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JOHNSON AND LA FOLLETTE.
By Re\-. W. J, Coleman, D. D.
There are two notable autobiographies now
before the public, both of which ought to be
read by every one who wishes to become acquainted
W'ith the best side of the political
life of the present day. One of these is "My
Story," by Tom L. Johnson, the
famous
Mayor of Cleveland, and the other is "A
Personal Narrati\'e of Political Experiences,"
by Robert ^l. La FoUette, United States
Senator from Wisconsin.
Both of these in
their own sphere have been successful men,
Cleveland, with Johnson as Mayor, was called
the best governed city in America, and
A\ isconsin with La Follette as Governor aitd
Senator is conceded to be the most progressive
State in the Union.
These books are full of life and interest.
They do not tell merely what their authors
thought, imagined and dreamed about, but
what they did. They begin with a short account
of how they started in public life and
that, it seems to me, is the most interesting
part of the story, because the beginning is
the hardest place, the place where most of
us have failed. Johnson was an inventor and
had a genius for management. La Follette
won firstplace in oratory in his own college,
in the intercollegiate and interstate contests,
and then ran for district attorney in his own
county.
Both these men were fighters.They faced
opposition from the firstand to the end.
They never swam with the current, or took
things easy. There was no compromise in
their programme; they could not be bought
ofl^ or turned aside, Johnson was big, goodhumored
and persuasive. La Follette is short
and stocky, grim and a hard hitter. The remarkable
thing is that the big, good-humored
man wore out in the struggle and died—perhaps
his defeat killed him—while the short,
grim, hard hitter lives and isstill the same
indomitable fighter.
These books reflect the disposition of the
men and the manner of their working. Johnson
i= naturally the more attractive character
and ^vrites the livelier book, but La Follette
steadily carries with him one's hearty
respect.
The chief reason whyit is proper to consider
these men together is that they fou,ght
the -^ame enemy. Johnson was a Democrat
and La Follette was and is a Republican, but
h'lth fought for the people against Privilege.
I'oth resisted the demands and extortions of
Pig Business. "Privile.ge," says Johnson, "is
the ad^'antage cnnferred on one by law of
(len^•ing the competition of others. It matters
not whether the advantage be bestowed
upon a single individual, upon a partnership,
or upon an a,c:gregation of partnerships, a
f^^^qf—the essence of the evil is the samie,
A.iid just to the extent that the law imposes
THE CHRISTIAN NATION.
restrictions upon some men and not on others,
just to the extent that it grants special
favors to some to the exclusion of others, do
the people suffer from this evil,
"These law-made restrictions and benefits
are many, but substantially all may be grouped,
in the order of their importance, in the
following five classes: land monopolies, taxation
monopolies, transportation monopolies,
municipal monopolies, and patent monopolies."
TLa Follette does not go as far as Johnson
in this war against Privilege, but he goes
far enough to provoke tbe bitterest hatred
and to secure the most enthusiastic support.
He rather fights the politicians who serve
these monopolies, and at one time nearly went
down in the struggle, Johnson's record is
made up and others are carrying on his work,
but La Follette is alive, broke away from his
party recently, voting for tariff" reduction,
and has his eye on the future.
These autobiographies deal not only with
principles and policies, but with persons as
well. They tell of friends and of enemies
and of what each did. They name out these
friends and enemies, whether living or dead,
and tell what part they had in the story.
They bring in the "progressive" Mr. Roosevelt
who opposed them both, Johnson very
briefly and La Follette at great length. Indeed,
it would be difficult to preserve any
great respect for the ex-president after reading
these books.
Johnson always made short speeches, unless
he was kept up by questions, which he
was in the habit of inviting, and La Follette
is inclined to speak at length. These characteristics
are reflected in the books under review
in that La Follette's is more than twice
as long as Johnson's. Both are always clear
and to the point and aim at results.
That which more than anything else has
caused me to write of them is that neither
of them seems to have had any religion. In
their troubles, and both had trouble, they never
hint at any divine care or protection. La
Follette tells of his admiration for Ingersoll
and does not mention a minister or a chuich
in his eight hundred pages. Apparently he
does not feel that they have been any help
to him, Johnson speaks of preachers and
lawyers being the two classes from which
little could be expected in reform w'ork. He
mei:tions one minister, however, to whom he
gives great credit and whom he employed
in his public work in Cleveland, Both Johnson
and La Follette are recognized as cham-
]u'ons of justice to the common people and
cf honesty in politics. Why isit that the
church did not support them with such unanimity
and enthusiasm that they would have
been glad to recognize the help and comfort
which they received? Or, are the large
churches so controlled by the beneficiaries of
Privilege that they are not free and ready
to =tand for public justice and honesty? '
Vol. 69.
CAUSE OF THANKSGIVING.
Among other causes of thanksgiving prescribed
by last Synod, was the election of
Woodrow Wilson, as President. This, we
believe, should head our list of national blessings,
for no President since Abraham Lincoln
is so deserving of the title of Christian
President. No President has given the
weight of his influence so strongly on the
side of Christianity, Dr. • Clarence T. Wilson,
secretary of the Temperance Society of
the Methodist Churchy said in addressins'
o
their National Convention at Indianapolis,
that we should gratefully acknowledge that
we now have at last a Christian mian in the
White House, who is giving us an administration
of Sabbath observance, in all the departments
of the Government, He said:
"President Taft's administration represented
more subserviency to the liquor interests and
bad combinations than any other in American
history. He waited till the last minute.
when he hoped thiere w^ould be no time for
reconsidetration, before vetoing the Webb
liquor bill, and his administration went down
to defeat beneath an avalanche of indignant
protests, such as never had been duplicated
in the Unhed States."
-Dr, Wilson continued thus: "That a great
Christian leader is Secretary of State now.
Our forirer Secretaries of State used to
send out letters to all American Consuls, notifying
them of brewers' conventions, and ordering
them to investigate and see what they
could do to increase the exportation of American
beers to their country, William J.
Bryan," he said, "will never do that. When
he calls the representatives of the nations
around his hospitable board, be serves the
same kind of grape juice w'hich was used iu
Palestine, in the days of Jesus. And when
a few newsjiapers commented, Mr. Bryan
made a speech that was heard around the
world: and Bryan's grape juice became as
popular as Kansas buttermilk." Dr. Wilson
also said, "that under the present administration,
all grog shops have been closed in
the Panama Zone, and the battleships of the
navy were forbidden to carry alcoholic
liquors on hoard: and never before has the
temperance cause received such an uplift,"
M. A, GAULT,
Oakdale, III.
Inthe Sabbath
School
1 esson IX, November 30, 1913,
Bv the Rev, W. A. Aikin,
CROSSING THE JORDAN,—Josh, 3:7-17,
Golden Text.—Fear thou) not for I am
with thee,—Is, 41 :to.
Psalm,s—93:1-5, s, M,: 121:1-4 C, M,
65:3, 4, 7s 6s,
Time.—B, C, 1451, Four days before the
Pas=over. Shortly after last lesson and about
the time of the barley harvest, heing the
tenth day of tbe firstmonth.