Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], April 09, 1910, Image 1

About Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1902-1919

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, Goodwins Weekly I
I Vol, XVI SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, APRIL 9, 1910 No. 25 H
I , The Vatican And Roosevelt
I' r-r-IE restrictions placed upon a visit of Colonel
I Roosevelt to the Vatican are all right look
ing upon the Vatican as a political kingdom.
A great temporal power, as millions of its ad
herents hold his to be, the pope had a perfect
' right to name the conditions on which he would
receive the ex-president, and it so ought to be
considered by the world, Catholic and non-Catholic.
In the same connection the action of Colonel
Roosevelt in refusing to accept those conditions
was perfectly proper. They went to his personal
manhood and his acts altogether are entitled to
praise. All sovereigns claim a right to designate
who may and who may not be their guests, they
place whatever restrictions they care to Upon a
m person who is to be received as a guest, and there
is no fault to be found.
The only unpleasant feature is that the inci
dent brought up a c'ash between churches, which
is not worth while. Men choose what faith they
please, or none at all; they adhere to what creed
they please, or none at all; and at best it Is only
i for a little race between the cradle and the
grave that they strive, and that time is so short
that it is useless to put a measure upon a man's
beliefs before according him a courtesy. And the
Incongruity of it all can be seen, when we reflect
upon the simple life of the Savior of the world,
wherein for years he had been clothed at best in
simple raiment and wltn coarse sandals, but who
at the same time proclaimed himself the lord of
heaven and of earth, and he put no conditions on
anyone who wished to approach him. The author
ity for this has sprung up since Christ died.
In this case between Roosevelt and the pope
there Is this difference: Both teach peace to the
world, both claim to be no respecter of persons,
and yet there is a something that keeps them
apart; something beyond diplomacy; something
beyond political differences; while each is ex
pressing a desire to see the other they are kept
apart, and down deep it is apparent that on the
part of the pope it is a religious kink. It is so
great an antipathy to another church that the
i pope will not receive anyone who visits that other
, church. And that, we hold Is entirely right as
between man and man, but it did not come from
B the New Testament. And the performance of that
H Methodist pastor In Rome, ought to make every
H American blush with shame.
I Fighting Congressmen
V7E have been reading of late the quarrels in
yy Congress, and we doubt not that many peo
ple have been shocked, and have wished
that the ancient stately courtesies which marked
the meetings of the first congresses of the Re
public, might be restored. But a close reading of
those ancient proceedings shew that human nature
has not much changed. There were hot words,
there were fierce arraignments, there wera the
same impeachments of motives, except that the
language, as a rule, was more correotly spoken,
for those old chaps when educated, were ground
ed in Latin, and. that gave to their English a more
chaste and comprehensive style than is often in
these days heard. There were fist fights and club
fights on the flopr of the House of Representatives,
as when Greswold belabored Colonel Lyon over
the head with a hickory cane. '
Speaking of this same Colonel Lyon, how
many people in these days ever read the open
letter that he addressed to President John
Adams? The letter was written the day the term
of Mr. Adams as President closed. Here are a
few extracts from it:
"I hope, sir, you are not past blushing for
what a school boy would be ashamed of. The
people of this country can never be divided from
the government; you have brought yourself into
hatred and contempt with them; but they never
could be induced to view you and your executive
officers as the government. No! the government
they love and respect, and have accordingly put
it into better hands." (It was the vote of Colonel
Lyon that, after seven days' balloting, elected
Jefferson President.)
"I beg pardon for the digression, but let mo
advise you to take water at the Federal City, and
land at the nearest post of Quincy, (Quincy was
Adams' home) the condolence of your old con
federates, all along from this to Quincy, and
the silent contempt of the multitude, will be too
hard for you to bear, so soon after your fall, and
may deprive you of the little reason you have
left."
"Under your administration, sir, a sys
tem of appointments has been established by
which implicit faith in your infalabillty and a
knack of discoloring the truth become the only
qualification to office, or to entitle a person to a
contract."
After charging him with having multiplied of
fices and filled them with favorites, and with dis
missing capable men without giving a reason for
the act, he wrote: "Your administration, sir, has
been famous for contracts; there Is not a doubt
but In future the secret records of your navy of
fice will be studied by your friend, William Pitt,
and those he wishes to give favorite contracts to;
there the oldest and wickedest British speculator,
may learn new methods." The letter covers page
after page filled with a sinister review of the ad
ministration, and closes with the hope that Mr.
Adams may "become a true and sincere penitent
and be forgiven all your manifold sins."
It will be remembered that the other day when
the debate was hottest in Congress a member
moved the previous question. The records give
the wonderful speech of Judge Gaston against the
previous question, in 1816. Here is a single ex
tract: "The liberty of speech is fenced round with a
bulwark, which renders it secure from external
injury here is its citadel its impregnable fort
ress. Yet here, even here, it is to be strangled by
the bowstring of the previous question. In vain
may its enemies assail it from without; but with
in, the mutes of despotism can murder it with
impunity."
Thomas Jefferson affected to fear that a mon
archy was intended, and John Adams could say
bitter things, like this (in 1801) : "A group of for
eign liars encouraged by a few ambitious native
gentlemen, have discomfited the talents, the vir
tues and the property of the country." And they
used fight, too. Just after Andrew Jackson
was elected to congress in 1796, he challenged
his colleague, but it was settled. Senator James
Gunn challenged Abraham Baldwin, of his own
state, in 1796, but Baldwin laid the matter before
the house, saying he was opposed to dueling,
whereupon Gunn said: ''Though the place in
which Mr. Baldwin has thought proper to dis
close this transaction is quite unexpected, it shall
be to him an inviolable sanctuary."
1 . H
In 1819 Senator A. C. Mason of Virginia was M
killed in a duel by Colonel John McCarty,' his H
cousin. It was difficult to prevent a duel between
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina and Thomas M
P. Grosvenor of New York. The duel between
Clay and Randolph is famous. Thomas Benton H
and Andrew Jackson had a pistol and knife ) ht H
in Nashiville. Benton a little later killed Ar. H
Lucas of Missouri in a duel. Senators Foote and H
Jeff Davis had a fight at the breakfast table. M
Crawford of Georgia killed his man in a duel and H
was a little later wounded by General Clark of H
Georgia. Turney and Bell of Tennessee had a H
fight on the floor of the house of representatives. H
Henry A. Wise and John Starly had a fight on M
the floor of the house. In 1838 Congressman Wil- M
Ham A. Greves of Kentucky killed Cilley of M
Maine in a duel. Cilley was a schoolmate and H
friend of Longfellow and Hawthorne. Old Gen- H
eral Houston beat Representative William Stan- H
bury with a big stick on Pennsylvania avenue. M
This spirit ruled up to the opening of the civil H
war. The Brooks assault on Sumner was in 1856, H
Potter and Pryor fought in the late 50's and Terry M
killed Broderick in 1859. There were half a dozen M
fatal encounters in California about the same M
time, and all came- of politics. M
The present congress is less bloodthirsty thau H
some former congresses were. M
Corporate Power H
IN THE heart of New York City, the New York H
Central Railroad company has purchased M
seventeen full city blocks. It required seven M
years to accomplish that and cost $50,000,000. M
Then the old structures were demolished, the sub- M
ways were constructed one after the other until M
three of them were finished, and now the sur- M
face buildings have been commenced. They are M
to cost $130,000,000 more, making the whole thing H
the most gigantic undertaking ever proposed by H
a single corporation. The depot building will H
cover four full blocks and will be twenty stories jH
in height above ground the largest office build- H
ing in the world. All the buildings to cover those H
seventeen blocks are to harmonize, and all be on M
a scale more colossal and magnificent than was H
ever attempted before. The finished work will H
make all the ancient seven wonders of the world M
look like thirty cents by comparison. But the tall H
buildings are not to be built on a guess for the H
future. The architects figured that a railroad ter- H
minal that last year handled 20,216,000 passen- H
gers, made it the greatest traffic center in the M
world, and then figured, the ground space and H
subway space being appropriated, how much of the M
air-space above would be needed and made their M
plans accordingly. And, further, it is figured out H
that all these structures will be self-supporting. H
There will be the thunder of forty-five railroad M
tracks, all instinct with moving trains in and jH
through the mighty labyrinth. A constant re- H
minder that the present industrial age of steel, M
has awakened a diapason there which is never to J
cease. The above is but an outline. The Times H
of New York gives full illustrations and a graphic jH
description of the whole titanic work. In the M
meantime Congress is discussing its power over H
corporations, and that fact provokes the ques- H
tion of where and how this official control over H
interests so gigantic is to be intelligently adjusted. H
The average congressman could not in many H
days acquire any real conception of what this H
work In New York includes In its designs. And H