it!"


* * * * *


"ALL A MAN WANTS--TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!"

In one of his messages to Congress, the President foretold and
denounced the tendency of wealth acquired in masses and rapidly by
the war contractors and the like as "approaching despotism." He saw
liberty attacked in "the effort to place capital on an equal footing
with--if not above--labor in the structure of government." It is never
to be forgotten that neither he nor his Cabinet officers were ever
upbraided for corruption; [Footnote: It is true that Lincoln's first
war minister, Simon Cameron, was accused of smoothing the way to
certain fat war contracts, a wit suggesting Simony as the term, but
no charges were really brought. Lincoln said that if one proof were
forthcoming, he would have the Cameronian head--but Mr. Cameron died
intact.] some, like Secretary Stanton, though handling enormous sums,
died poor men comparatively. It is in accordance with this honesty of
the "Honest Old Abe" rule that he said to an old friend whom he met
in New York in 1859:

"How have you fared since you left us?"

The merchant gleefully replied that he had made a hundred thousand
dollars in business. "And--lost it all!" with a reflection of
Lincoln's and the Western cool humor. "How is it on your part?"