Feb. 18, 1916. 
N° more fitting memorial to that remarkable man, Wil- 
liam Rockhill Nelson, who had a beautiful summer 
- home in Magnolia, could have been composed than the 
story of his life written by members of the staff of the 
kansas City Star, the instrument by which he helped more 
than any other man to transform a muddy little town in 
_ the hands of selfish exploiters into a great city with public 
spirit and community feeling. 
The story of how that man and that paper, typifying 
the very spirit of progress, waged an aggressive fight for 
the people against politicians, franchise grabbers and 
plundering contractors efficiently and unselfishly is a most 
inspiring chapter in the history of democracy. 
And it is well that it has been written by members of 
“the Star family.” Like many another great editor, Wil- 
liam Rockhill Nelson was proud of his assistants. They 
worked together in one room, with Mr. Nelson’s desk in 
thie center where, according to the biography, the office 
boy’s suggestions were as welcome as those of the man- 
aging editor. 
Mr. Nelson personally directed the work of every 
‘reporter. He knew every man who had been on the 
paper any length of time, and he was never known, by 
testimony of the members of his staff, to speak unkindly 
to any employe. 
His belief in his “helpers,” as he called them, and his 
loyalty to them, once impelled him to fight in the courts 
a writ for contempt caused by the mistake of a pause 
_ even after the judge had threatened to send Mr. Nelson 
to jail. 
The utilitarian ideals of this man were simply stated 
by himself and strictly adhered to. “The Star,” he said 
 o1ce, “is published for the people, who pay it 10 cents a 
week. It is their newspaper. It must be their champion 
in everything.” 
His biography is convincing proof that he never 
wavered in his pursuit of this ideal. The wonderful part 
of it is that he met with such success. 
At the time of Mr. Nelson’s death Mark Sullivan 
described him as “one of the dozen important personalities 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 5 
) 
of his time in America,” and added, “the liberal and pro- 
gressive movement which arose in the Middle West be- 
tween IO and 20 years ago and came to dominate the 
pchtical and social forces of the period, centered largely 
around the Kansas City Star.” 
The paper became the militant fighting force of the 
community, but its influence was of National effect. Its 
editor helped to make Presidents, but boasted that he had 
never sought a political appointment for anybody. 
Nelson was a natural insurgent. It began when he 
was a boy and admittedly “a bad boy.” He was compelled 
to leave college. In the words of one of those who col- 
laborated on his biography, “the established social order 
was a constant challenge to him.” 
He was one of the earliest champions of the initiative 
and referendum, the recall, of all measures aiming to give 
the people more control over their Government. He rea- 
soned always from the same premise. 
He explained his vigorous war on the saloon as fol- 
lows: “If they will bring me one man, just one, that 
whiskey has benefited, I will give up my fight against it 
and they can have the whole country to search for that 
cne man.” 
Nelson’s ancestors were fighters by nature. Several 
cf them were distinguished leaders in the American Rev- 
olution. 
It is doubtful if any other one man or one newspaper 
has played so large a part in recent years in the upbuilding 
of any great American community. 
The preface alone is sufficient tribute to his devotion 
ard sincerity. It is a short editorial from Des Moines, 
(/a.), Capital, under the title, “He Gave All to Kansas 
City” 
The reference is to material things. His entire estate 
will go to the people of that city for an art gallery. Pro- 
vision was merely made that his wife and daughter should 
receive the incone from his property during their lifetime. 
The book is published in Cambridge by the Riverside 
Press. 
Wicked Warfare 
JX the terrible conflict now raging abroad 
Man stands for Man in the sight of his God, 
Placed here on earth his commands to obey 
Not for kaiser or kings to slaughter and slay. 
Thousands now sleep in an unknown grave, 
Who fought for the colors their country to save 
Met by cavalry charge and leaden rain, 
That swept through their ranks like an endless chain. 
Left on the battlefield suffering, to die, 
No mother, sister nor kindred nigh, 
Thinking of loved ones, longing for home,— 
Somebody’s boy—if not your own. 
Over the graves of those who sleep, 
Down, down in the depths of the mighty deep, 
. Motherless children are calling in vain, 
Never to hear their voice again. 
Mothers with innocent babes on their breast, 
Swept to eternity—God knows the rest. 
Prayers of the dying tortured with pain— 
God of humanity, who is to blame? 
In this war, where blood like cataracts flow, 
Turning to crimson God’s mantle of snow, 
Fought only for titles, plunder and gain— 
History will bow its head in shame. 
What trophies of war can the victors claim 
But their passports to hell, there to remain, 
When they think of the countless thousands slain: 
The widows, the orphans, starvation and pain. 
Is there no power on earth to stay 
This terrible slaughter day after day? 
A cruel, wicked, needless shame— 
Blood-thirsty nations gone insane. 
May the world never witness such warfare again; 
May the prayers for its ending not be in vain; 
May this wholesale murder of God’s children cease. 
For the sake of humanity, let us have peace! _ 
—G. D. H. 
Tue. PopuLation of the United States increases at 
the rate of three a minute. To begin to calculate the 
growth during the next fifty years is enough to make a 
statistician dizzy. 
