ity in the management of the road, and in which
Jay Gould was prominent. Branch lines were
either built or purchased at very low figures by
the directors, and then sold to the company at
enormously inflated ones. Under the stimulus of
the Thurman Act, a body of legitimate stockhold
ers arose, people who invested their money in
Pacific Railway stock, because it offered a good
return, but the Act was powerless to protect them
against this last species of theft ; they suffered, and
thus another element was added • to complicate
what had, already become a vexed question. In
1880, or soon after, Jay Gould withdrew. Last
year the Government made another attempt and
appointed the Pacific Railways Commission,
which was to investigate and report on the actual
condition of the roads and suggest what it is best
to do. Its report has recently been submitted. For
the present purpose, the situation may be sum
marized thus : The Government has been swin
dled, legitimate investors robbed, and the rail
ways therefore unable to meet their debt on ma
turity in 1897, with the probability that they will
never be able to pay it in full, but lastly, and of
more importance than all others, is the enerva
tion that such scandal in high places inevitably
produces in the tone of public morals. Congress
may do what it will in the matter, in the way of
adjustment or compromise, but its action can in
no wise reach this last and most serious question.
The railway corporation is only one among many
and the same question arises in them all. The
corporation is a practical necessity ; we cannot
do without it ; how then shall we protect our
selves against It ? By special legislation ? The
remedy would become More burdensome than the
evil. It is 'very difficult, probably impossible to
answer it in the present time, but there seems to
he force in. the thought—since in America "cus
tom makes the law, not law the custom," we may
expect, that all social questions and national dan
gers will be answered and met by the gradual
and consistent evolution of a right public senti
ment. .
THE FREE LANCE.
To be great is to be good, and to be good is
to be zealous and active in the cause of truth and
justice, to spurn everything that is mean or de
basing, to aim at that which is calculated to im•
prove mankind, and to satisfy the demands of an
approving conscience. True greatness is more
than an empty name, or a pompous title—more
than what the world•is accustomed to call great.
High-sounding titles are often hollow things, and
are frequently borne by persons having equally
hollow heads. To become great requires effort
and action, Action, too, directed in the right
course, and tending toward the accomplishment
of some useful end, or noble purpose. Self, and
self interest,
.must be set aside, and the good of
others, the improvement of society, and the cause
of truth should become the leading aim; The
road to true greatness is indeed a difficult and te•
dious one. There are many barriers to be
crossed, many obstacles to be surmounted, and
many difficulties to be overcome, It leads through
dark and trying scenes, as well as over moun
tains of oppositiori and trial, yet it is the only
royal road—if such there be—to true greatness. •
Great men are not the "mushroom growth"
of 'a day nor a year. It requires time and well
directed effort to insure lasting greatness. It re
quires self-denial, strict integrity, and an un•
spotted reputation.
''All is not gold that glitters," neither are
all men great that bear the name, of greatness.
More is required than what the world calls great
ness. Something substantial and unfaltering is
needed, or to be, and not to' seem to be, is the
leading characteristic. It is more than the ex
ternal appearance that forms the man, there must
be something worthy of admiration within ; the
appearance may be ever so bland, and savor of
truth and integrity, and yet, within, all may be
corruption. The most villianous heart is often
concealed behind a smiling face. The brow that
wears the chaplet of worldly fame, often bears the
TRUE GREATNESS.