  Before you pull that string, And strip away that veil, I rise to enter my objection To the hanging of Archer Price’s picture Here in this hall.... For I’ll venture the artist has tried to soften The vain and shifty look of the eyes; And the face that looked like a harte-beest’s, And the rabbit mouth that looked like a horse’s, Lipping oats from a leather bag! I knew this man in ’28 When he drifted here from Maine, he said. And now it’s eighteen ninety two: This year is sacred to conquerors, Discoverers and soldiers. And I object to the hanging of pictures Of men who trade while others fight, And follow the army to get the loot, And rest till other men are tired, Then grab the spoils while the workers sleep. I would like to burn all masks, And padded shoes, And smash all dark lanterns. And brand them with the letter “B,” Which means “Betrayer.” And I would like to enter the Kingdom of Heaven Just to see the publicans who will be there, And the Archer Prices who will not be there! You call him a great man, And a prophetic man, And a leader, and a savior, And a man who was wise in an evil world Of tangled interests and selfish power, And who knew the art of compromise, And how to get half when you can’t get all! You haven’t probed deep enough in this man. For he was great as the condor is great. And prophetic as the wolf is prophetic. And a leader as the jackal is a leader. And his wisdom was that of the python, Which will swallow a hare when no pig is at hand! He was rich, He was well known, His name was linked with lofty things, And adorned all noble committees. And he was a friend of art and music— He gave them money! He was on the Library Board, For building up the city— I admit these things. They were pawns on the board for him. That’s why I rise to enter my objection To hanging his picture here! We had no telephones in those days. But there was a certain man of power, A man who was feared, as one might fear A lion that hides in the jungle. And this man sat in a hidden room As a banded-epira waits and watches. And he went from this room to his house in a cab, And back to this room in a cab. But everyone knew that Archer Price Was doing the will of the man in the room, Though you never saw the two together, As you never could see together the leaders Of some of these late bi-partisan deals. But Archer Price was so much alike This secret man in the room; And did so much what we knew He wanted done, and built the city So near to the heart’s desire of this man That all of us knew that the two conferred In spite of the fact that telephones Had never been heard of then.... Well, because of this man in the room, As well as because of Price himself, Everyone feared him, no one knew Exactly how to fight him. Everyone hated him, although Everyone helped him to wealth and power. He was what you’d call a touch-me-not. If you clodded him you ran the risk Of hitting the teacher, or maybe a child. He always walked with the wind to his back: If you spit at him it would fly in your face. And though we suspected more than we knew Of his subtle machinations, No one could attack him for what was known. Because the things he was known to be doing Were service to those, who couldn’t allow The service to be imperiled. There never was a time This man was out of public office. He clung to the people’s treasury As a magnet clings to a magnet. Why didn’t your orator tell this audience He started in life as town assessor? That would have left me with nothing to say Except he traded the fixing of taxes For business! Oh, you people who unveil pictures! And now everyone has forgotten it. It is useless to say it. And here in the year of Columbus You are unveiling his picture! And you say the Illinois and Michigan Canal Had never been built or saved for the people Except for Archer Price! Why don’t you tell that he fought the Canal in 1830, Saying it would burden the people? And why don’t you say that even then He was acting for his own interests and the man in the room? Why don’t you show that his art of compromise Created the Public Canal Committee When he failed to block the Canal, And failed of appointment as Canal Commissioner? Why don’t you show that through that committee The squatters stole the wharves on the river? Why don’t you show how his friends grew rich Through buying the lands at public sales Which were given to build the Canal, And which the Committee was pretending to conserve? Why don’t you show that through that Committee, Pretending to be a friend of the people, He opened a fight at length o |
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