“No, I was pushed into that by accident. I had never been in the common
council chamber before I was elected Mayor of Detroit. The thing
that caught me was that my friends began to say I was afraid of the
position, so, of course, I had to accept the nomination to prove that I
wasn’t.”
This was clever of his friends. The fact is that, at that time, the
city needed the Governor’s brains to manage its affairs. He was elected
Mayor of Detroit four consecutive terms and was in his eighth year as
mayor when he resigned. Even his most earnest political opponents admit
that he was the best mayor the city ever had.
“But, during the formative years of your career, did you ever worry
over the possibility of failure?”
“No,” said the Governor serenely, “I never did, and don’t now. I was
never given to worrying.”
In this as in other ways, Mr. Pingree was remarkable. During the
stormiest of his political times he was never in the least disturbed
when he reached home, and he would sleep as peacefully as a child.
“What would you suggest, Governor, as the best route by which the young
man of to-day may obtain success?”
“He can do one of two things: go to work for somebody else; or, if he
cannot stand that, he can buy a small farm.”
“Then you think there is not the chance in the United States now that
there was thirty years ago?”
“There isn’t a doubt about it. The young men of to-day are to be
pitied—there isn’t anything for them to do. The subject is a serious
one,” said the Governor, speaking rapidly. “Why, if I had nothing, I
wouldn’t know how to advise my own son to start. I don’t claim to know
much, but I do understand a little about the shoe business, and I can
tell you honestly that, with the knowledge I have gained in many years
of experience, and with the influence of my friends, I could not start
in the shoe business to-day with the chance of success that I had then.”
“And the causes of this?”
“Are trusts and monopolies.”
“And the result?”