The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 3 - May 1906

Various

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• Publié par: esloi
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 24
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 3, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 3 May 1906 Author: Various Release Date: April 24, 2010 [EBook #32120] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCRAP BOOK, VOLUME 1, NO. 3 *** Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Christine D. and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE SCRAP BOOK. Vol. I. [Pg 189] MAY, 1906. No. 3. MARK TWAIN'S IDEAL GENTLEMAN. On the arms of the Prince of Wales are the words Ich dien—"I serve." Thus he who stands next to the English king expresses in terms of service that gentle and knightly rank which is typified by his high position. Speaking to a New York audience a few weeks ago, Mark Twain made passing reference to the communications which he receives from strangers who ask for his counsel or advice. "Here is such a request," he said. "It is a telegram from Joplin, Missouri, and it reads: 'In what one of your books can we find the definition of a gentleman?' I have not answered that telegram," he continued. "I couldn't. It seems to me that if any man has just, merciful, and kindly instincts, he will be a gentleman, for he will need nothing else in this world." Taking from his pocket a letter from William Dean Howells, the speaker went on: "I received the other day a letter from my old friend, William Dean Howells—Howells, the head of American literature. No one is able to stand with him. He is an old, old friend of mine, and he writes me: 'To-morrow I shall be sixty-nine years old.' Why, I am surprised at Howells writing that. I have known him longer than that. I'm sorry to see a man trying to appear so young. Let's see, Howells says now, 'I see you have been burying Patrick. I suppose he was old, too.'" There was silence. For a short time the great humorist and humanitarian stood there apparently oblivious to his audience, reminiscence working in his heart. Then, with spontaneous eloquence, he delivered the following noble tribute, which must rank among the loftier expressions of democracy—Mark Twain's conception of an ideal gentleman: "No, he was never old—Patrick. He came to us thirty-six years ago. He was my coachman on the morning that I drove my young bride to our new home. He was a young Irishman, slender, tall, lithe, honest, truthful, and he never changed in all his life. As the children grew up he was their guide. He was all honor, honesty, and affection. He was with us last summer, and his hair was just as black, his eyes were just as blue, his form just as straight, and his heart just as good as on the day we first met. In all the long years Patrick never made a mistake. He never needed an order; he never received a command. He knew. I have been asked for my idea of an ideal gentleman, and I give it to you—Patrick McAleer." [Pg 190] The Latest Viewpoints of Men Worth While Stuyvesant Fish Says That Americans Are Wasteful, While Pastor Wagner Praises Our National Character—John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and Professor Fagnani Discuss Joseph's Corner in Corn—Thomas F. Ryan Holds That Opportunity to Win Wealth is Necessary to Industrial Progress—Andrew Carnegie as the Financier of Spelling Reform—With Other Opinions of Representative Men on Questions of the Time. Compiled and edited for THE SCRAP BOOK . A PLEA FOR THE HIGHER ECONOMY. Unnecessary Waste is the Crying Evil in All Our Business Administration, Says Stuyvesant Fish. "The Higher Economy" is the theme upon which Stuyvesant Fish, the wellknown president of the Illinois Central Railroad, discourses in the Arena for March. Mr. Fish is a solid figure in finance. His idea of economy is not parsimony, but thrift—the prevention of waste. The higher economy, he points out, is needed in the household, in the state, and in the management of corporations. First, he speaks of waste in the household: No one will question that our people are spendthrifts, earning money freely and wasting it to such an extent as to make it proverbial that what is thrown out of our kitchens would support a frugal people in almost any country in Europe. Conditions in local, State, and Federal government are much in need of reform, continues Mr. Fish: There is not only waste and extravagance in administration, and what is now commonly called graft, which is a combination of bribery and larceny, but, what is economically worse, the laws are so framed as not to get the best use out of the taxes paid by the people. What we have to fear is not so much the magnitude of the appropriation as that our laws require that an uneconomical and therefore bad use be made of them. In the Post-Office Department, for example, there was, in 1905, a deficit of fourteen million dollars, which the writer thinks was due to laws and not to administration. Government free matter cost twenty million dollars. Rural free delivery cost nearly twenty-one millions, the receipts covering only about onequarter of this sum. Mr. Fish does not think it surprising that under laws which not only permit, but require, such a waste of public revenues there is a deficit, and that the deficit should be growing rapidly. The Surgeon's Knife Needed. Under the head of corporate management, Mr. Fish says: I need not repeat that the country is prosperous, and likely to continue so. While fully appreciating these facts, we cannot shut our eyes to the trouble that has been going on in the center of our financial system. Having looked into the matter myself somewhat carefully of late, I beg to say to you in all seriousness that not only in the insurance companies, but in many other corporations, there is need of the advice and probably the knife of the trained surgeon. Without pretending to any superior knowledge on the subject, I [Pg 191] think that the root of the evil lies in too few men having undertaken to manage too many corporations; that in so doing they have perverted the powers granted under corporate charters, and in their hurry to do a vast business have in many cases done it all. We who—as breadwinners, as taxpayers, and as stockholders—provide the wherewithal suffer because we have set others to rule over us without holding them to that strict accountability for the discharge of their trust which the common law and common sense alike demand. Indeed, things have come to such a pass that in certain quarters it is now considered indecorous and ill-bred for us, the many, even to discuss, much less to correct, the shortcomings of the elect few. Such was neither the theory nor the practise on which our forefathers ordered the economy of this republic. KINDLY WORDS FROM PASTOR WAGNER. The Author of "The Simple Life" Sets Forth in Friendly Terms His Impressions of America. Charles Wagner, the author of "The Simple Life," has published a volume, "Vers le Cœur de l'Amérique" ("Toward the Heart of America"), in which are recorded his impressions of the United States as gathered during his visit here in the fall of 1904. He is no globe-trotting critic, nor is he a collector of statistics; he gives merely an account of what he has seen. Of President Roosevelt the famous French pastor holds a high opinion, as this bit of appreciation indicates: A man in sympathy with the humble; equal to all emergencies; as great as the greatest; truly a man, one of those who do most honor to the human family. One feels that he is ready for any struggle; willing to step behind the gun himself, if need be. Thus in regard to subjects relating to public spirit, nothing which might contribute to promoting a mutual understanding among American citizens leaves him indifferent. He often says that that which is important for the welfare and the power of the people is not so much the existence of a few isolated characters of extraordinary powers as a good general level of public spirit. Effort, individual energy, the sentiment of responsibility, a primordial decision to go straight ahead and not be diverted—all this, combined with a sociable disposition and a willingness not to go to the end of one's right out of regard for one's neighbor, is what he most appreciates. As a pastor, M. Wagner was struck by the depth of religious feeling in the United States. The great diversity of creeds signified to him vitality and liberty, not the loss of a central belief. He was surprised, too, to find such cordial relations existing among different sects. In our schools, he says, it is possible to trace the universality of the ideals of democratic government. The public schools are the mills to which comes the grist of immigration, to be ground into American citizens. To the American character he admits the advantages of youth—sincerity, frankness, prompt initiative; and with these, the maturer qualities of endurance and patient wisdom. The strength of the country, concludes this most kindly of observers, is in four strongholds. The first is religious faith. The Americans, he says, are a religious nation by heredity as well as by conviction. The second stronghold is the belief in liberty: Our old Europe shows us states whose entire politics consist in hindering the development of men and institutions. There law takes the form of a systematic prohibition, initiative is regarded as lack of discipline, independence of mind as an act or a beginning of treason. America believes in liberty as she believes in God; and, as she believes in the God of others, she also believes in the liberty of others. To individuality there is left an unlimited field. From childhood, strength of character is encouraged. Each one is expected to show himself in the fulness of his originality; all he is asked in return is to respect the right of hi