vif ni' fc
The Commoner
20
VOL. 16, NO. n
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cruel thfin tho father who would cut off a son's
arm. Loss of an arm ,1a, not nearly so great a
handicap as lack of education.
(From Speech on Education.)1, '
A Lesson Like a Brick
A singlo hricl: is a useless thing, but many
brick, joined togothor by mortar make a wall,
and a wall Is of groat value. So one lesson
seems of little importance, but many lessons,
joined togothor, make an education, and an ed
ucation is priceless. And, as one brick talkon
out of a wall leaves an ugly hole, so ono lesson
missed mars tho beauty and strongth of the edu
cation. (From Speech on Education.)
Sharp Axo or Dull Axo?
Tho boy who drops out of school under tho
doluslon that tho money ho can earn will bo
worth moro to him than an education makes a
fatal mistake. As tho wood chopper can afford
to stop chopping long enough to keop his axo
sharp, so tho student can afford to postpone
money earning long enough to complete his
education. Tho difference between meeting
life's problems with a trained mlnd:and a dull
mind is oven greater than tho difference between
chopping wood with a sharp axo and a dull one.
(From Speech on Education.)
Buzzard or Bco?
The value of an education, both to oneself
and to tho world, depends very largely on tno
purpose bohind it. Tho buzzard and the be&
illustrates tho extremes of purpose. Tho buz
zard soars high, but It never gets so high but
that it is looking for something to eat, and
when it dies it leaves nothing to porpotuate its
memory. Tho bee lives on the best that there
is while it lives and it loaves a legacy of honey
when it dies. Some imltato the buzzard some
the boo. Some, no matter how high they rise,
are always looking for something for them
bbIvob. They are selfish and. self-centored, and
thoy aro not missed when they pass ,away. Some
produce moro than they consume and, when
they die leave tho world richer than thoy found
it. Man Is free to choose will you pattern
after tho buzzard or tho bee?
(From Speech on Education.)
THOMAS JEFFERSON
t
Let us, then, with tho courage of Andrew
Jackson, apply to present conditions the prin
ciples taught by Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jef
ferson, the greatest constructive statesman
whom tho world has ever known; the grandest
warrior who over battled for human, liberty! He
gave apt expression to the hopes that had nestled
in tho heart of man for ages and he set forth the
principles upon whose strength all popular' gov
ernment must rest. In the Declaration of Amer
ican Independence ho proclaimed the principle
with which there is, without which there can not
bo, "a government of tho people, by the people,
and for tho people.',' When he declared that "all
men are created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;
that among these aro life, liberty, and the pur
suit of happiness, and that to secure these rights
governments are Instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of tho gov
erned," he comprehended all that lies between
the Alpha and Omega of democracy.
Alexander "wept for other worlds to conquer"
after ho had carried his victorious banner
throughout tho then known world. Napoleon
"rearranged tho map of Europe with his sword"
amid the lamentations of those by whoso blood
he was exalted; but when these and other mil
itary heroes aro forgotten and their achievements
disappear in tho cycle's sweep of years, child
ren will still lisp' the name of Jefferson, and
freemen will ascribe duo praise to him who
filled tho kneeling subject's heart with hope and
bade him stand erect a sovereign among- his
peers.
(From Speech on Money, 1894.)
DREAMERS
It is the fate of those who stand in a position
ot leadership to receive credit which -really. be
longs to their co-workers. Even tha- enemies
of rk 'public nian exaggerate the importance . of
Bis "work without, of course, intending, dt: X
. V
have recently been the victim of this exaggera
tion. Senator Bevcridge, of Indiana, made ;
speech before the Republican club of Lincoln
and in it ho paid me some compliments; but he
said that I was merely a dreamer while Presi
dent Roosevelt did things. I did not pay much
attention to tho title which he gave me until I
road, shortly afterwards, that Speaker Cannon
called mo a dreamer; then Governdr Cummins
called mo a dreamer, and. then Governor Hanly,
of Indiana, did also; and I saw that I could not
expect acquittal with four such witnesses
against me, and so I decided to plead guilty and
justify.
I went to the Bible for authority, .as I am in
the habit of doing, for I havo found no other
book which contains so much of truth, or in
which truth 4s so well expressed; and then, too,
there is another reason why I quote scripture:
When I quote democratic authority, the repub
licans attack my authority and they keep me so
busy defending the men from whom I quote
that I do not have time to do the work I want
to do, but when I quote Scripture and they at
tack my authority, I can let them fight it out
with the Bible while I go on about my business.
The Bibles-tells of dreamers, and among the
most conspicuous was Joseph. He told his
dreams to his brothers, and his brothers hated
him because of his dreams. And one day when
his father sent him out where his brothers were
keeping their flocks in Dothan, they saw him
coming afar off and said: "Behold, the dreamer
cdmeth." They plotted to kill him and he is
not the only dreamer who has been plotted.
against In this old world. But finally they dex
cided that Instead, of killing him they would putt
him down in a pit, but some merchants passing,
that way, the brothers decided to sell him to?
tho merchants, and the merchants carried
Joseph down into Egypt.
The brothers deceived their father and .made
him think the wild beasts had, devoured his
son.
Time went on and the brothers had almost
forgotten the dreamer Joseph. But a famine
came yes, a famine, and then they had to go
down Into Egypt and buy corn, and when they
got there, they found the dreamer AND HE
HAD THE CORN.
So I decided that it was not so bad after all
for one to be a dreamer if one has the corn.
But the more I thought of the dreamer's
place in history, the less I felt entitled to the
distinction.
John Boyle O'Reilly says that
"Tho dreamer lives forever,
While the toiler dies in a day."
And is It not true?
In traveling through Europe you find great
cathedrals, and back of each there was a dream
er. An architect had a vision of a temple of
worship and he put that vision upon raper. Then
the builders began, and they laid stone upon
stone and brick upon brick until finally the'
temple was completed completed sometimes
centuries after the dreamer's death. And people
now travel from all corners of the world to look
upon the temple, and the name of the dreamer
is known while the names of the toilers are for
. gotten.
No, I can not claim a place among the
dreamers, but there has been a great dreamer in
the realm of statesmanship Thomas Jefferson.
He saw a people bowed beneath oppression and
he had a vision of a self-governing nation, in
which every citizen would be a sovereign.. He
put his vision upon paper and for more than a
century multitudes have been building. They
aro building at this temple in every nation
some day it will be completed and then the
people of all the world will find protection be
neath its roof and security within its walls I
shall be content If, when my days are num
bered, it can bo truthfully said of me that with
such ability as I possessed, and whenever op
portunity offered, I labored faithfully with the
multitude to build this building higher in my
(From "Dreamers" speech delivered at Lincoln,
Nebraska, in November, 1906.)
AN INDICTMENT OF PLUTOCRACY
Plutocracy is abhorrent to a republic- it in
mpre despotic than monarchy, more heartless
than aristocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy
It preys upon the nation in time of peace and'
conspires against it in the hour of its calamUy''
Conscienceless, compasslonless and dovM.i .
wisdom, it enervates its votaries, while Hi
poverishea its victims. It is alreadv RIr'
the strength of the nation, vulgarizing To Z
life and making mockery of morals. tL tin?
is ripe for the overthrow of this giant wrl!
In the name of th counting-rooms which it hf
defiled; in the name of business honor whiS!
it has polluted; in the name of the home wh oh
it has despoiled,- in the name of religion wh ch
it has disgraced; in the name of the peonlR
whom it has oppressed, let us make our appeal
to. the awakened conscience of the nation.
Xhd it I may ba permitted to suggest a battle
hymn, I propose a stanza, slightly changed
from one of the most touching of the poems of
Burns, Scptjand's democratic bard:
"Columbia! My dear, my native soil,
For- whom my warmest wish, to Heaven is sent
Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil '
Be blest with health, and peace and sweet con
tent. And, O, may Heaven their simple lives prevent
Prom luxury's contagion weak and vile;
Then, though unearned wealth to wickedness
be lent,
A virtuous populace will rise and stand
A wall of fire around their much loved land."
(From New York Re.ception Speech, 1906.)
LINCOLN AS AN ORATOR
In analyzing Lincoln's characteristics as a
speaker, one is impressed with the complete
ness of his equipment. He possessed the two
things that are absolutely essential to effective
sp.eaking namely, information and earnest
ness. If one can be called eloquent who knows
what he is talking about and means what he
says and I know of no better definition Lin
coln's speeches were eloquent. He was thor
oughly informed upon the Bubject; he was pre
pared to meet his opponent upon the general
proposition discussed, and upon any deductions
which could be drawn from it. There was no
unexplored field into whicji his adversary could
lead him; he had. carefully. examined every foot
of the ground, and was' n'tift afraid Of pitfall or
ambush; and, what was equally important, he
spoke from his own heart to the hearts of those
who listened. While the printed page can not
fully reproduce the impressions made by a
voice trembling with emotion or tender with
pathos, onfr can not read the reports of the de
bates without feeling that Lincoln regarded the
subject as far transcending the ambitions or
the personal interests of the .debaters. It was
of little moment, he said, whether they voted
him or Judge Douglas up or down, but it was
tremendously important that the question
should be decided rightly.
His reputation may have suffered, in the opin
ion of some, because he made them think so
deeply upon what he said that they, for the
moment, forgot him altogether and yet, is this
not the very perfection of speech? It is tho
purpose of the orator to persuade, and to do
this he- presents, not himself, but his subjects.
Someone, In describing the difference between
Demosthenes and Cicero, said that when Cicero
spoke, people said, "How well Cicero speaks'';
but that when Demosthenes spoke, they said,
"Let us go against Philip." In proportion as
one can forget himself and become wholly ab
sorbed in the cause which he is presenting does
he measure up to the requirements of oratory.
In addition to the two essentials, Lincoln
possessed what may be called the secondary aids
to oratory. He was a master of statement. Few
have equalled him in the ability to strip a truth
of surplus verbiage and present it in its naked
strength. In the Declaration of Independence
we read that there are certain self-evident
truths, which are therein enumerated. If J
were amending the proposition, I would say that
all truth, is self-evident. Not that any truth win
be universally accepted, fQr not all are in a po
sition or in an attitude to accept any given
truth. In the interpretation of the parable oi
the sower, we are tdld that "the cares of tins
world and the deceitfulnets of riches choke the
truth," and it must be acknowledged that every
truth has these or other difficulties to contena
with. But a truth-may be so clearly-stated thai
Its will commend itself to anyone who has not
some' special- rea&on for rejecting-titf-
'No ono.has' more clearly stated1 tlje funda
mentalobjecbns to slavery than' Lincoln state
