A MESSAGE TO GARCIA.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2185, 14 September 1907, Page 4 (Supplement)

A MESSAGE TO GARCIA.

. (This is n story that was in “The J‘liili.st.ino,” but it bus been translated into a 1 iout thirteen, different liin,manes, and about '25 million copies -of it have 'boon sold. It is ope oi the finest tilings in ,the Uwiguago, and the man jvfth wrote, it is. not. dellu yet. That is a bit of a drawback to be sure, but wo’U have to make the. best of it. Road it, and pass it along, and romembor that the iu«n who wrote it was Elbert Hubbard, I 1 ra in America. But pass it round. Ed.)

“In all this Cuban business there i.s one man who stands ont on my momory like Mars at .perihelion. When war broke out between Spain and the United - States, it was very necessary to communioato quiokly with tho leader of the insurgents. G arci a was somewhere in tho mountain-fastnesses of Cuba—no ono know where. No mail nor tolograph message could reach him. The President, must secure his co-operation, and quickly. WJiat to do 1 Some one said to tlie President, ‘There is a follow., by the narno of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can.’ “Rowan, was sent for anil, given a letter to bo delivered, to Garcia. “How ‘the fellow by the name of Rowan’ took tho letter and sealed it up in an oilskin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by . night off, the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks , came out on the. other.side.of the island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered -liis letter, to Garcia, arc things I have no special desire now to tell in detail. The point I wish to make is this: MTvinJoy gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took tlio letter, and did not ask, ‘Where..is lie, at?’

“By tho Eternal 1 there is a man whose form should bo cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college in tlio land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of tho vertebrae which will cause them to bo loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do t/lie thing—‘carry a message to . Garcia.’ General Garcia is dead now, hut there, are other Garcias.

“No man who has endeavoured to carry out. an ontoiprise where many hands wore needed but has been wellnigh appalled at times by. the imbecility of the average man—the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing to do it. Slipshod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, and half-hearted work seem tho rule; and no man succeeds, unless by ho.ok or crook, or threat, he forces or bribes otjlier men to .assist him; or mayhap, God in his goodness performs a miracle; and sends him an Angel of Light for an assistant. You, reader, put this matter, to a tost: You are sitting now in your, office—six clerks are within call. Summon any one and make this request: ‘Please look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio.’ “Will the clerk quietly say, ‘Yes, sir,’ and go to the task— On your life he will not. Ho will look at you. out of his fishy eyes and ask one. or, more of the following questions: J.'AJho was ho? •'.“.Which encyclopedia? •' “Whore is the encyclopedia? “Was. I hired for that'? ■'“Don’t you mean Bismarck? “What’s the matter with Charlie doing it? - “Is ho dead? “Is there any hurry? “Shan’t I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself? “What do you want to know for? “And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions, and explained how to find the, information, and why you want it, the clerk will go and get one of the other clerks to help him try to find Garcia —and then eomo back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may lose my bet, but according to the Law of Average I will not. “Now if you are wise, you will not bother to explain to your ‘assistant’ that Correggio is indexed under the C’s not! in the K’s, but you will smile sweetly and say ‘Never mind,’ and go and look it up yourself. And this incapacity, for independent action, this moral stupidity, this infirmity of the will, this unwillingness to cheerfully catch hold and lift, are the things that put pure Socialism so. far into tho futuro. If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when tho benefit of their efforts is for all? A first-mate. with knotted club seems necessary; and the dread of getting itlio bounce’ Saturday night, holds many a worker in his plaeo. Advertise for a stenographer, and nine out often who apply can neither spell or punctuate—and do not think it necessary to. “Can such a one write a letter to Garcia?

“ ‘You seo tliat book-keeper?’ said : tho foreman to me in a largo factory.

“ ‘Yes, what about him?’ “ ‘Well, lie’s a fine acountaut, but if I’d sent him up town on an errand, he might, accomplish the errand all right,)... and, i; on the .other: hand,, might stop at four saloo,iis,on the way, and when. he got to Main street, would forget what ho had been sent' for.’

“Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia? “AYe have recently been hearing much maudlin sympathy expressed for, the ‘down-trodden denizen of the sweat-shop,’ and the ‘homeless wanderer searching for honest employment,’ and with it all go many hard words for the men in power. “Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time ill a vain attempt to get frowsy ne’er-do--wells to do intelligent work; and his long patient striving with ‘help’ that does nothing but loaf when his hack is turned. In every storo and factory there is a constant weeding-put going on. The employer is constantly sending away ‘help’ that have shown their incapacity to further the interest's of the ..business, and others are being, taken on. No matter how good times arc, this sorting con tin-, ues; only, if times are hard and work is, scarce, the sorting is done finer—hut out and for ever out the unworthy and incompetent go. It is the survival of the fittest. Self-in-terest prompts every employer to keep the best—those who can carry a message to Garcia.

“I 'know one man of really brilliant parts who has not the ability to manage a business of his own, and yet who is absolutely worthless to anyone else, because lie carries with him constantly the insane suspicion that his employer is oppressing, or intending to oppresss him. Ho cannot give orders; and he will not receive them., Should a message bo given him to take, to Garcia, ho would.probably ( at once refer to you as a greedy, grasping Shylock, and toll you to ‘Take it your-

self I’ Ho .regards all busmens men as rogues, 'and constantly uses the . term ‘commercial’ as an epithet. To-night, this man walks the streets looking for work, the..wind whistling through liis threadbare coat, No ono who knows him .dare employ. him, for, ..lie. is a ,regular fire-brand of . discontent. He is impervious to reason, and the only thing that can impress.,,him vis the. tpo of a thick-soled No. 9 boot. .Of course, I know .that one so .morally d'-‘formed is no less to.be pitied tliai.i. a physical,cripple: but in our pitying, let us drop a tear,. too, for the men w,lio are striving to carry on a great c-ntprprise, whose working hours are not limited by the,,whistle, and whvfte hair is fast turning white through the, struggle to hold in line dowdy indifference, slipshod imbecility and the heartless ingratitude,, which but for their enterprise, would be both hungry and homeless.

“Ha-vo I put the matter too strongly? Possibly I have, but when, all, the world has gone a-slumming I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who. succeeds—the man who. against great odds, has directed the efforts of others, and having succeeded, finds there’s nothing in it: nothing but bare board and clothes. I have carried a dinnerpail and worked for day’s wages, and I havo also been an employer of labor, and I know there is something to bo said on both sides. There is no excellence, per so, in poverty ;”rags are no recommendation ; and all employers are notrapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous. My heart goes out to the man who does his work when tho ‘boss’ is away as well as when lie is at home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quickly takeß the missive, without asking idiotic questions, and with no lurking intentions of chucking it down the nearest sewer, or doing anglit else but deliver it, never gets ‘laid off,’ nor has to. go on strike for higherwages. Civilisation is one long, anxious search- for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted. He is wanted in every city, town, and village—in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: ho is needed, and is needed badly—the man who can carry a message to-Garcia.”