One Thousand Secrets of Wise and Rich Men Revealed, C. A. Bogardus [reader novel txt] 📗

shall we, their descendants, when we have grown to seventy millions, declare that we are less independent than our forefathers? No, my friends, that will never be the verdict of our people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines the battle is fought. If they say bimetallism is good, but that we cannot have it until other nations help us, we reply that, instead of having a gold standard because England has, we will restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism because the United States has it. If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.

 

SPEECHES OF C. A. BOGARDUS.

"I don't know much about the tariff question, but I think I know enough to know that if we buy $20.00 worth of rails of a foreigner, the foreigner will have the money and we will have the rails, but if we make the rails in America and buy them of an American, America will have the money and the rails, too."

Abraham Lincoln. "I don't know much about the money question, but it appears to me that if under the gold standard we borrow $20,000,000 of a foreigner, when we pay it back the foreigner will have the money and the interest, too, but if we coin the silver (which is an American product) into American dollars, borrow $20,000,000 of an American, when we pay it back America will have the money and the interest, too."

C. A. Bogardus.

"Nothing should ever tempt us—nothing will ever tempt us to scale down the sacred debt of the nation through a legal technicality. Whatever may be the language of the contract the United States will discharge all its obligations in the currency recognized as the best throughout the civilized world at the time of payment."

Wm. McKinley. "I hope nothing ever will tempt us to scale the debt of the nation through a legal technicality. Whatever may be the language of the contract the United States should discharge its obligations according to the contract."

C. A. Bogardus.

"This word to all when I am dead,
Be sure you are right, then go ahead."

David Crockett. "This word to all while we are alive,
Be sure we are right, then let drive."

C. A. Bogardus.

SPEECHES OF C. A. BOGARDUS

 

ADDRESS DELIVERED AT FARMINGTON, IOWA, NOVEMBER 20, 1897,
BY C. A. BOGARDUS.

SUBJECT: HOW TO READ.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:—

It is not so much the amount of reading that educates us, as it is what we read and the manner it is done that benefits us, for as Poor Richard says: "The used key is always bright," so the well-read book always shows the handling. A small well chosen library carefully read is of vastly more benefit than the large, poorly chosen, unread volumes that adorn the shelves of many homes. Yet I am not sure but that poorly chosen books are better not read than read. A learned doctor once said: "It is not what we eat that sustains life, but is what we digest."

We might well paraphrase his words and say it is not what we read that educates us, but it is what we understand. For what we want is not learning, but knowledge; that is the ability to make learning answer its true end as a quickener of intelligence and widener of the intellectual field.

We should not read to contradict; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. This being self-evident, we should ever remember that whatever is worth reading at all is worth reading well. Hence, inasmuch as reading matter is always the expression of some author's thoughts, it follows that the object of reading at all is to learn the thoughts of the writer. So we may well aver that to read understandingly requires thought and industry. For reading availeth not unless done understandingly. Therefore, an article is not read, in the full sense of the word, until it is understood.

I will close by reading an article from an old scrap-book. When it is read I trust it will accomplish a double mission, viz: that we more thoroughly comprehend the necessity of putting thought into our reading; and that the real virtue in thought is acting in harmony with the knowledge or right. The article to which I refer is entitled "An Angel in a Saloon." I will now read it:

"One afternoon in the month of June, 1870, a lady in deep mourning, followed by a little child, entered one of the fashionable saloons in the city of N——. The writer happened to be passing at the time, and prompted by curiosity, followed her in, to see what would ensue. Stepping up to the bar, and addressing the proprietor, who happened to be present, she said:

"'Sir, can you assist me? I have no home, no friends, and am not able to work.'

"He glanced at her and then at the child, with a mingled look of curiosity and pity. Evidently he was much surprised to see a woman in such a place begging, but without asking any questions gave her some change, and turning to those present, he said:

"'Gentlemen, here is a lady in distress. Can't some of you help her a little?'

"They cheerfully acceded to the request, and soon a purse of two dollars was made up, and put in her hand.

"'Madam,' said the gentleman who gave her the money, 'why do you come to a saloon? It isn't a proper place for a lady, and why are you driven to such a step?'

"'Sir,' said the lady, 'I know it isn't a proper place for a lady to be in, and you ask me why I am driven to such a step. I will tell you in one short word,' pointing to a bottle behind the counter, labelled whiskey, 'that is what brought me here—whiskey!'

"'I was once happy and surrounded with all the luxuries that wealth could procure, with a fond, indulgent husband. But in an evil hour he was tempted, and not possessing the will to resist the temptation, fell, and in one short year my dream of happiness was over, my home was forever desolate, and the kind husband, and the wealth that some called mine lost, lost, never to return, and all by the accursed wine cup.

"'You see before you only the wreck of my former self, homeless and friendless, with nothing left me in this world but this little child,' and weeping bitterly, she affectionately caressed the golden curls that shaded a face of exquisite loveliness. Regaining her composure, and turning to the proprietor of the saloon, she continued:

"'Sir, the reason why I occasionally enter a place like this is to implore those who deal in the deadly poison to desist, to stop a business that spreads desolation, ruin, poverty and starvation. Think one moment of your own loved ones, and then imagine them in the situation I am in. I appeal to your better nature, I appeal to your heart,—for I know you possess a kind one,—to retire from a business so ruinous to your patrons.

"'Did you know the money you take across the bar is the same as taking the bread out of the mouths of the famished wives and children of your customers? That it strips the clothing from their backs, deprives them of all the comforts of this life and throws unhappiness, misery, crime, and desolation in their once happy homes? Oh! sir, I implore, beseech, and pray you to retire from a business you blush to own you are engaged in before your fellow-men, and enter one that will not only be profitable to yourself but your fellow-creatures also. You will excuse me if I have spoken too plainly, but I could not help it when I thought of the misery, the unhappiness, and the suffering it has caused me.'

"'Madam, I am not offended,' he answered in a voice husky with emotion, 'but I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have said.'

"'Mamma,' said the little child, who meantime had been spoken to by some of the gentlemen present, taking hold of her mother's hand, 'these gentlemen wish me to sing "Little Bessie" for them. Shall I do so?'

"They all joined in the request, and placing her in a chair she sang, in a sweet childish voice, the following beautiful song: