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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 3, 1903)
The Commoner. WILLIAfl J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. I 1. Vol. 3. No. a4. Lincoln, Nebraska, July 3, 1903. Whole No. 138. DrDiram Kinnard Jones. On another page will be found a copy of the resolutions prepared by Rev. A. B. Moroy and others of the Literary union of Jacksonville, I1L, on the occasion of the death of Dr. Hiram Kin nard Jones, also an abstract of the address deliv ered at the funeral by Dr. W. F. Short I add a brief comment, impelled by a profound apprecia tion of the uprightness, modesty, wisdom and greatness of the man and by a deep sense of per sonal obligation to him for the stimulating and strengthening influence he exerted upon me dur ing my college days when I was for six years a member of his family. While he was a distant relative, the connection was so remote that I can speak of him without reserve. No one within - the range of my acquaintance or observation more nearly approached the ideal in all that goes to make up the highest type of manhood. He in herited a strong constitution and preserved his vigor by a regular and temperate life. The en vironment of his youth was such as to give him a broad view of life, implant lofty purposes and encourage htm to great endeavor. Early taught the advantage of mental discipline, he prepared himself for. his work by a thorough and liberal education. He chose the 'medical profession and applied himself Co" it so diligently that he soon rose to eminence.' Imple in bis life and economi cal in his tastes, ho gradually accumulated a sum sufficient to keep him in comfort during his later years, but his accumulations were a scant return for the "vast service which he rendered to so ciety. Even while he was laying aside for old age, he responded generously to the demands of the church, charity And education, and after- giv ing with increasing liberality as his own needs grew less, he remembered in the final disposition of his estate the institution that most appealed to him. He was a thinker of national fame and delivered lectures at the Concord School during its existence. His philorophy was all-comprehending, and his conception of life included both the here and the hereafter. Heaven was as real to him as earth and death but the entrance to im mortality. Like Socrates, he spent his time in the search for truth, determined to follow where it led. To him preparation for the present life was likewise preparation for the life beyond, and ho went to hiB rest "like one who wraps the drap ery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams." Dr. Jones was fortunat: in the choice of a wife who proved to be a congenial companion a3 well as a helpmeet and who was his intelligent and devoted co-laborer in every good work. Their home from its first establishment became a cen ter of virtue, purity, love and light a center from which eminated helpfulness and inspira tion. Tho influences which they t-us set in mo tion, transmitted from generation to generation, will be more valuable to tLe world than money and more enduring than marble. If service ig the measure of greatness and sample the method by which service can best be rendered, then Dr. Jones and his wife deserve to be numbered among the really great and their lives were knit- to gether by a love that spanned the grave. As the body of the sage, flower-covered and enshrouded in the affection of mourning friends, -lay in the library where he had studied for half a century, Dr. Hayden read Longfellow's tributa . to Bayard Taylor and it seemed a fitting con clusion of the funeral exercises: Dead he lay among his books; The peace of God was in his looks. Aiid those volumes from their shelves Watched him, silent as themselves. Ah! his hand will nevermore Turn their storied pages o'erj Novermoro ins lips repeat Songs of theirs, however sweet. Let tho lifeless' body rest! He is "gone, who was its guest; Gone as travelers haste to leave An inn, nor tarry until eve. Traveler! in what realms afar, . ' In what planet, in what star, Z -"' In what vast aerial space ;- Shines tho light upon thy face? In what gardens of delight Rest thy weary feet tonight? Lying dead among thy books, The peace of God in all thy looks. JJJ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& & &&&&&& && Alt The Liberty Bell. , (Proclaim Liberty throughout all tho land unto all tho inhabitants thereof.) O, that once more your throat could tell Sweet Freedom's song, ye olden bell; That with a deep, melodious chime To men of ev'ry land and clime Once more tho glad news you could tell The glad news that throughout the earth, In lands oppressed and stricken sore, Sweet Liberty has had new birth ,. And .kingcraft doomed to rise no more. Of that once more your tongue could tell The grand, good news, ye olden bell! O, that once more you could repeat The melody divinely sweet That bid downtrodden men arise And grasp tho greatest, grandest prize That ever humankind did greet Would that the tale you told our sires Might bo retold, and told again, Until sweet Freedom's altar fires Should light again the souls of men. O, that once more you'd ring the knell Of tyranny, ye olden bell. & J 'J & & J J J J J tv jfc i&V n$ v i2r w V 1& t& (5 ty O O d1 1&& V O O W W w JJJ The Bancroft Address. In another column Tho Commoner reproduces the address delivered by George Bancroft in Aug ust, 1835, at Williams College. It would be well if every American citizen could read and re-read this splendid speech. Its reproduction Is at "this time particularly pertinent to the celebration of July 4. The lessons Bancroft sought to convey are now more Important to the welfare of the American people than they were i 1835. The men of today should know just as t men of Bancroft's early days were told that " principle once promulgated has ever been for gotten. No 'timely tramp' of a despot's foot ever trod out one idea. The world cannot retrograde; the dark, age cannot return. Truth Is Immortal; it cannot long be resisted. Wherever moral truth has struck into being, humanity claims and guards the greatest bequest" When you haye read the Bancroft address, ask your neighbor to read it and to seriously consider the pertinent truths therein presented. JJJ The Commoner is glad to kno7 that Its sug gestions are being adopted by its readers. One writes that he has just bought a copy of "The Simple Life," spoken of recently, and inquires where he can get Reed's Collection of Speeches, entitled "Modern Eloquence," and Lloyd's "Wealth Versus Commonwealth." "Modern Eloquence" is published by John Morris k. Co., of Philadelphia; "Wealth Versiis Commonwealth" by Harper V Bros., New York city. Harmony hsmg Organizers David B. Hill recently appeared before the Now York court of appeals in opposition to tho franchise tax law of that state. In his arraign ment of that law, Mr. Hill said that Its passage was duo to "tho clamor of certain minor organi zations, semi-political and largely socialistic in their character, self-constituted, irresponsible and noisy associations, mostly toon-taxpayers," and that tho "serious consideration, much leas the passage," of tho Ford bill "had not boon regarded by thoughtful men as imminent" The New York World, a publication that has insisted that tho Hill brand of democracy is the genuine, says that It "feels It to bo a duty to cor rect so glaring a misstatement" Tho World in sists that tho bill was subjected to a thorough dis cussion. One petition for the passage of this bill, according to the World, was signed by 12,000 tax payers or rent-payers In New York alone, and when presented to tho legislature, that potitlon contained 20,000 names representing every large city in tho state. Tho measuro, according to the World, had the indorsement of tho organizations of real estate owners and dealers; and laboring organizations with a membership of 350,000 adopted resolutions in it3 favor. A special train went to Albany to urge Mr. Roosoyolt, then gov ernor of New York, to release the bill from the "hold up" in Mr. Piatt's assembly committee and on this train there wero delegates from fourteen commercial, financial and other public bodies hav ing a membership of 110,000 and representing $80, 000,000 of capital. The World says that every newspaper of standing in Now York favored the bill; that it had the indorsement of every repub lican county committee in the state, together with tho leaders of Tammany Hall and of tho sixty-three democratic assemblymen. The World further points out that when Governor Odell re cently sought to secure tho repeal of this law, public opinion was so strongly in its favor that the governor abandoned his purpose. Then with an utter disregard for Its boasted anxiety for harmony, tho World adds: "Mr. Hill's sneer at socialism comes with peculiar grace from tho politician who last yjfjar thrust into tho democratic state platform lank favoring national ownership and oper- ion of the anthracite coal mines! the most radical socialistic measure ever proposed in this country. And his course now in denounc ing a moderate franchise tax dn corporations that reap golden harvests from public privil eges virtually given to them is of a piece with his vote as a senator who boasted 'I am a democrat' against the only tariff bill passed 'by his party since tho war, solely because it contained a tax on Incomes the most just and easily borne of all taxes." It Is top bad that the disciples of "harmony" cannot provide the benighted democrats of the south and of the west with a better sample than they are now presenting; and yet by Its severe criticism of Mr. Hill, the World confesses that It is the duty of 'newspapers, as well as of individ uals, to disregard all other considerations in standing up for the things they believe to be of utmost importance to the people. And it is also significant that according to the testimony of one of the leading organs of tho reorganfzers, Mr. Hill is engaged in a desperate effort to destroy a law which is championed by the people of his state, regardless of politics, and which merely requires in behalf of the people simple justice at the hands of powerful corporations. In ta light of ta'eee facts, and in the light r IKt fm IX) 4 1 IT. !..,. - v IKiii-iLf Zi ,: fl mtf " .irjrfJm - !" . """ j- EM32