham Lincoln. on the
ole hundred and fourteenth annlver-
sary Of LIS birth. And think that, al
most instlnctlvely. will come the uni.
ycrsal longing that he were With us
agnin today. with his sympathetic un.
Lefstnnling Of men, kindly phiioso-
l,hy und FIR. seeing vision, to help guide
US through the problems and ,laAgers
X the reconstruction period.
But as we do so, we should realize
thnt the reverence we now accord b s
sainted memory las been the growth
Of years, and that In his life, fully as
much us In his denth, he suffered the
u,urtyrdom which The world usually
accortls It's sal, Is and seers. It 10 not
Abraham Lincoln wlo has grown, but
the nation which, with the passing
years, has come into q realization Of
lis true greatness. l am reminded, in
this connection. Of the eloquent words
Of Brand Whitlock, spoken Regarding
Lincoln, In 1908. as follows:
Ellis beautiful dream was not to be.
Shrewd, logical reallst though he VAS,
nevertheless he was essentially On
idealist, and his Ideal was too high,
too far. Mutual forgiveness, immediate
reconciliation, brotherly love. were not
for his contemporaries, and their
hatred bore Its Inevitable fruit In the
bitter days Of reconstruction that fol-
lowed. Because they could not under
stand him, the men VI his time reviled
and rldlculed him, measured him BY
the standards with which they meas
ured themselves, and, In judging him,
judged only themselves. Themselves
impractical, they thought him lInprac-
ucal, who wDs the ie0si practical Of
men; thought him ignorant. who was
the wlscst of men; safeieil at him as
uneducated on whom degree. and
doctors hoods would have appeared
plnchbeck and ridiculous! As the
scenes Of the great war receded, as
the perspective heightened and pas
slons cooled, men came to see how
eTSat. how mishty. how original he
was. AZ slowly they grew In the ma
tional spirit he breathed into them, as
mankind in Its upward striving reached
toward his stature, they began to rec
osnlzs In him not only the first, but
the Ideal American. realizing In his
life all that America Il and dreams.
And more and more, as time goes on,
he grows upon the mind Of the world.
The figure OF Washington. the first Of
American heroes, has taken on the
cold and classic lsoiation Of a marble
statue. But Lincoln, even though In
evitable legend has enyeloped him In
lts reffactlng atmosphere, remains
dearly human, and the common man
may look upon his sad and homely
face, and and ln 1t that quality Of char.
acter which causes him to revere and
love him AZ 4 familiar friend-0ne Of
the common people whom, as he once
humorously said. God must have loved
because He made SO mapy Of them
Thus hs remains close to the heart,
Just a. II be had lived on through the
years. essentially and forever human,
not alone the possession Of our own
people; not Of q nation only, but Of
the whole human brotherhood he loved
with such perfect devotion, and that
humanity to which he gave his lIfe.n
In connection with the above, am
reminded Of another inspired and In.
spring tribute to Lincoln. this one In
verse, written by James Russell
Lowell, whose most familiar stanzas
run:
Mature. they say. doth dots.
And cannot make man
esve on some worn-out plan,
Repeating 10 By rots:
For him her old-worid mold aside shs
threw,
And choosing sweet clay from the breast
OF the unsxhaustsd West,
With stu6 untaintsd. shaped hero new,
WIS.,. stsadfast tn the strength Of God.
and true.
His was no lonely mountain-psak Of
mind,
Thrustinx 70 thin air DER our cloudy
bars,
A sear mark now-nov lost In vapors
blind;
Broad prairie rather. genial. Isvsl-linsa.
Fruitful and friendly for III human kind,
Yst also night u Heaven and the loftsst
stars,
The place Of Abraham Lincoln In
history u not only secure, but II 70
one which will grow from year to year.
His name stands nrst In the Pantheon
Of this republic. and his star will shine
down the vista Of the centuries, a
guiding light to all who follow. To the
cause Of liberty and equality. to the
nation and all humanity he gave him |
SELF In life and death, and a Savior
could not do more. That Is what con.
stitutes his universal appeal to the
common people Of all nations and all
decades, and that Is why we should
pause In our busy, work-a.jay world
on February u, to pay our humble
tribute to the greatest American.
No. I potatoes at II per sack of1lo
70 100 pounds, Wherei At sedin's