I s e n d y ou w i t h m y c o m p l i m e n t s t h i s l i t t l e s t o r y

o f T h e S e c r e t o f S o l o m on
!
wh i ch m a y am u s e y ou f o r a
!
,

f e w m inu t e s an d p e rh a p s — a s a m us e m e n t o f t e n d o e s
,

d i s c ov e r i n y ou r m i n d s o m e t h i n g w h i ch y ou ha d n o t
obs e r v e d t h e r e b e f o r e .

Th at
a t an y r a t e i s w h a t i t d i d f o r m e Wh e n I
, , .

t oo k m y p e n t o i t I ha d bu t a va g u e n o t i on o f w h a t
,

was c o m in g Bu t a s I w r o t e on I b e c am e i n t e r e s t e d
. ,

i de as t o o k sha p e an d g a in e d subs t an c e ; a s o r t o f p l o t
de v e l o p e d i t s e l f ; t h e T h i n g s o m e how g o t a b e g inn i n g a ,

m i ddl e an d an e n d — an d h e r e i t i s !
,

A ma n wh o s e l l s m u f f in s f o r a l i v i n g an d s e l l s .

th e m wi t h hi s wh o l e h e a r t f i n d s h i s bus i n e s s t o b e
,

an o r g an i c p a r t o f a l l B us i n e s s an d o f t h e g e n e r a l ,

s ch e m e o f t h e Un i v e r s e H i s t o r y an d ! h i l o s o p h y t u r n
.

ou t t o b e i t s e l de r s i s t e r s I t i s t h e e x p r e s s i on o f
.

on e s i d e o f H u m an N a t u r e — t h e m uf f i n s i de I t has .

i t s l i t t l e r o m an c e r e l a t e d t o t h e g r e a t R o m an c e o f
,

mortal l i f e An d t h e m o r e t h e m a n t h in k s o f i t i n t h i s
.

wa y t h e g r e a t e r r e s p e c t wi l l h e f e e l f o r i t t h e m o r e
, ,

t h o r ou g h l y wi l l h e un de r s t an d i t an d t h e b e t t e r ,

(c on s e ! u e n t l y ! w i l l h e d o i t M o r e ov e r .i t wi l l a m us e ,

h im t o r e f l e c t t h a t a f t e r a l l t h e wh o l e o f M an k i n d
, ,

d i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y — s e l l s m u f f i n s f o r a l i v in g !

As e mb e r s o f
m the c o r p o r a t i on o f M an k in d ,

Un l i m i t e d y ou an d I m a y th e r e f o r e p r o f i t b y t h e S e c r e t
,

o f S o l o m on An d i f y ou l i k e t h e s t o r y I s h a l l b e g l a d
. ,

I wr o t e i t .

Me
anwh i l e I o f f e r y ou a s su r an c e o f my di s t i n
g u i s h e d c on s i de r a t i on an d I a m , ,

! e ry t ruly y ou
TH E S E C R E T O F SO LO M O N
BY JUL IAN H AW T H O R N E
1.

H O W WI S E S O LOM O N W AS

O f a ll s on s o f men King S o l omon was w i s e st ;

,

m y au d ience ha s heard that b e fore ; but I hav e a

re ason fo r reminding th e m of i t n ow .

I n hi s B ook o f Proverbs i s abun d an t p roo f of

the fact —of al l hum an b oo k s it i s t he most sagacious
,

an d cons e rvative and the sanest

,
No n e be fore o r .

s in c e ha s known men an d th e world a s S ol omon knew

them thei r frailtie s and follies
, .

S p reading far and wide the fame o f S olomon ,

r e ached B ak r is Q ueen o f S heba he rsel f wise wealth y

, , ,

and beauti ful B ut she had doubts conce r ning th e

.

w i sdom o f S o l omon and in ord e r to determine t h e

, ,

matt e r sh e j ou rneyed from S outhern Arabia to Jer u

,

salem carrying with he r a selection o f the most

,

d iffi cul t riddle s i n the world whe rew i th to t e st h i s ,

sa ga city .

T he Q ue en wa s most hospi tably rece ived by the

Great King who solve d al l he r riddles wi th out so muc h
,

a s clea ri ng h is throat to gain time Whereupon she .

C op yr ighted 1 9 09 , b y Julian H a wt horn e .

ma deihitnhandsom
- '
e{p r esentg flan d the con f e ss i on n o ,

le s s ha ndsome th at she foun d him ye t wis e r than ha d

,

been reported 5 0 they be cam e friends ; and the

.

gossip o f that day declares that from thi s Un ion o f

B ea uty and Wisdom the Ethiopi an race is de sc e n de d
, ,

-
the Ethiopians about W hom we had imagined we
,

k n e w something !
B ut d o not let this distract y our minds from t he
wisdom o f S olomon A man me r e ly learne d may
.

nev e rtheless be a fool ; b u t a wise man neve r N or , .

was S olomon s wisdom i n dang e r of d eg e nera t i n g int o

!

the dogmatism of senility ; for h e came to the t hron e

in his t eens an d rei gne d forty y ea rs — wh i ch i s one
!
, ,

more nai l in the c ofl in o f D r O sler s r e pu t ation

.
!
.

Moreove r Solomon built the Tem p le th e m ost

, ,

w on d e rful an d costly buil d ing in the wor ld .

HOW WEALTHY H E W A S

Wh e re d id S olomon get the money to build th e

T em ple !
That brings us to hi s second claim to distinctio n .

N ot o nl y was h e the wisest he was also the rich ,

est man ih the worl d .

How rich wa s he !
T her e is in circulation today a good d ea l more of
the p reciou s metals than in th e time o f King Solomon ;

nevertheless w e have it on S cri p tura l authority tha t

,

his rev e nues in a single year w e re S ix Hun d red an d

, ,

S ixty S ix Talents of gold .

 What would that m ean i n U nited S tate s money !
I f— a s s e ems p robable — a Hebrew ta lent of gol d
be worth about then the King s income !

would be And i f int erest on ca p ita l

,

were that would make him wo rt h something like

Three Hundre d and Thi rty M illion Dollars .

Re m embe r too that the purchasing powe r o f a

, ,

dollar a thousand years ago was probably near a

, ,

hundred tim e s what i t i s in our e ra .

S o we are j u stified in saying that S olomon was

the ri ch e st o f mankind It i s likely he coul d h ave
.

bought out King Croe sus (who l ived some five hun
dred years late r ! and neve r have missed the money .

Riche st a s wel l as wi sest o f mankind ; and he

built the Temple H e wa s an all round man— about
.
-

the biggest we know o f .

WHE RE DID H E GET IT !

So far it has been plain sailing B ut now we .

come to the thi r d point ; the answer to which will

,

repay conside ration .

Where di d he get it !
D id he make i t in the Wal l Stree t o f Jerusale m !
No ! in those days there were no stock s o r stock
m arkets .

For a like reason he wa s President o f no bank

,

ing or insurance co m panies .

Nor did he like our Morses Edisons Marconis

, , ,

and Bel ls p atent an invention

,
.
 Neithe r di d he corne r wheat or exp loit a steel or ,

a ny other trust .

A nd— thou g h cre d i ted with occu lt powers — he ,

di d not a fter the fashion o f Medi aeva l alchemi sts

, ,

make gol d from base r m e tals .

Where then did he get it ! I s the myste ry a s

, ,

i mpenetrable a s that which veils th e sourc e o f the

w ealth o f some o f ou r political contempo raries !
Not a t all ther e i s no myste r y about the matte r
!

Al l histor ian s agree that S o l omo n got hi s gold

f rom th e M ine s of Ophir .

Yes he wa s a mine r — thi s Gr e at King ; hi s

, ,

w e a l th was c l ean vi rgin gold out of the groun d H e

, .

was wise e nough to g e t it in that wa y a n d too wi se ,

to t ry to get it in any othe r wa y .

A w onde rfu l p lac e was O p hir ; no t on ly s u pp ly

in g gold and silv e r but diam onds an d othe r p recious
,

st ones, p eacocks sandalwoo d ivory an d ap e s

,
But
, , .

of al l its p roducts gol d was the chie f — 2 4 carat gol d

, ,
-
,

r u nnin g to th e t on .

S olomo n wa s a p ione e r mi n er of O p hi r .

T hat i s w he r e hi s T hre e Hundre d Milli on Dol l ars

c ame from .

T HE GEO GRAPH I CAL PRO BLEM

B u t w he r e wer e or a r e the M ines of Ophir !

, ,

T h e y ar e like the Gar d en o f Ed en in tha t t e

S pe c t ; nobody reall y knows .

In A rab ia say some ; others on the fur ther si de

, ,
of India ; and my friend M r R ider H agga r d in his
, .

__
,

! ! !
fa scinating Romance o f King S olomon s M in e s ,

p lace s them in Darkest Afri ca .

One thing howeve r we do know about the site o f

, ,

!
Oph ir an d that i s that i t took King S olomon s shi p s
, ,

th re e y e ars to get there .

Three yea r s—think of it !

—
And providing all went well three more to ge t ,

b ack again .Allowing one year fo r the digging ,

which without our mode rn quick action machine ry

,
-

i s not much S olomon ha d to wait seven m ortal years

,

f or a single shipment .

That would be only about five shipments in the

f orty y e ars. They must have been big ones .

A n d what appalling obstacle s !

No trains o r steamboats ; no telegr aphs or wir e
!
le ss ; not so much a s a post o thee Travele rs tale s
-
.

were the sol e source o f news ; and th e s e as we re thick

with the worst sort o f pirat e s .

A mine three years awa y Nowadays you migh t .

,

a s Wel l tel l your prospective investo r that your min e

was in the M oon .

Why Weston the pedestrian walking three an d

, , ,

a half mile s an hour takes three months to trav e l four

,

thousand m ile s on rai lway tie s a nd m otor roads acros s

this continent At that rate to circumambulate the
.
,

e nti re globe would consume eighteen months .

A nd e ighteen months i s only hal f the time S o l

omon need e d to reach the M ine s o f Ophi r .

Now suppos e a promote r (the most el oquent on e

,

a l ive ! got i n touch wi th the most reck les s o f al l p os

sible investors an d sugge ste d t o h i m the development
,

o f a mine twic e as far away a s all round the world

a foot .

Woul d a committ e e o f alienists be require d to si t

on such a case !
H e would be vote d t o a padded cell by popula r
'

acclamation .

B ut are you able to conceive o f an investor agree

i ng to such a p roposition !
!
You don t have to conceive o f it for none such ,

exists .

N ot today —nevertheless one d i d exist t hre e

, ,

thousand y e ars ago .

Was he a fool or a maniac ! ,

Not e x actly H e was unive rsally ack now le d g ed

.

t o be the wis e st o f mankin d .

And his name wa s—S olomon .

S OLOM ON S S ECRET O F S UCC E S S!

T he audience now sees what I am driving at .

S olomon wise st o f Kings and men author of

, ,

t h e sanest an d sa fe s t o f book s was a gamble r ,

.

Com p are d with t he m in ing risk he took th e w i ld ,

e st r i sk s of our day are child s p lay —schoo l — b oy s

!

am u s i n g themselve s with marble s on th e stre e t corne r -

.

W ha t shal l we d o a b ou t it ! S ay tha t i t wa s th e
single folly o f a man otherwi se chief o f s ag e s !
N o ! for since t he w orl d made i ts first s u m m e r
,

sault in space the sol e ch il d o f folly has be e n d i saster

, .
 !
B u t S olomon s gamble so fa r from b reeding di sas t e r
, ,

made him a multi mi llionaire and enabled h im t o

-
,

bui ld the Temple .

And no King o f our day coul d dupl icate that

T e m p l e even a t the cost of j oining the bread —
,
line .

There i s no getting round i t Solomon made him .

sel f richest o f men by a gamble An d that gamble .

,

so far from convicting him o f folly wa s the crowning ,

i llustration of hi s sagacity .

Evidently to profit by this le sson we must revise

, ,

some o f our fixed notions .

First let us recogn ize the truth that the re are

gamblers— and ga m ble rs .

One k ind o f gamble r puts hi s last gold piece on -

the red and when black come s Up goe s forth and

, ,

sends a bullet through hi s head in Mont e Carlo Gar

dens.

He t ru sted to brute luck ; hi s only use fo r a

brai n wa s to shoot that bullet through it He be .

liev e d— no not believed for belie f implies intellect

, ,

he deluded h imself with t he notion that S ome thin g

may be got fo r Nothing i n thi s world , .

Prompted by greed debilitated by sel f in dul ,

-

gence narcotiz ed by ign orance he shut his eyes and

, ,

j umpe d .

He ho p ed to l an d i n the M ine s o f Ophi r ; but

what happene d was that he tumbled ove r a steep
,

p lace into the S ea .

He wa s one k i n d o f a gamb le r—the kind tha t

S olomon was N OT .

Here let me call you r attenti on to somethin g .

 W e h ave gambling hou se s run b y ,
cal l e d gam
so -

bler s
. They a re frequented by men who b e t o n th e
turn o f the die always losing in the l ong and often in
,

the short run and p au p eriz ing themselv e s i f t he y

,

k ee p at it .

It i s th e se men— not t he k ee pe rs o f th e e stablish

ment— who a re the real gamblers .

The kee p ers o f th e e sta b lishment are not gam

bler s at all ; for so far from courtin g chan c e the y
, ,

a re sedulous to tak e no chance s .

T heir dice a re loaded thei r car d s mark e d t he i r

, ,

r ou l ette whee l s obe y thei r han d T h ey a l wa y s p la y

.

the sure thing .

Not on any gamb ling of their own but on t hei r ,

!
cus t omer s gambling do the y gro w rich They work .

!
on a p rinciple O pposite a s the p o l es to the i r customers .

And the imbecility which p rompts the latte r to

!
pour thei r money into the form e r s l a p s sh ould not
be blame d on the gambling house k eepe rs who merel y
-
,

a ff ord facilitie s for th e e xploita t ion of thi s imbecility

B e that a s i t may S olomo n belon g e d to n e ithe r
,

class.

W ha t sort of a gam b le r t h e n wa s h e !
, ,

T H E S O R T O F A G A M BLER S OLOM O N W AS

When t he Great King casting about fo r mean s

,

t o b uild hi s Temple adopted the Ophi r M ine s sch e m e

, ,

he wa s neithe r shutting his eye s and j um p in g at

hazard no r was h e p l aying a sure thing
, .
 No absolutely sur e thing exists ; even a load ed
di e ma y los e .

S olomon kn ew h e was taking a risk .

The p romoters might be liars ,

o r sel f d eceive d-
.

T hat was an obvious risk .

D o y ou k now how S olomon met i t !

By hi s p rofound knowledge o f the human hear t .

He te sted the integrity and j udgment o f those p ro

m oter s to the l ast fibre a s he woul d test the ro p e
,

which was to swing him acros s an abyss .

Othe r ri sks he met by hi s knowledge o f natura l

laws and o f human a ff ai rs
.
Was a mine likely to .

exist where they sai d ! Could i t b e a s rich a s they

a sserted ! Wa s labo r for i ts worki ng available !
Would expense s outweigh p rofits ! ! ital que stions ,

- to which his wis d om m ust find answe rs .

T he Great King in short was not under the

, ,

delusion th at S ome th ing may be ha d for Nothing .

H ewa s read y to give the Q uid p r o Q ua .

Against the treasure s o f Ophi r he staked the ,

t reasure s o f a wi s d o m not les s inestimable He knew .

that to contro l the Goddess o f Chance he must bring

, ,

to the struggle intelligence prudence and persistence

,

such a s to equal iz e the odds H e di d not shut hi s

.

eyes but O pened them to the ir wi d est

, .

Yet a fte r all precautions and calculations be

, ,

sure that S olo m on knew hi s ri sk and that eve n h is ,

wisdom had its limits Yes Ophi r wa s a risk ; but a

.
,

risk worthy a King s taking ; and S olomon wa s King

!

an d man and gamble r enough to take it .

 I f he lost th e Tem p le coul d never b e built and
, ,

his reign woul d b e a failure .

B ut with hi s wits about him with all hi s r e

, ,

source s a t command he accepted the chal le nge o f

,

de stiny— and he won .

T hat was the sort o f gamble r S olomon was .

O T HER GAM B LERS

That wa s the S ecret of S olomon ; he was a

gambler .

And with out that element in his nat u re never , ,

fo r all hi s wisdom would he have accomplished th e

,

mighty works by which we know him and f or which

w e honor him .

Nor was i t a blot on his cha racte r ; it was one

o f his noble st endowments .

I will say more — every man whos e acts have

advanced c ivilization c r eate d n ew e ras in hi s t ory
, ,

conferred signa l b e nefits on mankind —al l men o f

,

that stamp hav e b e en such gamble rs a s was S o l omon .

Alexan d er the Great— what a titanic gamble r

was he ! What enter p rise more de spe rate than the
conquest o f the world with a handfu l o f Mace d onian
'

s oldie rs !
B ut that marvellous Boy h a d calculate d the odds .

T he greatest o f p hilosophe rs an d scientists — A ristotle

had develope d his mind ; the greates t so ld ie r be fore
-

himsel f— his own fathe r Phil ip— had taught him the
,

a rt and practic e o f wa r ; he knew wha t c l umsy ra b ble s

wer e the armies O pposed to him ; he k new the impreg
n a bil ity o f that Macedonian phalanx of his — and he ,

trusted to hi s ow n towe ring a m bition and genius He .

wa s a succe ss ful gamble r who dese rved succes s .

A nothe r o f the gi an t brotherhood— Julius Caesa r

—wa s a gambler as success ful a s and m ore reckles s
than Alexande r Hi s debts be fore he wa s twenty
.

were h igh in the millions By way of getting even .

with the worl d he conq ue red i t

, .

B ut be fore that captured b y pi rates (a s ruthle ss

, ,

and la wless cutthroats a s ever fl e w the black flag!

Caesar s tanding solita ry on thei r deck actually

, ,

a ssumed command o f the ship and ordered the de s

p e r a doe s about like po odle dogs He bade them stee
-
r .

for his own home po rt p romising them a s reward a

-
,

hanging a s s oon as they got there What i s more .

,

on arrival h e ful filled his promise down to the last

,

scoundrel .

In his European campaigns h is legions a l ways ,

conquered ; but in the eye and voice o f Caesar was

so m ething which conque re d the legi ons themselves .

Finally by crossing the Rubicon he challenge d the

, ,

Powe r which had overcome all nations ; but Rome

he rsel f had to yield to Caesar the gambler who made ,

Chance obe y h im .

Th e n that slim aquiline sallow little Corsican

, , ,

student at B ri enne he too had the soul o f a n he roic

,
-

gamble r Be fore he was thirty the Continent wa s at

.
,

his me rcy B ut; like other great gamblers whose

.

game is wa r Napo leon wa s at l ast destroyed by forc e s

,

he had h imsel f unleashed .

 Gamblers who like S olomon win in the l on g l ast
, , ,

a re those who devot e their genius and fortune to the

cause o f p rosperity and p eace Fo r then the l aws
.
, ,

o f nature and the i nt e re sts o f humanit y fight on t he i r

side.

The latest famous gamble r of thi s sor t d i e d on ly

the other day .

H i s name was Ceci l Rho d es .

A M OD ER N WO RLD M A KE R

Le t the y oung men in thi s audience l is t en ; fo r

t hi s i s th e story o f a young man .

Cec il Rhodes an Englishman gambled more fo r

, ,

!
Engl and s sake than hi s own .

He wa s nothing a stounding to loo k a t — a quiet , ,

courteous young Oxford graduate delicate o f consti ,

tution (he went to A frica for hi s health ; ! sel f pos -

sessed ob se rvant thoughtful

, ,
B ut no man in Eng
.

land had a soul so bi g dee p an d daring a s his A n d

, .

he wa s a gamble r to the marrow .

He neede d A frica not for hi s bodily healt h only ,

but for hi s min d an d imagination too .

Remembe r that nothing e ls e i s mor e in disp en sa

ble to greatness m a man tha n imagination The .

be st men have always bee n men o f i magination B ut .

for the imagination o f Christo p he r Columbus where ,

w ould we be t o day !-

Engl and i s an isl and quite an i slan d too in its

-

w ay—but Rhode s coul d not get air e nough to b r e athe

 The man O pposite chuckle d indulgently .

!
D reams my boy Ge t down to the p ractic al
, . .

!
Rhode s said (to himsel f thi s time ! Money is m y ,

! !
need Wel l I ll get it
.
, .

Ki m be rly diamond mines were start i ng then Beit .

and B arnato were in them Rhode s using men in .

, ,

hi s quiet way a s we use a spoon for p orridge j oined

, ,

them ; and money began to come .

Fo r m oney he perso n ally care d no mo re than do

!
you for your last year s shoe s ; but for its aid towa rd
realizing hi s dreams he did care S o he du g diamond s .

by hand ful s out o f the stiff blue clay in th e coni ca l

pits ; and b roke off cluste rs o f gold from the ree fs o f
the north til l he could count his wealth by million s
,

sterling and hi s credit i n countle ss millions more

,
.

Child s play— for h im— but useful

!
.

He also re co gnized the value of politica l in fl u

ence ; at thi rty one he wa s in the Cape M inistry ; at

_
-

thirty six he wa s Prime M inister

-
.

England an d the w ol ld ha d begun to know him

now and followed hi s cou r se w ith mouths aga p e
, .

His d r e am o f empi r e was taking form Study .

the plans he lai d and th e dee d s he di d —t hei r far ,

reaching wisdom an d t r emendous ene rgy .

But al l at once t he B oe r War h appene d , .

A gambler s
!
What was a war to Cecil Rhodes -

r i sk He sh rugged h i s shoulde rs but never fl

. in c hed ,

or swe rved .

S ummoned to Englan d to explain things he a p ,

p e a r e d be fore a Parliamentar y Committee composed

of the able st m en in Englan d .
 Rh odes treated them a s th e head maste r treats -

—
the kindergarten class kindly p atiently but with
, , ,

the invincible supe riority o f hi s genius .

He do m inated the m a s Pik e s Peak dominates !

Colorado Springs He gave them a needed lesson in

.

the me aning and ethics o f gambling ; a fte r which they

bowed him h umbly out and neve r again meddle d with
,

him .

The world beate r resumed his labor o f world

-

building .

But now came a new interruption— Death .

!
Anothe r gamble r s ri sk which Rhode s a ccepte d ,

with co m po sure Fo r he knew that the seed he had

.

sown would bring forth grain and wa s too great to ,

grieve that it would be reaped by others He died .

,

a ssured that hi s work would be com p let ed H e di ed .

but wi ll live a s long a s England .

T H E COM P A NY

B ut whethe r Rhode s had lived or die d men o f ,

his strain a lways arise to keep up the great tradition .

Always wil l there be great World builders -

,

Le a d e rs of Civilization to carry on th e mi ssion be gun

,

by thei r predece ssors .

Invention D i scove ry Com m erce Industry a re

, , , ,

immortal .The Firm o f S olomon Columbus Rh odes , ,

and Compan y will never lack living repre sentatives .

B enj amin Fran klin got the fi rst human grip on

e l ectricity i n 1 752 M orse s tele graph follo we d
.
!
n i nety ye a rs afte r Edison thirty seven ye a rs ago
.
,
-

made it p rint its me ssage s B ell in 1 876 taught his .

, ,

v oice to ri d e on th e curren t with but a wire to h old ,

on by f or thousands o f miles ; and only the other da y

, ,

y oun g M arco n i d ro p ped the wire and carrie s on l i v ,

i ng conversations th rough em p ty ai r across oceans

, , .

T hese membe r s o f the Compan y hav e t rans

form ed the bus i ness w or ld an d hundreds of t housan d s
,

of m e n and w om e n fin d d ail y em pl o yment i n han d lin g

t he i r inv e ntions .

G e orge S tephenson bui l t h is loc om ot i ve i n 1 830 .

M ank ind b egan runnin g t o an d fro upo n t he e arth ,

!
su b d uing it ,
an d making one another s acquaintanc e .

I n 1 8 59 George Pullman enable d them to go to b ed

an d s le ep at night on th eir wa y A nd a ga i n t ho u .

san d s u p on thousa n d s o f idl e han d s go t wor k to do .

And then appea r ed the organizers .

Lincoln and Gran t sav ed t h e U n i on ; b u t the

R a i lroad Kings kept it al iv e afte r it w a s saved And .

i f t wo mi llion men ri ske d t hei r l iv e s i n th e Civi l Wa r ,

how many mor e have ow ed the ir l i vin g t o ra i l roa d s

si n c e th e War was fought !

! ande rbilt b e ga n t h e w on de r fu l game of ama l

g a m a tin g roads an d manag i n g t hem from a central
se a t of authority Huntingt on and hi s riva l s o r a sso
.

c i a t es bestrode the continen t an d bound i t s Pacifi c

c oa st with steel
!
. when only t h e othe r day Ha r
t

riman o p ene d hi s th th e wo r l d pai d ev e n s t r i c ter

.
,

attention t han to a Pr e sidential M essage .

Railroads ne ed steel Carnegie the . cann y ,

S c otch pea sant boy O pene d hi s first little fa c t ory in

-
,
1 865 ; B esse me r perfected his p rocess five years late r ;
and with an explosion as it were st e e l rose from
, ,

the bottom to the top of the heap The sum which .

the S te el Corporation s e t apart for up keep and im -

p r ov e m en ts a fte r ea
,
rn ing dividends has been some ,

thing like dol lars during the past eight o r

nin e years .

One o f th e i r i ron ore mine s contains 400 mi llion

-

t ons o f the best sort o f ore .

R ocke feller sta rte d ne ck and neck with Carne gi e .

He found a fte r a few years that he was producing

, ,

4 93 o f the oil in this country He put those .

econom i ca l an d fa r seeing brains o f his at work and

-

in seven y ea rs more he was selling 9 5% o f the

total Ame rican output The Trust has a payroll o f
.

perso ns an d its net profits p er annum are 800

,

million d olla r s—or more .

The re we re a dozen bi g tobacco me n thi rty years

ago Co m p e tition ate into thei r profits
. D uke and .
,

a few othe r men of industri al genius got them to ,

gether an d now the New American Tobacco Com

,

p any ea rn s pe r annum 2 7 million dollars net .

Cotton is sti ll King in the U nited State s ; an d

though the re have b een a few hal f hea rted attempts -
,

no m an or allie d gr oup o f men i s as yet King of

Cotton .But the capitaliz ation of American cotton
interests i s 750 mill ion dollars ; and two and a hal f
million pe rsons get thei r living handling it .

But th is enume ration may as well stop — there i s

no end to it .

T h e gist o f it al l i s that the pre sent stupendous

,
i nd ustria l p ro d uction of this co u ntr y is due t o th e
brains an d ene rgy o f a m e re handful of in d ivi d ual s ,

all o f them members in good standin g o f t he F i rm

o f Solomon Columbus Rhodes and Compan y
, ,
.

By organiz ing and economizing the work o f th e

nation they have hastened our dev e lo p ment by hun
,

!
dreds o f y ears ; they have p ut money in peo ple s
p ockets an d bread in thei r mouths an d they have ,

save d a l l hands uncounted billion s o f d ollars .

But t hey are Gamble rs !

Yes ! and i t begins to l ook a s i f gambl ing we r e not
so blac k a s it i s painted .

THE TALENT I N TH E NAPKIN

Now aris e s a pink faced gentleman i n a plum p

-

white waistcoat
He says Gam b ling as you term it— specul a
.
,

—
t ion might be a more accurate word i s all very well
for p ersons with la rg e fortunes or fo r men of i ndus ,

t rial and inventive talent B ut most peo p le a r e only

.

fairly well off Why i s i t not wise r for them to stay

.

on the safe si d e — retain what they h ave rathe r than ,

risk losing it by grasping a fter W hat they may neve r

get !
T his gentle m an owns a talent don e u p in a ,

napkin in a safe deposit drawe r

,
-
.

It i s doing nothing the re — helpin g no one But, .

!
h e t hinks it s safe .

Well he will certainly no t l ose it B ut then h e

, .

w ill neve r use it either .

 And what ,
a fte r all , is the di ff e renc e be tw ee n
l osing and neve r using ! .

The pi nk faced gentleman i s a conse rvative

-
.

Wer e all like him — were the re n o Fi rm of S olo

,

mon Columbus Rhode s and Company — he might

, , ,

still have a p ink face ; but he would n ot h ave a white

waistcoat Fo r he would b e a primeval savage i n a

.

grass gird le A nd nothing would have been done

.

s ince the Fl oo d to make th e wor l d different from what

it wa s at the start .

Men who l ive by b rains and courage live in thei r

deeds a ft e r thei r bodie s are dust .

Parasite s (conse rvative s ! liv e on the brains and

c ourage o f S olomon C o an d dying are perfectly .
, , ,

and pe rmanently dea d .

t he
! ! !
Kee p on the sa fe side ! is conservative s
motto .

S olomo n Co have seve ra l For examp le . .

!
One crowded hour o f glorious li fe i s wo rth a
!
worl d without a name !
Anothe r — There i s a tide in the a ffairs of men
!

which taken at the fl

,
ood leads on to Fortune O m it ,
.

ted all the voyage of the i r li fe is bound in shallows

,

!
and in mise ries .

O r that anecdote o f Q ueen Elizabeth and he r

,

noble suitor
!
Fa in would I climb but that I fear to fal l ! ,

!
wrote his timid little lordship on the great Q ueen s
chambe r window pane with his diamond ring -
, .

!
If thy h e art fai l thee do not climb at al l ! ,
wrot e the wise and ro y al ! i rgin ben e ath it ; an d la ter, ,

she had th e y oun g gentlema ns hea d chop pe d off

!
.

B ut p oetry an d tradition a re full of boos t s for

gamblers ; wh e reas th e comm e n t s on cons e r v a t iv e s a re
se l d om com p lim e ntar y .

He that locks his talent in a sa fe d e p os i t d r awer

-
,

l oc ks up his soul along with i t .

But no k e y t urns on t h e sou l s o f the S ol om on

They have put out thei r talent a t in te r e st in the

wor l d an d the w or ld i s t he irs fore v e r
, .

THE ROLL CA LL -

Wi l l pe r son in the audienc e w ho w an t s som e

any

th i n g he has not pl e as e ris e !

,

— A ll are on thei r legs— even the cons er v a t iv e s .

N ow let us see what each o f you desires .

The salarie d men woul d lik e to c e as e be i n g other

!
me n s men .

Profe ssional m e n w ou ld l ik e a chan ce to catch

thei r breath .

Busine ss men wou ld l i ke a n oth e r s t r i n g to the i r

Politicians would like to be ab le to tell frankl y

whe r e t h e y got it .

Cle rgymen an d philanthro p ists woul d li ke m e a n s

to do good .

A rtists of all kin d s wou ld li ke to c ulti v at e art

i nstead o f patrons .
 REC E S S IO N A L

Unwrap from its n a p kin tha t tal en t in t he sa fe

dep osit d rawer .

Take the tide at its fl ood .

Climb an d do not fall

,
.

Open the door to O pportunit y .

Remembe r t hat t he most p a l try wa y to l os e is

,

not to us e !
Bu t r e member t oo that S ol omon l o ok ed be for e
, ,

he l eaped .

Study th e situation wel l .

In the whirl o f excitement ke e p your head level , .

Trust those w ho hav e p rove d themselve s trust

worthy .

List e n mos t t o t hos e w ho tal k lowe s t an d p romi se

l east
.

Bu t h avin g r e so l ve d what to do b e p rompt

, ,
.

For he that ling e rs till tomorrow buys d ear what

was ch e ap ye ste rday .

A s th e audience reti r e s l et e ach pe rson take a

,

cop y o f t he v e rses which wil l b e h anded to th e m wr i t ,

ten three hundr ed y ears ago .

R e a d it an d l a y i t t o heart .

H e either fea r s his f

a te too m u c h,

O r his deser t is sm a ll,

Who dar es n ot p ut it to t he touch,

T o win or l ose it al l !