CHARLES M. DOW

...Down in the little cemetery at Clinton is the Dow family monument and on this marker Charlie's name has been inscribed with the date of his birth for several years...

...On Monday wc are taking Charlie back to Clinton where he will be laid beside his father and mother...

...During the World war when hundreds of old Bob's followers In Wisconsin deserted him because of the pressure of war hysteria, Charlie Dow never wavered during those cruel years and publicly and at all times voiced his loyalty to old Bob...

...Charlie Dow heartily detested the type of Progressive who was in the movement for personal gain and who was not actuated by devotion to principle...

...He was attracted by the appeal being made by the young man who came out of the university law school to challenge a powerful political machine that dominated Dane county and the state...

...He saw over the years the defection...

...During his 60 years of devotion to the Progressive movement Charlie Dow was always willing to stand the gaff and make the sacrifices that were necessary...

...Dow will come from those who saw him every d:iy and who lived close to him...

...He never sought any political preferment for himself...

...In his day-to-day contact with the people who served him, Charlie Dow w«s always as genial and courteous and considerate as he was to the person of power and position callins at the governor's office...

...It was not easy back in the 80's here in Madison for a young drug clerk to show his sympathy for the young crusader La Follette and thereby incur the enmity of old Boss Keyes...

...And so Char-Ik- goes back to Clinton In the real spirit of ThanatopsLs: "So live, that when thy summonS comeii to join the unnumeialile caravan, that moves to that mysterious realm where each shall lake hiS Chamber in the silent lulls of death, thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, scourged to his dungeon, bill, sua-I talned and soothed by the unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about I him...

...Even in the years when his friends knew he was not in good financial circumstances, Charlie Dow never asked for anything and only went into the governor's office as a secretary when Gov...

...On a beautiful October day last fall this writer suggested a drive to Clinton...

...His forbears came from Vermont and with other Vermont Yankees who headed west in an early day settled in the little village of Clinton down near the Rock and Walworth counties border...

...He never drank a glass of liquor and never used tobacco...

...To thousands of friends in city, state and nation, Charlie Dow seemed to be as much a part of Madison as the capitol dome...

...He frequently expressed his resentment against a society under which discriminations would be visited upon men of fine character like Sam [ Pierce, simply because of considerations of color...

...From 1880 to the day of his death Charlie Dow never deviated from the principles of government implanted in this commonwealth by Robert M. La Follette Sr., and he remained to the end a staunch supporter of the Progressive movement...

...Charlie Dew c«m» 'from pioneer stock...

...They will come from men who rank high in business and at the top in the professions...

...His Yankee background asserted itself frequently and his younger friends always delighted in hearing such chips of the old Vermont vernacular as "Want It...

...and the additions in the movement brought on by those who came and went with the tides of fortune and looked for the band wagon...

...Whenever Charlie was sick and Sam Pierce wanted to pay his respects...

...In recent months hardly a day ever passed thAT Charlie did not express the hope that the United States would NOT be drawn Into the present war...

...They all knew him and they liked him...

...and lie down to pleasant dreams...

...With this love of justice, fair play, and a better life for all the people that was innate in the life of Charlie Dow, it was only natural that, 60 years ago, as a young man, he turned with sympathy toward the efforts of another young man who was building a movement designed to wrest government in this state from powerful selfish interests that were using government to serve their selfish interests rather than the public good...

...Charlie Dow's love of folks was sincere...

...He was always proud to say that one of the friendships he valued most highly was that of Sam Pierce, the Negro messenger in the governor's office for many years...

...He always remained loyal to the old home town, —Clinton...

...But the young lad from Clinton had a mind of his own and he had no patience with the manner In which the people of Wisconsin were being exploited by the railroad and lumber barons...

...Although he was liberal and broadminded in every way, Charlie retained a touch of Yankee Puritanism in his makeup throughout his life...

...He frequently talked of the old men who made wars and of the young men who had to die and be slaughtered In war...

...He saw men in the movement, who became comfortable and wealthy, Jose their interest in a movement that was designed to help the oppressed and the underprivileged...

...But the stout heart which had carried Charlie Dow through a colorful life of 76 years finally flickered out early yesterday morning unable further to combat the effects of a major operation...

...Out of his long life in this state he had gathered a wealth of Information and it was fun to hear him tell of the life in the horse and buggy days down in Rock and Walworth counties 50 years ago...

...Tributes to Charlie Dow will come in large measure from men high in places of government...

...Charlie's eyes brightened up and he was ready to go...

...He was always sensitive to their joys and sorrows and always willing to try to help or lend a word of advice to the lowliest person...

...But if Charlie Dow could snow of the words and thoughts that are being expressed in these hours following his passing, he would approbate most the silent tribute and the sorrow that will swell out of the hearts of the lowly and those whose names are seldom seen in the public prints, — the common folks whom Charlie Dow always loved and for whom he always had a warm sympathy...

...La follette asked him to...

...We venture the statement that the most genuine grief and sorrow over the passing of Mr...

...It always grieved him when he saw friends slipping through over indulgence in intoxicating liquor...

...and "Twant it...

...Think of it,—60 years of devotion to an ideal and never once did he falter or prove disloyal to the principles which were the heart of the Progressive movement...

...Men in business in those davs just didn't think It was healthy to oppose political machines controlled by powerful business interests...

...Room is left on the marker for the date on which his life came to a close...

...The girls who work in the coffee shop, the bell boys, and the room attendants in the Loralne hotel where he lived for many years will mourn him deeply...

...As he went on through the trail of life and advanced in years, he saw the men in the movement who were growing older with him gradually take on the conservatism that comes with age and lose their interest in the battle...

...The Capital Times will never forget his loyalty to this Institution during those critical years and we still have a vivid picture of Charlie Dow standing in front of the Falrchlld block ardently defending Old Bob and The Capital Times in those days...

...Charlie Dow's love of folks wasn't a pose.—the pose of a politician seeking votes and willing to resort to cheap flattery and demagoguery in order to win support...

...Charlie Dow was never devoted to the formalized practices of religion...

...He often said that Tom Palue's religion was good enough for him: "The world Is my country, to do good is my religion...

...irrespective of political affiliations...

...And what a plea-sur and joy it was to drive over the Wisconsin countryside with Charlie Dow...

...And his love of folks was never circumscribed by consideration of race, creed or color...

...Charlie always insisted that his colored friend should come in the front door of the hotel and be shown every courtesy that was given to his white friends...

...He hated the Institution of war...

...He will be accompanied on the last Journey by a group of congenial friends who associated themselves under the name of Thanatopsls and Joined each Saturday In a few hours of relaxation following the chores of the week...

...The inscription on the family marker indicated that he was always ready for the last ride back home...