The Syracuse Journal, Volume 29, Number 41, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 11 February 1937 — Page 8

Page Eight

★ & ★ ft ■ * ft I * How Would Your Failures Compare With Those Os Abraham Lincoln’s

AS we commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln tomorrow, it might be well for the youth and businessmen of this nation to study the trials and tribulations which marked the life of that great President. If they were to do so they would find a life that, practically from its infancy, was branded failure—a life that was brought to a successful conclusion after a series of heart-rend-ing disappointments. That is the inspirational story that the life of Abraham Lincoln holds for the youth of America today. TODAY, as thousands of men walk the streets in despair, wondering and waiting for what the morrow will bring—as young men and women are turned out of our higher institutions of learning, wondering which course they should pursue—there would be nothing so constructive or so consoling tothose millions, as to read the life of our martyred President. Today, victims of the depression wonder and wait—many of them are struggling to pay the debts which have incurred during those lean years; there are hundreds of thousands who are waiting for someone else to aid them; thousands of boys employed in C. C. C. Camps wondering what the next step in life will be; there are thousands of businessmen who were crushed in the depression—rich men made poor—glorious temples of the money changers crumpled on their hends THEY are filled with pandemonium,,not knowing which way to turn. The man who was once wealthy says he never can regain his wealth. The man whose business has been crushed says he cannot rebuild that business. The youth of today are saying, “What’s the use, if the businessmen of the nation cannot do it, why should we try?” If these well-meaning simpletons svho say there is no hope—if the crushed businessmen and the broken men who were once wealthy—will devote tomorrow to the study of the life of Abraham Lincoln, they will have found themselves a new road—a new channel —a new foundation for a new life. TODAY this nation is coming out from behind the dark skies of an unparalleled depression. This nation is not going backward unless we allow it to do so. There is away out—there is a light to follow, and that light is justice and equality as advocated by that great statesman whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow. . - If the youth and businessmen who are crushed and broken, so to speak, were to face

The Syracuse Journal Published Every Thursday at Syracuse, Indiana. Entered as second-class matter on May 4th, 1908, at the postoffice at Syracuse, Indiana, under the Act of Congress of March 3rd, 1879 SYRACUSE PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC., F, Allan Weatherholt, Editor Government With a Heart MOST commendable is the way in which the state administration has rallied to the call for help from the flood stricken zone. From the first indication of the catastrophe, National Guard troops have been on the scene helping in rescue work, and Governor M. Clifford Townsend has dropped all other affairs of state to direct relief. Citizens of the state will approve of any measure which is taken by the administration to care for the homeless. That is the spirit of Hoosierdom. Fortunately, Mr. Townsend is an executive with the “good neighbor” attitude and the flood victims will receive every consideration at his hands. . Governor Townsend expects to ask for an appropriation to meet the emergency. No taxpayer who is aware of the horrors of the greatest disaster in the state’s history will begrudge a penny voted by the legislators for this humanitarian cause. After the flood area has been rehabilitated through the leadership of our Governer, may Indiana become known throughout the nation as a state which believes in the principle of being our brother’s keeper. Who Paqs For Strikes? THE great majority of American workers attend to their own affairs;, strive for the fullest possible pay envelope and are happy to live in a country in which they have helped to develop the highest living standard in the world. But occasionally groups of American workmen are persuaded to go on strike. * What happens then? Who pays for strikes? First of all, the investors pay. They may lose dividends; their plant may lose contracts to a competitor; their investment is jeopardized. But usually, the investor has other sources of income and manages to get along reasonably well. , Secondly, the community where a strike occurs pays. The earning power of those who make up the community is reduced and therefore consuming power is cut down. The grocer, the butcher, the baker, the doctor, the motion picture manager, gas stations and every other

the difficulties that beset Abra-1 ham Lincoln, there would be no America—there would be no great land of the free and home of the brave. NOW let us review the life of Abraham Lin-i coin. When Abraham ' Lincoln ran for the Legislature in Illinois, one of his first political ventures, he was badly swamped. After suf-' ferjng a stinging blow of defeat in he entered ■ business. This ' failed and he i spent the next seventeen years of his life paying up the debts of a worthless partner. Not flinching, but forging ahead to j try to make something of his life, which thus far had been i marked with failure, Abraham . Lincoln fell in love with a beautiful young woman and I | when he was about to marry j her, she died. Lifting himself from the j depths of sorrow, he once again entered politics, ran for Congress and was badly defeated. After this defeat, he tried to secure a Federal appointment I in the United States Land Of-| i fice and failed. Did Lincoln stop there? NO! In 1856 he be- I came a candidate for the vicepresidency and was defeated. Again entering politics in 1858, he was beaten by Stephen A. I Douglas, but in the face of all ‘these defeats and discouragements, Lincoln continued and was eventually elected President of these great United States and during the presI idency, won undying fame throughout the world. That is a portion of the life of the type of men who builtl this great country. If we are i to continue to build as they have already builded, we too must face our tasks, our failures and our disappointments in the same manner as did Lincoln. Lincoln was so accustomed to failures and disappointments in life, that after , his great Gettysburg address, , which has gone down in the an- ; nals of history as a masterpiece, Ihe believed it to be another of his long list of failures.

form of local business suffers in a strike. THIRDLY, relatives of the strikers pay. Often they have to pull in their belts another notch to help the fellows who are running short. And then the wives and children of the strikers pay—not only in reduced food and clothing and opportunity but j they pay the heavy mental costs of worry and fear. They fear prolonged poverty. They wor- I ry over debts. They fear the physical consequences of violence so often resorted to. And finally, the strikers themselves pay the heaviest bill of all. They lose time. Pay envelopes vanish. Hatreds are'engendered and often the job itself is lost. Time lost in a strike may not be made up in a year’s work. It is a fair question to ask: “Is a strike worth the price?” Or isn’t peaceful discussion of employees and employer the better way? Overlapping Taxation A recent summary issued by the United States Treasury Department serves again to call attention to the extent of overlapping taxation imposed by the Federal and state governments and once more brings up the query: “Where will it end? According to this summary, in 1935 the Federal government collected $2,271,400,000 from six tax sources—estates and inheritances, i individual incomes, corporation incomes, gasoline, liquor and tobacco. From these same six sources, the various states withdrew $1,049,900,000 —a total burden to the nation’s taxpayers on these six sources alone of over three and a quarter billion dollars. THE problem is one of growing setiousmess, yet its practical solution is as yet far from clear. There is no agreement be-* tween the Federal and the various state governments regarding what type of taxes ought to be reserved exclusively to the Federal government. There is no agreement regarding the equitable division of any tax. For example, the Federal government taxes the individual up to 75 per cent of his income and the state government comes along and taxes his income some more. Out of the muddle, two indisputable facts have become increasingly clear tqthe over burdened taxpayer. One is that a once levied by either state or Federal authority will not quickly be abandoned. The other is that regardless of the inequalities of tax division as between the state or the Federal government, it is the taxpayer himself who suffers the most. Good thoughts and good things do survive in this world. There is a good deal of difference between selfishness and greed. < All of us are more effective if we are moved by the spirit of useful service. It takes courage to push your luck, and intelligence to know when to stop. The first thing a business man must learn to do is to face the facts, ugly though they be.

Feb. 12,1809-Apr. 15,1865

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He was preceded on the program by Stephen A. Douglas. When Douglas finished, he received a great ovation from the crowds. Lincoln followed with his simple, straightforward ad- , dress, and when he finished, i there was no applause—the multitudes which had gathered at Gettysburg were reserved and quiet. I He went home to the White

Mrs. O. C. Stpelting was the hostess at a Valentine Luncheon for the Wednesday Afternoon Club on February 3rd, at 1:00 o’clock, Mrs. Alice Clark sang and contests were held, for which prizes were awarded. The tables, carried out in the Valentine Day motif, were very effective. Assisting Mrs. iStoelting were Lucy Miles, Laura Bowld. Alice Clark, Fanny Hoy, Velma Purdy, Ella Self, Josephine Freeman, and Ada Martin. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Greene, Reverend Kauffman, Reverend Purdy and Mrs. Stoelting attended the North Indiana Methodist Conference i meeting at Fort Wayne last Monday evening at which Dr. E. Stanley Jones, missionary from India was ’the speaker. The Fellowship Class of the Evangelical Church was entertained at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Dillen. Mrs. Wilmja Hire and Mrs. Eloise Klink assisted Mrs. Dillon with the-program. The Mother’s Club met at the home of Mrs. Noble Blocker Tuesday > night. j

Girl Reporter Becomes Public Enemy For A Day Continued From Page Five. had stripped the druggist’s car of the heater and preparatory to selling them for more money. When he was asked how much he got from the holdup, he replied that they had taken $l2O but had t 0 buy ten gallons of gas, so they went m the hole” for $1.55. Talks to Gorman. I spoke to the State Trooper who had captured the killer, a sturdy, good-looking young man named Robert Gorman, who said that they had no trouble in taking the boy. He seemed resigned to the fact that he was caught and could do nothing about# it* i It was a very harrowing experience for me. 1 was fortunate, however, in being able to really see the whole piocedure as it is enacted every time an offender is brought in, bul the even coolness of this boy’s voice, the slow, easy manner in which he answered questions, unnerved me for sometime afterwards. My outstanding impression of this Department is the calm efficiency of its highly-trained staff, the cool, deliberate way in which each suspect is handled. Third degree and enforced confessions are a thing of the past in this Department. They work scientifically, logically and swiftly. Learns A Lot. In just those few hours I learned a great deal. My earnest wish is that every young boy who at times may be tempted to do something wrong “for the thrill” or for the acquisition of “easy money” could spend an hour or two in the Indiana State Police Headquarters. Then he would understand how remote the chances are ot his getting away with anything; how high the odds are stacked against him; then he will realize that crime does not pay. I know, for I was Indiana’s Public Enemy for a day.

THE SYRACUSE JOURNAL

House and told Mrs. Lincoln that his Gettysburg address was a rank failure, and she told him , tp forget it anckgo for a walk. ! While he was walking down the street, hfe strolled into the path of a small boy who was I ctying. When he ran into the I President, not knowing it was ! Lincoln, he said, “You big, lanky stiff, can’t I you get out of a fellow’s way?

LOCAL news HIGHLIGHITS

Fm looking for a lawyer.” Lincoln said, “Wait a minute, son. Maybe I can help you. I’m a lawyer.” With tear-dimmed eyes, the little fellow told Lincoln that his brother who was a Confederate soldier, was in the hospital nearby and wanted a lawyer to draw his will, as he was about to die. Lincoln followed the boy to the hospital and into the room of the dying man, who had lost his sight in a battle between the North and the South. Upon being told by his younger brother that he had brought him a lawyer, the blind Confederate soldier said, “Before we start to draw up my will, I wonder if you would do me a favor.” Lincoln said he would be glad to. and the soldier asked him if he wouldn’t read one of the greatest addresses that he had ever had the occasion to hear. It had been read to him by his brother in the morning papers. And so Abraham Lincoln again read his Gettysburg address: “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. “But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never

Mrs. J. E. Greiger visited in Hant na over the week-end. The following residents of Syracuse have been on the sick list for the past week: Mrs. Fannie Hoy, Mrs. Wm. Rice, Mr. and Mrs. Warren Ruple, Mrs. Travis Purdy and daughter, Mrs. A. L. Miller, and daughter Betty, Mrs. Walter Smith and Mr. William Swihart. A potluck supper was given by Mrs. Roy Schleeter last Monday evening. The guests were Mi’s. James Connelly, Mrs. Hallie Hollway, Mrs. James Kemp, Mrs. Harry Greiger, Mrs. Roy Schleeter, Miss Gertrude Hoch, Miss Helen Jefferies and Miss Nellie Mann. Mrs. A. L. Miller entertained with j two tables of bridge Monday night iin honor of Mrs. Ralph Miller of Goshen. Those present included Mrs. Noble Blocker, Mrs. Garnet ! Latham, Mrs. Arnold Phingst, Mrs. Ernest Bushong, Mrs. Walter Smith, Mrs. Junior Neff. Mrs. Ernest Bushong entertained fourteen guests at a dinner party Wednesday evening in honor of her ■ daughter, Barbara’s birthday.

forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” At the close of the reading, the Confederate soldier said, “Before I die, I should like to have the opportunity of shaking the hand of that man Lincoln,” not knowing because of blindness that it was Lincoln himself reading. The President said, “Son, here is my hand. lam President Lincoln.” The Confederate soldier shook his hand warmly with the tears streaming down from his sightless eyes. A short time later, he died. The losses of this nation undoubtedly are large. The losses of individuals are in some instances, beyond apprehension. But in life, are your losses and failures as great and as numerous as Abraham Lincoln’s were? If they are or if they are not, wouldn’t it be wise to continue as did Lincoln? The Speed Os Time j ONE of the chief functions of every business man is toi save time and worry for his customers. Whatever business, a man is engaged in, he can profitably devote part of his time to this study. Most of us are compelled to devote our effective waking hours to a specialized task. When anyone relieves us from a duty that consumes part of our time and energy, we have that much more left for our main business. THE old-style inkwell is an example. The ink evaporated and clotted. The selfsealing inkwell and the fountain-pen I were improvements. Selling butter in one-pound bricks saved time and bother. Packaging goods so that they are visible is just now causing a revolution in many industries. The alert executive daily asks himself: How can I save time and worry for my customers? How' can I get this business on an automatic basis, so that people can order what they want and know what they will get?

LETTER RECOUNTS LAST MOMENTS OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN ■ Written by Corp. James Tanner Who Took Testimony From Witnesses Os Slaying : By RAYMOND WILCOVE International News Service Staff Correspondent ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 21 (INS)—An historic letter, recounting the last moments of President Lincoln’s life, sent to a friend two days after the Great Emancipator’s death by a War Department clerk who stood by the President’s bedside and wrote down in shorthand his impressions of the scene, has just come into the possession of the University Os Michigan. Did you ever ask yourself this question? “How large will my town be 10 years from now?”

Corp. James Tanner who wrote the letter on April 17, 1867, had been summoned to take testimony of witnesses to the assassination of the President at the Ford Theatre. This done, he had passed « into the room where the President lay and remained there until he died. The letter was sent th Hadley H. Walch, of Grand Rapids,) Mich. At his death it passed into the hands of his partner, who in turn bequeathed it to his widow, Mi’s. Nellie Strawhecker. She presented this rare Lincolnia item to the University of Michigan William L. Library. Tanner, relating how he was called to the house where Lincoln lay dying wrote: “I went into a room between the rear room and the front foom. “Mrs. Lincoln was in ■ the front room, weeping as though her heart would break. , . . , “In the back room lay his excellency. breathing hard and with every breath a groan.” 1 In a room between, wrote Tanner, were witnesses and dignitaries. “In fifteen minutes,” continued Tanner, “I had testimony enough down to hang Wilkes Booth, the assassin, higher than any human ever hung.” Tanner’s letter then went on to describe Mrs. Lincoln’s last; leave-tak-ing of her husband and of the President’s death. “As she passed through the hall back to the parlor after she had taken leave of the President for the last time, as she went by the door I heard her moan, ‘Oh, my God. and have I given my husband to die? _ “And I tell you,” wrpte Tanner “I never heard so much agony in so few words.” Continuing: “I finished my notes and passed into the back room where the President lay. It was very evident that he could not last long. There was no crowd in the room, which was very small, and I, approached quite near the bed on which so much greatness lay, fast losing its hold on( this world. “The head of the bed was toward

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 11, 1937

the door. At the head stood Captain Robert Lincoln, weeping on the shoulder of Senator Sumner. General Halleck stood just behind Robert Lincoln and I stood just to the left, between him and general Meiggs. Secretary Stanton was there, trying every way to be calm and yet he was very much moved. “Utmost silence prevailed, broken only by the sound of strong men's sobs. It was a solemn time, I assure you. “The President breathed heavily until a few minutes before he breathed his last, then his breath came easily and he passed on very quietly." ! “I have an idea," concluded Tanner’s letter, “which ’is gaining ground here, and that is that the assassin had assistance in the theatre and that then the President was invited for the express purpose of assassinating him.” The letter was, written on War Department stationery. Dr. Randolph G. Adams, Director of the University Library, stated there was no doubt as to the authenticity of the letter. Tanner, said Dr. Adams, died in 1927 and before he did so acknowledged authorship of the letter. State Gasoline Tax Sets All-Time Record INDIANAPOLIS, Feb 11.—Collections totalling $1,870,374 in gasoline taxes last month set a new all-time record for the month of January. Laurence F. Sullivan, auditor of state, announced that the increase last month over the corresponding month last year was $3,006. January, 1936, receipts were $1,528,340. Sullivan also reported that there I was an increase of 8,582,143 in the number of gallons sold last month over January, 1936. The total gallonage last month was 46,749,626 and in January, 1936, was. 38,167,483. The number of ref unds claimed increased 508 and the total amount of refunds claimed increased $27,898.