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Show LAWSOX, THE GEXIUS. ' ! (Written for The Intermountain Catholic.) That Thomas W. Lawson, the author of "Fren- ! zied Finance" in Everybody's Magazine, is a hero j of the first magnitude, became evident to discerning discern-ing miifds early in his intrepid and vigorous cam- j paign against "The System." In the Larimer j County (Colo.) Democrat of December 3d, 1904. appeared an article , by the present writer, which contained the following paragraphs: j "He is evidently imbued with the idea that he has a sacred mission, in the interest ofthe American Ameri-can people, to perform. Absolutely no other theory than that he is actuated by an overmastering overmaster-ing passion, good or evil, will rationally account for the superb and indomitable pluck with which, and the astounding and masterful manner in which, ho is conducting his most remarkable raw- ! paign to unmask and bring to justice the malefactors, male-factors, whom he denounces in such luridly picturesque, pic-turesque, 'though duly' nay admirably 'measured j phrase.' A kindred spirit we recognize in the heroes of history, -of all climes and ages." At the time, however, that the foregoing was written and published, the less discerning seemingly seem-ingly a largo majority of Lawson's readers were inclined to doubt either his integrity of purpose or his ability or both the one and the other. On all sides were to be heard the expressed conviction that he would be silenced ere he proceeded much farther, either by being "bought off" or by means of more drastic measures, in which "The System" "Standard Oil" was so notoriously resourceful. To all such doubters the magnificent manner in which this plucky and marvelously able and powerful champion of decency in finance has thus far sustained himself must be a revelation. Xot only has he persisted in bringing one damning charge after another against men who have for decades de-cades stood at the pinnacle of public esteem but, in the June installment of his absorbingly interesting interest-ing narative of facts, he relates in detail, and with circumstantial minuteness, 'the fraudulent transactions of William Rockefeller and Henry 11. Rogers, "The Systems" principle votaries, upon which may be based both a civil action for the. recovery of the thirty-six millions of dollars of which they robbed their gullible victims, and a criminal charge that may place these moguls of "Frenzied Finance" behind prison bars, where their brilliant brains .may be occupied in meditating upon the vanity of ruthless self-aggrandizement and unscrupulous greed. - But at no time has this most remarkable of men displayod the brilliancy of intellect and the, indomitable in-domitable firmness of purpose to accomplish, the ruin of "The System" that he does in the July number of "Everybody's." A more eloquent and scathing arraignment could hardly be imagined. In his inimitably brilliant style he depicts most realistically re-alistically and with startling vividness scenes that transpired between himself and Rogers that rival Rider Hagard's and Hall Caine's best efforts in the sensational and emotional line, .whilst his appeal ap-peal to the American people to shake off the incubus in-cubus of "The System" would do credit to the most rabid and reckless revolutionary Socialist that ever harangued a motley crew of "sand-lotters" thirsting thirst-ing for the gore of an imaginary fiend of oppres- sion: with only this difference, that Lawson, although al-though at times seemingly perfervid, is always dignified and impressive and for this reason he will hardly enlist the sympathies of the cult alluded al-luded to; and especially does he antagonize these because the remedy which he says he has to propose, pro-pose, and which he confidently claims will be efficacious ef-ficacious in destroying the evils against which hf so ardently and eloquently inveighs, does not involve in-volve the abolition of private property or a levelling level-ling process that shall destroy all individual initiative initia-tive arid effort. As a specimen of the au.hor's style, and a possible pos-sible index to the character of the man, the following fol-lowing paragraph from his July installment following fol-lowing the narration of a most exciting incident that occurred between himself and Rogers maybe may-be quoted: ,. "Some years have elapsed since this' episode, but a thousand times I suppose the scene has arisen to rack Henry II. Rogers with .bitter-memories of his baseness. The severest punishments are not those that we mortals inflict on our fellows whom for violations of our little earthly laws we clap into striped suits and shackle with steel bracelets. What are the striped suits which inrprint no marks on the body of the wearer, or a cropped head which recovers its normal growth in the passing of ! a few days, or handcuffs that any blacksmith can strike off at a blow, in comparison with the ever-recurring ever-recurring torture of the white-hot iron with which God sears the hearts and brains of those sinners whose wrong-doing is beyond human retribution ? What memories of prison and disgrace are comparable com-parable with the exquisite suffering of the undetected unde-tected criminal who in the dark watches of The night pores over the bitter scrolls of his delinquencies delinquen-cies When Henry II. Rogers reads the re cord I have set down here of this especially faithless and degrading action, he will suffer infinitely more than did I for the loss of the gold he and his associates as-sociates so meanly filched. Xor will ho knowledge-of knowledge-of the seven and a half score of millions vnarshalled ! ready at his nod, abate one jot rr tithe of the I measure of his humiliation and -shame." Another evidence that Lawson's thoughts are deeply tinged with religious sentiments may be afforded af-forded by the following excerpt ; commenting upon the sacredness of the trust imposed upon the managers of life' insurance companies, he says, in part: "Tne administrator of a trust so solemn and exalted ex-alted should devote himself, to its safeguarding as a priest dedicates himself to the service of his Maker." fit may be remarked, en passant, that our author has evidently enjoyed the acquaintance of one or more of our higher though by no means uncommon types of priests of GodJ It is, however, in the superb not to say brilliant manner in which Lawson answers one of his critics, crit-ics, in the July "Everybody's" that he gives the greatest proof of his wonderful resourcefulness and overto-ftering ability. This critic propounds a series se-ries of eighteen cunningly devised' questions, to which he demands categorical and unequivocal answers an-swers within forty-eight hours, threatening his would-be victim with overwhelming confusion in case he should fail to comply with the term.fi.sto arrogantly ar-rogantly insisted upon. It is probably but a shrewd guess to conclude that the questions submitted sub-mitted were the' product of the best talent that "the System" could employ and that lflany days were devoted de-voted to their cogitation and preparation. The result re-sult must have been very surprising to Lawson's enemies their confusion must have b,een doubly confused; and his readers, in general, must now be convinced that the man is, of an actual verity, a genius, as well as a hero. "And why labor to impress this theory upon the minds of the readers of The: Intermountain Catholic?" Cath-olic?" is a question that may naturally be asked. Thomas W. Lawson is, perhaps, the most interesting interest-ing personage on the public stage to-day not excepting ex-cepting Roosevelt, the illustrious and beloved, nor Togo, the redoubtable and enigmatical: neither are there many men upon earth upon whose ability and integrity of purpose there dependsso much of vital vi-tal importance as there does upon his. His achievements thus far would seem to afford some guarantee of his ability to achieve all that he promises, i. e., the complete annihilation of the iniquitous in-iquitous system, whose reign has thrust the. nation into the throes of discontent and strife, and which imminently menaces the very existence of ouv cher-ished cher-ished free institutions : and which, .furthermore, has done more to subvert all Christian principles ! and 'ideals thau all other Godless influences com-i com-i bined: inasmuch as the degrading idolatry of mam-j mam-j mon-worship carries in its wake nearly all the sins against the Decalogue with which the world is so I lamentably rife in this first decade of this twentieth twen-tieth century: and which is also, probably, the mot insuperable obstacle against which the Church' -of Christ has to contend in her divine mission man's salvation; surely sufficient, all this,' to enlist the interests in-terests of all Godly and patriotic people men and women in Lawson's character and career, and to move them to fervently wish the man God-speed in his praiseworthy determination to render extinct the race of "Standard Oil." Xow, that the fond task he has set himself is easy of accomplishment no one will, for a moment.-imagine: moment.-imagine: that, even, it is possible, probably no one but Lawson, himself, is convinced; but the fact that there is now in progress' a cleansing of the Augean stables of the "Equitable Life" and a similar ex- perience impending for xther like depredation-cursed depredation-cursed institutions, one may reasonably hope that J Lawson's genius shall also achieve the immeasura-! immeasura-! bly more difficult and more vitally important reforms re-forms which he so confidently promises. It is in order that he may have the support of the mass of the people, which is, no doubt, absolutely essential to his success, whenever he may call for it, that it is important that the people should be advised as to the man and his character. If the writer may be the humble means of arousing the curiousity of his readers, so that they may be moved to thoroughly invistigate, and inform themselves concerning the topic under discussion, he will "lay the flattering unction to his soul" that he has rendered ren-dered the public an appreciable service. Ts Lawson a Providential man? "What is a Providential man. anvhow?" A. C. LAYMAX. |