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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1905)
KWm-"- qg m- OCTOBER 20, '1905 holder the face of bis policy without waiting for him to die and without touching the company's jr. sets at all." The Inter-Ocean concludes: "We could play all sorts of tricks with dur corn crop, pj enormous and so valuable is it. And yet this i only one of our crops. When wo consider it Mid the others we may well rejoice and thank (,od for our goodly heritage." -p:iE COMMONER HAS RECEIVED a. large I numhor bf letters from the stock 'owriors iu i he PeoploV United States Barik" At St. Louis, : in whi'c.h the highest faith and corifidencq in the. integrity' of E, G. Lewis is expressed. These nock .owners, insist that Mr. Lewis as 'president' of tli6 bank has been subjected 'to. gr'dat injug-, tice, and that at the time a receiver was ap-' pointed for this bank its total liabilities were' ltss than $225,060 while it had more than two"' and a half ihijlion dollars in assets, df which , nearly ,a million and a half was available im?' mediately as teash deposited1 in p'ther banlts.' Many, of these stock owners testify to a personal acquaintance with Mr. Lewis, arid 'say-that there' ib nothing in. his conduct to justify t!he assaults made uiiori hini. ' ' Ir IS' PROPOSED THAT Panama and Costa Rica unite for mutual protection and bonefit. A Washington dispatch says: "The department of state has been advised by Mr. Lee, minister to Ecuador and formerly consul general at Pan ama, that Senor de la Guardia, Panaman minister of foreign affairs, is about to visit San Jose, the capital of Cos'ta Rica, for the purpose of ne- The Commoner. collating a treaty of annexation. The United States government is much interested in this proposed annexation, and it will safeguard its rights on the isthmus if annexation takos placo. The treaty between the United States and Panama contains this clause: If tho republic of Panama shall hereafter enter as a constituent part into any other government, or into any union or con federation of states, so as to merge her sovereignty or independence in such government, union or confederation, the rights of tho United States, under tho convention shall not be in nuy respect lessened or impaired," tHE LATEST line of credit given to President Roosevelt is particularly' interesting, and is revealed in an article printed in a New York newspaper from which the following ex tract is taken. "President Roosevelt's doctrine of large families has lmd a stimulating effect on the New York city birth-rate. Cupid, too, has evidently been listening to what tho president saiuand as a consequence the ministers and the magistrates have been unprecodentedly busy ty ing the marriage knot. The bureau of vital sta tistics of t,he health department announced yester day that during the first six months of the present year there were 50,943 births reported, as against 47,384 in the same period of 1904. The increase amounts to 3,559. In the first six months of 1905 there were 20,768 marriages, as against 19,295 in the same period in 1904. Nearly 3,000 to be exact, 2,946 happy lovers hearkened to the warn ing from the White House against race suicide, and resolved themselves into 1,473 happy couples. 'When you come to think about it,' said Health 7 Commissioner Darlington yostorday 'it seems vory roasonablo that President Roosevelt's uttorancoa on the subjoct of largo families have affected the birth rato, hero and olHowhero. What ho said was vory widely quotod in tho nowHpapors, and has occasioned a wonderful amount tf com ment. Marriage, as we all Know, Is a sentimental proposition and quito likely to ho Influoncod by such declarations as those which tho prosidont has mado.' '' A LITTLE WHITE' AND BLACK DOG named Jim has, according to a Little Rock, Ark., dispatch to the New York Herald, avenged his owner's death by revealing the murdorcr. In that dispatch it is said: "Jim was tho only witness of tho murder of his mnstor, W. P. Burns, a wealthy farmer, of Pocahontas, Ark., 'Ed' Hub bard, a woodsman, is the convicted principle in tho deed and 'Willie' Roberts, who was Durns' housekeeper, Is charged with being accessory to the crime. But for Jim tho crime would possibly have gone undiscovered, for It was his lovo for his master that sent him to tho houso of a neighbor, where his whines and actions sug gested to the neighbors that somothing unusual had happened. Tho noighbor mado a search, which resulted in finding tho body at tho bottom of the river and the ultimate unraveling of tho plot that ended in murder. Jim did not stop with notifying the neighbors of tho crime, but appeared in court, and when Hubbard was arralgnod gave testimony of his hatred by showing his teeth and growling when tho accused man was brought in testimony barred by tho law, but offectlve In the eyes of tho jury." . LITTLE DROPS OF WATER, LITTLE GRAINS OF SAND Several years ago New York newspapers told of a young man who, after yeaxs of faithful service to his employers, absconded with a con siderable sum, of money. That was the young man's fivst, , misstep, and the employer caused to be insert in the newspaper an advertise-" ment calling upon the ypung man to return and protfiisjhg; J,tiat l ljo would not be'prbse'ciited, but would, be helped, out of his difficulties. The young man. read the advertisement, returned to his home, irade a clean breast of his error, was forgiven by thp.man whom he had wronged, re instated in his position and given every possible encouragement, to recover his lost, ground. It developed that the young man' was in financial distress, and in a moment of desperation had used his employer's money. This incident oc curred three, years ago, and since then this young man has, at .least, to the satisfaction of his em ployer, justified the magnanimity which that em ployer showed;, It will not, of course, do for it, to become a matter of general understanding that a man may embezzle and be,. forgiven; yet there have been, unquestionably many cases in .which the methods used by this New York employer could have been used with advantage by other employers. The .dpctrine, "I am not my brother's keep er," is not the doctrine for thoughtful men. The man who persistently cultivates the notion that ho is concerned solely in his own welfare and' that he owes no duty to his fellows has not even begun to learn that life is worth living. On a tablet in the First Methodist church in tho city of Omaha is engraved, tpthe memory uf a fine Methodist preacher, the best and high '"t tribute that could be paid to a human be ing. It is said of this man: "He was a helper of men." Incidentally it may be said that those who happen to have had the pleasure of this Methodist preacher's acquaintance well know that the tribute is entirely deserved, and that the man to whose memory that tribute is paid proved himself a helper of men whenever he came in contact with a human being who needed aid. It is true that half the world does not know how the other half lives. A very large number of people are free from serious trouble, and many of these are entirely ignorant of the burdens borne frequently by their own immediate neigh bors. It is indeed strange that so much of the trouble, the sorrow and the grief 'that exists in this busy world is concealed from the view of many men. But the man who is willing to lend a sympathetic ear and extend a helping hand very Boon comes in touch with his troubled fellows and very soon learns of the sorrow and grief, con cerning which less sympathetic men remain ia ignorance. While it is not an easy task to comply with the injunction, "Bear ye one another's bur dens," the man who does -his best to obuy that rule obtains from life a great deal more than the. one who utterly ignores that rule. "The drying up of a single tear has more of honest fame than shedding seas of gore;" and the world is full of tears; some of them are coursing down furrowed cheeks; some of them fill eyes that are rapidly growing dim; many. of them are unshed and in visible.. But if every tear may not be dried, if every wounded heart may not be healed, a word of sympathy and kindness will do much to assuage the grief which finds expression in the tear and the sob. Kindness, like mercy, "is twice blest; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes," and is, indeed, "an attribute of God himself." The One whose every act showed lovo and sympathy and kindness for men said: "And whosoever shall give to drink unto these little ones a cup of, cold water only in the. name of a disciple, verily I say to you he shall in no wise lose his reward." There is in this world today an op portunity for every human being to give the cup of cold water; and there is no waiting for the reward to be bestowed. The moment tho cup is extended, that moment the reward is obtained. A man bowed with grief becauso of the death of his beloved wife Js given the warm handclasp that needs no words to explain what it means. That's the cup. of cold water. A woman, broken-hearted, yet, woman-like, strong even in the presence' of the greatest sor row, is the beneficiary of f those little neighborly services which, while they, have . no voice, speak volumes in sympathy and love. That's the cup of cold water. A merchant, staggering under adverse con ditions, honest, although unfortunate, and striv ing to save the remnants of his business, Is given a little extra patronage by appreciative customers and a little unusual encouragement by merciful creditors. That's the cup of cold water. A man struggling against the power of an overwhelming appetite and sinking sometimes even to the gutter, is urged to try again and save himself from social oblivion. That's the cup of cold water. The sisters of the Good Shepherd, devoting their lives to the rescue of fallen women. That's the cup of cold water. ; The good sisters and the faithful nurses at the hospitals all devoting their energies toward alleviating pain none of them with proper recom pense in the way of money, many of them with out any financial recompense whatever. That's the cup of cold water. The noble work done at the orphan homes in caring for tho little ones who but for that work would be homeless. That's the cup of cold water. The man who, thrown from a position-through no fault of his own, finds assistance in obtaining means .of a livelihood, through the intercession of some busy yet sympathetic noighbor. That's tho cup of cold water. The little garments that are sent to cover tho nakedness of some child of the poor. That's the cup of cold water. The contribution to tho empty larder of the destitute, the supply of medicine to tho poor and sick. That's the cup of cold water. The visits to tho sick and injured. That's the cup of cold water. The word of cheer to tho stupid or thought less lad who finds the greatest problem of life 'to bo tho mastery of his simple studies. That's the cup of cold water. The mending of the broken toy provides comfort to the little lad and the repairing of the tattered doll checks the sobs of tho little girl; and that's the cup of cold water. In this day some of us may be too proud to remember, and certainly many of us are too dignified to repeat, that little jingle so familiar to our childhood days: "Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land; little deeds or kindness, little words of love, help to make earth happy like the heaven above." Yet, would not tho world be considerably better if that simple little verso were placed over every desk In every counting room in the lend, so. that he who runs may read and he who reads nay profit for himself and give profit to his fellows? Someone has said: "Tho best portion of a good man's life is the little, nameless, unremem bened a6ts of kindness and of love." Every tear that falls in sympathy with another's woe, every handclasp that is meant to nssuage another's grief, every word that is given to provide encour agement to one who stumbles and falters on the way, every smile and every cheer and every sigh and every tear that is the product of our loving kindness contributes to the progress of the world, to the advantage of humanity and to'the upbuild ing of our own precious selves. m A man will obtain the best in life when he strives for that condition where thoughtlessness gives way to thoughtfulness, where love for one's self Is well balanced with love for one's fellows, where men are not too dignified to mingle their tears with the tears of a grief-stricken neighbor, where the word of comfort Is every ready for the benefit of "these little ones," for tho relief of the despairing and the help of the disconsolate. Then, whatever creeds and doctrines may say, the bearer of the cup of cold water, writing "finis" to his life's work, may. without fear and with out trembling, face tho great unknown with: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart In peace, accord ing to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." RICHARD L. METCALFE. i i i , J,", l-jfcjljM - i-,Mjrf