It is a clear sky with racing clouds that the statue stands against, and
I almost imagine it swaying and moving, such is the illusory effect of
the clouds. I enter the park and rest on a settee looking toward the
lake.
Chicago has now a population of a million and a half--you will observe
that this passion for figures remains with me. To the south I can see
the smoke of the steel mills; to the north the towers of granite, tile,
and brick of the city, and all between populous quarters. Twenty miles
of city north and south; ten miles of city east and west. I am on
Douglas' ninety acres, ten of which he deeded to the University of
Chicago. Its three-story college building stands to the west of me about
one half a mile; abandoned now. The acres themselves have passed to an
insurance company on a mortgage. And in the general decay of Douglas'
memory and influences this seems fitting enough.
Of course, the Civil War was waged to free the negro; and to do it it
was necessary to have a protective tariff, which came into being soon
after Lincoln was elected, and has been the policy of the country ever
since. Also for this emancipation it was necessary to revive the bank,
and this was done during the war. Not long after the war was over--about
two years--the trust known as the Standard Oil Company was organized.
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