致亚细亚的信

A MESSAGE TO GARCIA

by Elbert Hubbard 1899

In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of

my

memory

like

Mars

at

perihelion.

When

war

broke

out

between

Spain

&

the

United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the

leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness

of Cuba - no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach

him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly.

What to do!

Some one said to the President,

will find Garcia for you, if anybody can.

Rowan

was

sent

for

and

given

a

letter

to

be

delivered

to

Garcia.

How

fellow

by

the

name

of

Rowan

took

the

letter,

sealed

it

up

in

an

oil-skin

pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the

coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, & in three

weeks

came

out

on

the

other

side

of

the

Island,

having

traversed

a

hostile

country on foot, and delivered his letter to Garcia, are things I have

no special desire now to tell in detail.

The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be

delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask,

at?

By

the

Eternal!

there

is

a

man

whose

form

should

be

cast

in

deathless

bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land.

It is not book- learning young men need, nor instruction about this and

that,

but

a

stiffening

of

the

vertebrae

which

will

cause

them

to

be

loyal

to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing -

No man, who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands

were needed, but has been well nigh appalled at times by the imbecility

of the average man - the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a

thing and do it. Slip-shod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy

indifference, & half-hearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds,

unless

by

hook

or

crook,

or

threat,

he

forces

or

bribes

other

men

to

assist

him; or mayhap, God in His goodness performs a miracle, & sends him an

Angel of Light for an assistant.

You,

reader,

put

this

matter

to

a

test:

You

are

sitting

now

in

your

office

-

six

clerks

are

within

call.

Summon

any

one

and

make

this

request:

look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning

the life of Correggio

Will

the

clerk

quietly

say,

sir,

and

go

do

the

task?

On

your

life,

he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye and ask one or more

of the following questions:

Who was he? Which encyclopedia? Where is the encyclopedia? Was I hired

for that? Don't you mean Bismarck? What's the matter with Charlie doing

it? Is he dead? Is there any hurry? Shan't I bring you the book and let

you look it up yourself? What do you want to know for?

And

I

will

lay

you

ten

to

one

that

after

you

have

answered

the

questions,

and

explained

how

to

find

the

information,

and

why

you

want

it,

the

clerk

will

go

off

and

get

one

of

the

other

clerks

to

help

him

try

to

find

Garcia

- and then come back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may

lose my bet, but according to the Law of Average, I will not.

Now if you are wise you will not bother to explain to your

that

Correggio

is

indexed

under

the

C's,

not

in

the

K's,

but

you

will

smile

sweetly and say,

And this incapacity for independent action, this moral stupidity, this

infirmity of the will, this unwillingness to cheerfully catch hold and

lift, are the things that put pure Socialism so far into the future. If

men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of

their

effort

is

for

all?

A

first-mate

with

knotted

club

seems

necessary;

and

the

dread

of

getting

bounce

Saturday

night,

holds

many

a

worker

to his place.

Advertise for

a

stenographer, and

nine

out of ten

who apply, can neither

spell nor punctuate - and do not think it necessary to. Can such a one

write a letter to Garcia?

he might accomplish the errand all right, and on the other hand, might

stop at four saloons on the way, and when he got to Main Street, would

forget what he had been sent for.