The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902, February 08, 1900, Page 9, Image 9

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Conservative * 9"f ft I
If
NATHAN g.
HABWOOD.wer
whole story would
include a report from every business
man who did business with the First
National bank during the years of the
panic , Mr. Horwood's defense of the city
and the southern half of the state from
bankruptcy would be better understood.
If the First National bank had fallen all
the other banks would have closed their
doors both in this city and in the whole
district of the South Flatte , and no largo
business house either in this city or this
district would have been able to sustain
the shock. In those summer days Lin
coln and this district went to sleep every
night on the edge of irretrievable ruin.
The precipice was still there in the
morning and the situation was the same
because a few men kept watch by day
and by night. Without Mr. O. E. Per-
kin's money and willingness to sacrifice
himself , Mr. Harwood's devotion would
have been fruitless. And to Mr. Perkins
the city owes a debt of gratitude which
has never been acknowledged.
In the Harwood memorial service
which was offered last Sunday , at All
Souls Church , Dr. Marsh , Mr. Tuttle ,
Mr. H. W. Brown , Mr. Sawyer and Mr.
Henry E. Lewis acknowledged the
beauty , strength and heroic devotion of
Mr. Harwood's character. Mr. Lewis'
appreciation is printed herewith :
"I speak here today of Nathan S.
Harwood because for many years he has
been my warm and steadfast friend.
From my first acquaintance with him I
was greatly attracted by many qualities ,
one of the most striking of which was
his kindly , genial nature. His judg
ments of men were neither hasty nor
severe , but deliberate and generous. He
seemed to me a lover of mankind. He
had a bountiful fund of good will toward
men. His nature was essentially sweet
and wholesome and he was grieved rath
er than embittered by the baseness of
ingratitude of others. His love of man
was shown in a general way by his pub
lic spirit which was never lacking.
There was no enterprise undertaken in
the city that had the good of its people
at heart that did not receive his earnest
support.
And at the base of all this was that
element which we call character , an
element or combination of elements
that we all feel and recognize , but find
it difficult to define. It was in him a
subtle , latent power , larger and completer -
pleter than anything he said or did , and
in intimate acquaintance with him , one
felt that anything ho might attempt to
do was well within his power. There
was a dignity , a serenity and a poise in
his bearing that could not fail to impress
themselves on those who were in his
presence , and whether he spoke or were
silent , you readily recognized him as
one who governs rather than one who
erves.
Our estimates of men are apt to be
uperfioial , capricious and vain , based
as they are on the lesser essentials of
being , but in the life that is beyond life
. cannot doubt that there will be some
Livino administration of equity that
will reverse the incongruities and incon
sistencies and insufficiences of human
udgments , and that character will be
as the balance weight that shall adjust
; he scales. "Within the post few years
t fell to Mr. Harwood's lot to be a lead
er in a great struggle , wherein but little
of praise could come to the victor and
mmeasnrablo condemnation to the van
quished. He could have avoided it ,
but cowardice was not an element of
lis nature.
He gained a losing 'victory , he saved
lis city and state from infinite disaster ,
but he sacrificed his health and event
ually his life in the effort. It was a
jrave fight but it left him wounded to
death.
I honor him for it. I honor him no
ess than I would honor the gallant gen
eral who gives up his life on the battle
field for a good cause. His city and his
state owe him an enduring meed of
gratitude.
In the gathering shadows of not un
foreseen and impending death , he took
up his daily walk with a serene gravity
a cheerful imperturbability that was ad
mirable , but not the less pathetic. He
seemed to face death without fear and
with as ready a will as did that noble
servant of an ingrate royal master who
on the scaffold said : "I thank God that
I am not afraid of death , but I do as
cheerfully put off my doublet at this
time as ever I did when I went to my
bed. " So Harwood died , a conspicuous
example of courage and devotion.
I offer this small and unworthy
tribute to the memory of a brave and
courteous gentleman whom I esteem it
a gracious privilege to have known and
to have called my friend. " Lincoln
Courier.
We print to-day a strong argument
against tairff trusts , by Henry Loomis
Nelson , the well-known editor and eco
nomic writer.
Mr. Nelson begins at the beginning
and traces , step by step , the growth of
the protected interests until they have
reached the present stage of highly de
veloped and extremely obnoxious trusts.
Long before they reached the presenl
stage , however , they had constituted
themselves a favored class and had as
sumed control of our government so far
as tariff legislation is concerned. "Since
1875 , " as Mr. Nelson declares , "Congress
had not legislated on the tariff ; it has
simply affirmed or ratified the decrees
of the beneficiaries of the tariff. " Grad
ually , and not very slowly , these inter
ests have allied themselves more and
more closely , and have become more and
arrogant , dictatorial and overbearing ,
until to-day they are not only solidly
united against the common interests ,
but they are becoming high-handed in
heir methods of running our govern
ment , as is shown by their bold attempt
n the Hanna-Payne ship subsidy bill ,
: o legislate money directly out of the
jackets of the people and into their own
) ockets.
Mr. Nelson shows that the protected
nterests have been false to every claimer
or promise under cover of which they
obtained protection.
First. They asked for protection dur-
ng infancy only ; but as they grew older
and stronger they have demanded and
lave received more and more protec
tion.
Second. They promised to give the
farmer a home market. They have got-
; eu their own home market but many a
farmer is as far away from his market
as ever , as is shown by the increased
amount of farm products which each
year must find a market abroad.
Third. They promised lower prices ,
but so far have , as a rule , given lower
prices only to foreigners and have
marked up prices at home to the tariff
limit.
The whole system has been a delusion'
and a farce and ends in the protected
trust , which is the latest device of the
protected interests to prevent the people
from getting the benefit of cheaper
methods of production. As Mr. Nelson
says , "there is a ready method of relief"
from the burdens imposed by the tariff
trusts. Why does not congress apply
this ready method ?
POLITICAL.
The Omaha Bee ( Rep. ) regards the
proposed property qualification for vo
ters for members of the Hawaiian Sen
ate as "not consistent with American
policy. In asking legislation of this
kind , the aim of the property-holding
element is obvious , and we cannot see
any good reason why Congress should
yield in this matter to the desire of a
small minority of the people , " it says.
"All who are given the suffrage at all
should be on an equality , and the pro
posal to discriminate seems to us to be
distinctly unrepublican. ' '
"Theoretically , the Republican party
is no doubt as strong in its belief in the
virtues of reciprocity as it was four ,
eight , or twelve years ago , " remarks
the Boston Herald ( Ind. ) . "The diffi
culty is that when an attempt is made
to embody this theory in practical legis
lation the party is no longer its own
master , and has no policy which it can
enforce , except such as can bind together
a large number of selfish interests. In
stead of being a 'twin measure' with
protection 'of Republican policy , ' re
ciprocity has been struck down and
brought to its death by protection. "