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The Power to Compete An Economist and an
Entrepreneur on Revitalizing Japan in the Global
Economy 1st Edition Hiroshi Mikitani Digital Instant
Download
Author(s): Hiroshi Mikitani, Ryoichi Mikitani
ISBN(s): 9781119000600, 1119000602
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 2.35 MB
Year: 2014
Language: english
THE POWER TO
COMPETE
THE POWER
TO COMPETE
An Economist and an
Entrepreneur on Revitalizing
Japan in the Global Economy

Hiroshi Mikitani
Ryoichi Mikitani
Cover image: Hiroshi Noguchi
Cover design: Seiichi Suzuki

Copyright © 2014 by Hiroshi Mikitani. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Contents

Introduction Japan Again ix

Chapter 1 The Power to Innovate 1

Japan Again 1
The Keys to Revitalizing Japan 4
Keidanren’s Raison D’̂etre 7
The Nature of Innovation 11
Schumpeter’s Contribution 15
Building Infrastructure 19
Business Innovation 23
Summary 27

Chapter 2 The Power to Operate 29

Workforce Fluidity 29
Privatization 33
Lifetime Employment 37
Escaping Lifetime Employment 40
Immigration Problems 43
Why English Needs to Be a Common Language
in Japan 45
Growing the Population 50
Summary 53

v
vi Contents

Chapter 3 The Power in Questioning Abenomics 55

History of Abenomics 55
Independence in Finance 59
The Optimal Inflation Rate 62
Halting the Rise of Interest Rates 65
What to Do About Our 1-Quadrillion-Yen
Debt 67
The Pros and Cons of Abenomics 70
Summary 75

Chapter 4 The Power of the Low-Cost State 77

The High Cost of Governance 77
How to Reform the High-Cost Structure 83
Addressing the Japanese Disease 87
The United States and Individualism 92
The Impotent Bureaucracy 95
Internationalizing the Bureaucracy 99
Creating Think Tanks 103
Political Appointees 106
What It Will Take to Improve
the Bureaucracy 109
Summary 111

Chapter 5 The Power to Succeed Overseas 113

The Decline in the Number of Students
Studying Abroad 113
Escaping from the Galapagos Effect 118
The Future of Journalism 121
Media in the Internet Era 125
The Importance of Liberal Arts 131
Ryoichi Mikitani’s Experiences Abroad 134
Summary 137
 Contents vii

Chapter 6 The Power to Educate 139

Uniform Japanese Education 139
The Education of the Mikitani Family 141
What the Education System Needs 146
Higher Education 151
What People Study in University 154
The Founding of Rakuten 157
The Evaluation System for Teachers 160
The Need for Strategy in the Japanese
Education System 162
Summary 168

Chapter 7 The Power to Build Brand Japan 169

Brand Power 169
The Demonstration Effect 174
Brand Value at the National Level 178
Foreign Nationals Working in Japan 183
Making Japan Attractive to Foreign
Nationals 186
Japan and the Trans-Pacific Partnership 189
Summary 195

Conclusion What Is the Power to Compete? 197

Japan Uniquely Incorporates and Interprets
Cultures 197
Competitiveness as a Platform 200
The Global Logistics Revolution 202
Summary 205

Epilogue 207

Acknowledgments 211

Index 213
 Introduction
Japan Again

We are in a worldwide period of tremendous change, driven

by the global information technology (IT) revolution. But not
all of Japan has embraced the transformation. The sad truth is
that few Japanese political, business, or governmental leaders
understand where we are and where we are going. In many
important ways, Japan today is the same as it was in the Edo
period, when our country was closed off to the world and
the leaders of the shogunate1 paid no mind to the changes
happening abroad.
Even though we are seeing massive global changes in the
IT industry, Japan as a whole seems unable to participate in
the process. We drift aimlessly. The IT revolution has cre-
ated structural shifts that are bringing the world together as
if it were one continent. And yet, in Japan, people continue
to prefer conventional frameworks, believing that we should
enjoy a separate, isolated kind of Galapagos island. People here
1
This was the Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun in the Edo period
(1603–1868).

ix
x Introduction

do not even try to consider the current global reality. This is as

true for cell phones as it is for corporate governance and inter-
national accounting standards. I believe that the old guard’s
refusal to allow society to change only results in lowered pro-
ductivity and weaker competitiveness for Japan.
Nowhere is this problem more obvious than in our gov-
ernment bureaucracy, which has become so bloated and rigid
that it should really be called state capitalism. The continuation
of the bureaucracy-led economy can only create a situation in
which innovation is stifled; it will not inspire economic growth.
And as the Japanese economy decelerates, the national debt
continues to swell. It is difficult to imagine that this country has
a future if we maintain the current spiral of loss in which the
public is forced to swallow tax increases just so the government
can somehow get by.
Japan is a country of rich traditions, culture, and philoso-
phies cultivated over a 2,000-year history. We also excel in
advanced technology and creativity. We need to share this
intellectual and technical wealth. We must not limit our ambi-
tions to our own small national borders and become a country
of exclusion. Japan should instead become a country of greater
openness, one that accepts a variety of people and cultures,
and is attractive to people everywhere. This calls for two inter-
twined goals: (1) We must work to become the wealthiest
country in the world; and (2) we must also strive to become
a safe and peaceful country with highly advanced science,
technology, and culture.
My work with the Japan Association of New Economy
is aimed at achieving those goals. First, we must eliminate
anachronistic regulations. At the same time, we must develop
innovative businesses and services through the use of the
Internet and other IT, and connect that innovation to the
economic growth of Japan.
 Introduction xi

The second Abe2 administration, inaugurated in Decem-

ber 2012, created three councils—the Council on Economic
and Fiscal Policy, the Industrial Competitiveness Council,
and the Regulatory Reform Council—to act as the “control
towers” for the economic revitalization plan popularly called
Abenomics.3 As a member of the Industrial Competitiveness
Council, I have had the opportunity to debate a growth strat-
egy, the third arrow of Abenomics. I combined my thoughts
as a business leader on that debate into a proposal entitled
“Japan Again.”
While working on these issues of government and growth
strategies, it occurred to me that I wanted to write a book
about the topic. And I knew early on whom I would ask to
be my coauthor: my father. My dad, an economist and a pro-
fessor emeritus at Kobe University, had often been my debate
partner and sounding board as I explored issues around the
Japanese economy. He passed away in late 2013, but before
that happened, we engaged in a series of discussions about the
future of Japan and the global economy. The result of those
debates is this book. My father was instrumental in helping
me to understand where we are now, what has led us to this
place, and what we must do going forward for Japan and for
the larger global economy. It is my honor to share that think-
ing with you here, in the hopes of continuing the important
global conversation he and I started.
Allow me to take a moment to introduce my dad: Ryoichi
Mikitani was born at the start of the global economic crisis of
1929 in Nada-ku, Kobe. After graduating from the Graduate
School of Economics at Kobe University, then called Kobe
2
Abe is Shinzō Abe, the 57th (2006–2007) and current Prime Minister of Japan, serving as
the second Abe cabinet since December 2012.
3
Abenomics consists of three arrows: (1) a massive fiscal stimulus measure, (2) more aggressive
monetary easing from the Bank of Japan, and (3) a growth strategy by structural reforms to
boost Japan’s competitiveness.
xii Introduction

University of Economics, he chose the path of researcher,

and from 1972 until his compulsory retirement as a public
employee in 1993, he was a professor in the Graduate School
of Economics at Kobe University. He specialized in financial
theory and U.S. economic theory, and he served as president
of the Japan Society of Monetary Economics. From there, he
moved to the faculty of economics in the Graduate School of
Economics at Kobe Gakuin University. He retired in 2002.
My dad was an international economist, which is a rare
occupation in Japan. He studied at a language school in his
teens, and he was fluent in both English and German. He
easily passed the test for the Fulbright Scholar Program, which
is known to be a difficult trial, and in 1959, at the age of
29, he entered the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of
Harvard University in the United States. There he studied
U.S. economics, then a cutting-edge subject, and he also grew
close with James Duesenberry, who was famous for his work
on the demonstration effect, as well as Paul Sweezy, known
as a Keynesian economist who was well versed in Marxian
economics. At the same time, my dad immersed himself in
tomes such as the Chinese military text The Art of War and The
Analects of Confucius, becoming well versed in both Western
and Eastern philosophy. The depth of his knowledge was
absolutely amazing. I continue to have nothing but respect for
the profundity of his insight and ability to see things for what
they are. It may be more appropriate to introduce him as a
philosopher or intellectual rather than as an economist.
Now for a few words about me: I was an unruly child
and never one to get good grades, but my dad never had an
unkind word for me. Even when I transferred out of my pri-
vate junior high school after finding it difficult to fit in, he
respected my feelings and supported me. Many times, when
I found myself at a personal crossroads—when I graduated
from Hitotsubashi University and was unsure about whether
 Introduction xiii

I wanted to go into research or become a businessman; when I

quit my job at the Industrial Bank of Japan [currently Mizuho
Bank]; when I founded Rakuten; when I tried to buy Tokyo
Broadcasting System (TBS)—I always visited my dad in Kobe
to hear his suggestions. Like my wife has been, my dad was a
long behind-the-scenes counselor to me as I faced important
decisions in life.
If he had been a traditional parent, I suppose that I could
have expected advice like “Stop trying to do things differently
from other people.” But Dad always supported me, telling me
that if I believed something to be essentially correct, I must
do it. Naturally, he always reminded me that if I was going to
do something, I had better do it right.
As an entrepreneur, I am the sort of person who prefers
to understand things in an intuitive way and make top-down
decisions. I have previously referred to the process by which I
make decisions as a game of catch between my left and right
brain. When I started to feel intuitively that I was going to
do something, I would go and play this game of intellectual
catch with Dad. I would listen to his rational way of thinking
and his questions about what my ideal outcome would be and
what my experiences in the past had been like and, in the end,
I always felt that I was able to transform my intuition into a
feeling of certainty.
My parents were living close to me, so I could go ask for
Dad’s opinion whenever I wanted. But I knew I could not
expect him to act as my counselor forever. He was 83 when
I approached him to work on this book with me. I thought
long and hard about our grand theme this time—the future
of Japan—and then I asked my dad for his opinion on my
ideas. In total, I had 17 different conversations covering a
broad range of topics with Dad, starting in April 2013 and
continuing for the following seven months. He passed away on
November 9, 2013.
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He taught in a little log
schoolhouse on a hill south of
the village, just across Green’s
Rocky Branch. Among his pupils
was Ann Rutledge, and the
school was often visited by
Lincoln. In 1845 Mentor Graham
was defendant in a lawsuit in
which Lincoln and Herndon
were attorneys for the plaintiff,
Nancy Green. It appears from
the declaration, written by
Lincoln’s own hand, that on
October 28, 1844, Mentor
Graham gave his note to Nancy
Green for one hundred dollars,
with John Owen and Andrew
Beerup as sureties, payable
twelve months after date. The
note not being paid when due,
suit was brought. That Lincoln,
even as an attorney, should sue
Mentor Graham may seem
strange; but it is no surprise
when it is explained that the
plaintiff was the widow of
Bowling Green—the woman
who, with her husband, had
comforted Lincoln in an hour of
grief. Justice, too, in this case
was clearly on her side. The
lawsuit seems never to have
disturbed the friendly relations
between Lincoln and Mentor
Graham. The latter’s admiration
for the former was unbounded to
the day of his death. Mentor
Graham lived on his farm near
the ruins of New Salem until
1860, when he removed to
Petersburg. There he lived until
1885, when he removed to
Greenview, Illinois. Later he
went to South Dakota, where he
 died about 1892, at the ripe old
age of ninety-odd years.

Lincoln showed soon that if he was unwilling to indulge in

“woolling and pulling” for amusement, he did not object to it in a
case of honor. A man came into the store one day when women
were present, and used profane language. Lincoln asked him to
stop; but the man persisted, swearing that nobody should
prevent his saying what he wanted to. The women gone, the man
began to abuse Lincoln so hotly that the latter finally said, “Well,
if you must be whipped, I suppose I might as well whip you as
any other man;” and going outdoors with the fellow, he threw
him on the ground, and rubbed smart-weed in his eyes until he
bellowed for mercy. New Salem’s sense of chivalry was touched,
and enthusiasm over Lincoln increased.

MODEL OF FIRST PLOUGH

MADE IN MENARD COUNTY,
ILLINOIS.

Reproduced by permission from

“Menard-Salem-Lincoln
Souvenir Album,” Petersburg,
Illinois, 1893.
His honesty excited no less admiration. Two incidents seem to
have particularly impressed the community. Having discovered
on one occasion that he had taken six and a quarter cents too
much from a customer, he walked three miles that evening, after
his store was closed, to return the money. Again, he weighed out
a half-pound of tea, as he supposed. It was night, and this was
the last thing he did before closing up. On entering in the
morning he discovered a four-ounce weight on the scales. He saw
his mistake, and, closing up shop, hurried off to deliver the
remainder of the tea. This unusual regard for the rights of others
soon won him the title of “Honest Abe.”

A NEW SALEM CHAIR.

This chair is now in the

collection of Mr. Louis Vanuxem
of Philadelphia. It was originally
owned by Caleb Carmen of New
Salem, and was once repaired by
Abraham Lincoln.
 LINCOLN STUDIES GRAMMAR.
As soon as the store was fairly under way, Lincoln began to look
about for books. Since leaving Indiana, in March, 1830, he had
had, in his drifting life, little leisure or opportunity for study,
though he had had a great deal for observation. Nevertheless his
desire to learn had increased, and his ambition to be somebody
had been encouraged. In that time he had found that he really
was superior to many of those who were called the “great” men of
the country. Soon after entering Macon County, in March, 1830,
when he was only twenty-one years old, he had found he could
make a better speech than at least one man who was before the
public. A candidate had come along where John Hanks and he
were at work, and, as John Hanks tells the story, the man made a
speech. “It was a bad one, and I said Abe could beat it. I turned
down a box, and Abe made his speech. The other man was a
candidate, Abe wasn’t. Abe beat him to death, his subject being
the navigation of the Sangamon River. The man, after Abe’s
speech was through, took him aside, and asked him where he had
learned so much and how he could do so well. Abe replied,
stating his manner and method of reading, what he had read. The
man encouraged him to persevere.”
He had found that people listened to him, that they quoted his
opinions, and that his friends were already saying that he was
able to fill any position. Offutt even declared the country over
that “Abe” knew more than any man in the United States, and
that some day he would be President.
Under this stimulus Lincoln’s ambition increased. “I have talked
with great men,” he told his fellow-clerk and friend Greene, “and
I do not see how they differ from others.” He made up his mind
to put himself before the public, and talked of his plans to his
friends. In order to keep in practice in speaking he walked seven
or eight miles to debating clubs. “Practising polemics” was what
he called the exercise. He seems now for the first time to have
begun to study subjects. Grammar was what he chose. He sought
Mentor Graham, the school-master, and asked his advice. “If you
are going before the public,” Mr. Graham told him, “you ought to
do it.” But where could he get a grammar? There was but one,
said Mr. Graham, in the neighborhood, and that was six miles
away. Without waiting for further information, the young man
rose from the breakfast-table, walked immediately to the place,
and borrowed this rare copy of Kirkham’s Grammar. From that
time on for weeks he gave his leisure to mastering its contents.
Frequently he asked his friend Greene to hold the book while he
recited, and when puzzled he would consult Mr. Graham.
Lincoln’s eagerness to learn was such that the whole
neighborhood became interested. The Greenes lent him books,
the school-master kept him in mind and helped him as he could,
and the village cooper let him come into his shop and keep up a
fire of shavings sufficiently bright to read by at night. It was not
long before the grammar was mastered. “Well,” Lincoln said to
his fellow-clerk Greene, “if that’s what they call a science, I think
I’ll go at another.”
Before the winter was ended he had become the most popular
man in New Salem. Although he was but twenty-two years of age
in February, 1832; had never been at school an entire year; had
never made a speech, except in debating clubs or by the roadside;
had read only the books he could pick up, and known only the
men of the poor, out-of-the-way towns in which he had lived, yet,
“encouraged by his great popularity among his immediate
neighbors,” as he says, he announced himself, in March, 1832, as
a candidate for the General Assembly of the State.
 CHAPTER X.
LINCOLN’S FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT TO
THE VOTERS OF SANGAMON COUNTY.—HIS
VIEWS ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE
SANGAMON.—THE MODESTY OF HIS
CIRCULAR.

he only preliminary expected of a candidate for the

legislature of Illinois at that date was an
announcement stating his “sentiments with regard
to local affairs.” The circular in which Lincoln
complied with this custom was a document of about
two thousand words, in which he plunged at once
into the subject he believed most interesting to his
constituents—“the public utility of internal improvements.”
LINCOLN’S FIRST VOTE.—
PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE
ORIGINAL POLL-BOOK. AND
NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.

Note: Lincoln’s First Vote.—

The original poll-book from
which the vote as shown on page
126 is reproduced, is now on file
in the County Clerk’s office,
Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln’s
first vote was cast at New Salem,
“in the Clary’s Grove precinct,”
August 1, 1831. At this election
he aided Mr. Graham, who was
one of the clerks. In the early
days in Illinois, elections were
conducted by the viva voce
method. The people did try
voting by ballot, but the
experiment was unpopular. It
required too much “book larnin,”
and in 1829 the viva voce
method of voting was restored.
The judges and clerks sat at a
table with the poll-book before
them. The voter walked up, and
announced the candidate of his
choice, and it was recorded in his
presence. There was no ticket
peddling, and ballot-box stuffing
was impossible. To this simple
system we are indebted for the
record of Lincoln’s first vote. As
will be seen from the facsimile,
Lincoln voted for James Turney
for Congressman, Bowling Green
and Edmund Greer for
Magistrates, and John
Armstrong and Henry Sinco for
Constables. Of these five men
three were elected. Turney was
defeated for Congressman by
Joseph Duncan. Turney lived in
Greene County. He was not then
a conspicuous figure in the
politics of the State, but was a
follower of Henry Clay, and was
well thought of in his own
district. He and Lincoln, in 1834,
served their first terms together
in the lower house of the
legislature, and later he was a
State senator. Joseph Duncan,
the successful candidate, was
already in Congress. He was a
politician of influence. In 1834
he was a strong Jackson man;
but after his election as
Governor he created
consternation among the
followers of “Old Hickory” by
becoming a Whig. Sidney Breese,
who received only two votes in
the Clary’s Grove precinct,
afterward became the most
conspicuous of the five
candidates. Eleven years later he
defeated Stephen A. Douglas for
 the United States Senate, and for
twenty-five years he was on the
bench of the Supreme Court of
Illinois, serving under each of
the three constitutions. For the
office of Magistrate, Bowling
Green was elected, but Greer was
beaten. Both of Lincoln’s
candidates for Constable were
elected. John Armstrong was the
man with whom, a short time
afterward, Lincoln had the
celebrated wrestling match.
Henry Sinco was the keeper of a
store at New Salem. Lincoln’s
first vote for President was not
cast until the next year
(November 5, 1832), when he
voted for Henry Clay.

At that time the State of Illinois—as, indeed, the whole United

States—was convinced that the future of the country depended
on the opening of canals and railroads, and the clearing out of
the rivers. In the Sangamon country the population felt that a
quick way of getting to Beardstown on the Illinois River, to which
point the steamer came from the Mississippi, was, as Lincoln
puts it in his circular, using a phrase of his hero Clay,
“indispensably necessary.” Of course a railroad was the dream of
the settlers; but when it was considered seriously there was
always, as Lincoln says, “a heart-appalling shock accompanying
the amount of its cost, which forces us to shrink from our
pleasing anticipations.”
“The probable cost of this contemplated railroad is estimated at two hundred
and ninety thousand dollars; the bare statement of which, in my opinion, is
sufficient to justify the belief that the improvement of the Sangamon River is
an object much better suited to our infant resources.
“Respecting this view, I think I may say, without the fear of being
contradicted, that its navigation may be rendered completely practicable as
high as the mouth of the South Fork, or probably higher, to vessels of from
twenty-five to thirty tons burden, for at least one-half of all common years,
and to vessels of much greater burden a part of the time. From my peculiar
circumstances, it is probable that for the last twelve months I have given as
particular attention to the stage of the water in this river as any other person
in the country. In the month of March, 1831, in company with others, I
commenced the building of a flatboat on the Sangamon, and finished and took
her out in the course of the spring. Since that time I have been concerned in
the mill at New Salem. These circumstances are sufficient evidence that I have
not been very inattentive to the stages of the water. The time at which we
crossed the mill-dam being in the last days of April, the water was lower than
it had been since the breaking of winter, in February, or than it was for several
weeks after. The principal difficulties we encountered in descending the river
were from the drifted timber, which obstructions all know are not difficult to
be removed. Knowing almost precisely the height of water at that time, I
believe I am safe in saying that it has as often been higher as lower since.
“From this view of the subject, it appears that my calculations with regard to
the navigation of the Sangamon cannot but be founded in reason; but,
whatever may be its natural advantages, certain it is that it never can be
practically useful to any great extent without being greatly improved by art.
The drifted timber, as I have before mentioned, is the most formidable barrier
to this object. Of all parts of this river, none will require as much labor in
proportion to make it navigable as the last thirty or thirty-five miles; and
going with the meanderings of the channel, when we are this distance above
its mouth, we are only between twelve and eighteen miles from Beardstown in
something near a straight direction, and this route is upon such low ground as
to retain water in many places during the season, and in all parts such as to
draw two-thirds or three-fourths of the river water at all high stages.
“This route is on prairie-land the whole distance, so that it appears to me, by
removing the turf a sufficient width, and damming up the old channel, the
whole river in a short time would wash its way through, thereby curtailing the
distance and increasing the velocity of the current very considerably, while
there would be no timber on the banks to obstruct its navigation in future; and
being nearly straight, the timber which might float in at the head would be apt
to go clear through. There are also many places above this where the river, in
its zigzag course, forms such complete peninsulas as to be easier to cut at the
necks than to remove the obstructions from the bends, which, if done, would
also lessen the distance.
“What the cost of this work would be, I am unable to say. It is probable,
however, that it would not be greater than is common to streams of the same
length. Finally, I believe the improvement of the Sangamon River to be vastly
important and highly desirable to the people of the country; and, if elected,
any measure in the legislature having this for its object, which may appear
judicious, will meet my approbation and receive my support.”
Lincoln could not have advocated a measure more popular. At
that moment the whole population of Sangamon was in a state of
wild expectation. Some six weeks before Lincoln’s circular
appeared, a citizen of Springfield had advertised that as soon as
the ice went off the river he would bring up a steamer, the
“Talisman,” from Cincinnati, and prove the Sangamon navigable.
The announcement had aroused the entire country, speeches
were made, and subscriptions taken. The merchants announced
goods direct per steamship “Talisman” the country over, and
every village from Beardstown to Springfield was laid off in town
lots. When the circular appeared the excitement was at its height.
Lincoln’s comments in his circular on two other subjects on
which all candidates of the day expressed themselves, are
amusing in their simplicity. The practice of loaning money at
exorbitant rates was then a great evil in the West. Lincoln
proposed that the limits of usury be fixed, and he closed his
paragraph on the subject with these words, which sound strange
enough from a man who in later life showed so profound a
reverence for law:
“In cases of extreme necessity, there could always be means found to cheat the
law; while in all other cases it would have its intended effect. I would favor the
passage of a law on this subject which might not be very easily evaded. Let it
be such that the labor and difficulty of evading it could only be justified in
cases of greatest necessity.”
A general revision of the laws of the State was the second topic
which he felt required a word. “Considering the great
probability,” he said, “that the framers of those laws were wiser
than myself, I should prefer not meddling with them, unless they
were attacked by others; in which, case I should feel it both a
privilege and a duty to take that stand which, in my view, might
tend most to the advancement of justice.”
Of course he said a word for education:
“Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system
respecting it, can only say that I view it as the most important subject which
we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least a
moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own
and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free
institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, even on this account
alone; to say nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all
being able to read the Scriptures and other works, both of a religious and
moral nature, for themselves.
“For my part, I desire to see the time when education—and by its means
morality, sobriety, enterprise, and industry—shall become much more general
than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power to contribute
something to the advancement of any measure which might have a tendency
to accelerate that happy period.”
The audacity of a young man in his position presenting himself
as a candidate for the legislature is fully equalled by the humility
of the closing paragraphs of his announcement:
“But, fellow-citizens, I shall conclude. Considering the great degree of modesty
which should always attend youth, it is probable I have already been more
presuming than becomes me. However, upon the subjects of which I have
treated, I have spoken as I have thought. I may be wrong in regard to any or
all of them; but, holding it a sound maxim that it is better only sometimes to
be right than at all times to be wrong, so soon as I discover my opinions to be
erroneous, I shall be ready to renounce them.

LINCOLN IN 1860.

From an ambrotype in the

possession of Mr. Marcus L.
Ward of Newark, New Jersey.
 This portrait of Mr. Lincoln was
made in Springfield, Illinois, on
May 20, 1860, for the late Hon.
Marcus L. Ward, Governor of
New Jersey. Mr. Ward had gone
to Springfield to see Mr. Lincoln,
and while there asked him for
his picture. The President-elect
replied that he had no picture
which was satisfactory, but
would gladly sit for one. The two
gentlemen went out
immediately, and in Mr. Ward’s
presence Mr. Lincoln had the
above picture taken.

ABOVE THE DAM AT NEW

SALEM.

Reproduced, by permission,
from “Menard-Salem-Lincoln
Souvenir Album,” Petersburg,
Illinois, 1893.

“Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I
can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of
my fellow-men by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall
succeed in gratifying this ambition is yet to be developed. I am young, and
unknown to many of you. I was born, and have ever remained, in the most
humble walks of life. I have no wealthy or popular relations or friends to
recommend me. My case is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of
the county; and, if elected, they will have conferred a favor upon me for which
I shall be unremitting in my labors to compensate. But, if the good people in
their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been too
familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined.”

THE KIRKHAM’S GRAMMAR

USED BY LINCOLN AT NEW
SALEM.—NOW FIRST
PUBLISHED.

From a photograph made

especially for this work. The copy
of Kirkham’s Grammar studied
by Lincoln belonged to a man
named Vaner. Some of the
biographers say Lincoln
borrowed it; but it appears that
he became the owner of the
book, either by purchase or
through the generosity of Vaner,
for it was never returned to the
latter. It is said that Lincoln
learned this grammar practically
by heart. “Sometimes,” says
Herndon, “he would stretch out
at full length on the counter, his
head propped up on a stack of
calico prints, studying it; or he
would steal away to the shade of
some inviting tree, and there
spend hours at a time in a
determined effort to fix in his
 mind the arbitrary rule that
‘adverbs qualify verbs,
adjectives, and other adverbs.’”
He presented the hook to Ann
Rutledge, and it has since been
one of the treasures of the
Rutledge family. After the death
of Ann it was studied by her
brother Robert, and is now
owned by his widow, who resides
at Casselton, North Dakota. The
title page of the book appears
above. The words, “Ann M.
Rutledge is now learning
grammar,” were written by
Lincoln. The order on James
Rutledge to pay David P. Nelson
thirty dollars, and signed “A.
Lincoln for D. Offutt,” which is
shown above, was pasted upon
the front cover of the book by
Robert Rutledge.

Very soon after Lincoln had distributed his handbills,

enthusiasm on the subject of the opening of the Sangamon rose
to a fever. The “Talisman” actually came up the river; scores of
men went to Beardstown to meet her, among them Lincoln, of
course; and to him was given the honor of piloting her—an honor
which made him remembered by many a man who saw him that
day for the first time. The trip was made with all the wild
demonstrations which always attended the first steamboat. On
either bank a long procession of men and boys on foot or horse
accompanied the boat. Cannons and volleys of musketry were
fired as settlements were passed. At every stop speeches were
made, congratulations offered, toasts drunk, flowers presented.
It was one long hurrah from Beardstown to Springfield, and
foremost in the jubilation was Lincoln the pilot. The “Talisman”
went to the point on the river nearest to Springfield, and there
tied up for a week. When she went back, Lincoln again had a
conspicuous position as pilot. The notoriety this gave him was
probably quite as valuable politically as the forty dollars he
received for his service was financially.
While the country had been dreaming of wealth through the
opening of the Sangamon, and Lincoln had been doing his best to
prove that the dream was possible, the store in which he clerked
was “petering out”—to use his own expression. The owner,
Denton Offutt, had proved more ambitious than wise, and
Lincoln saw that an early closing by the sheriff was probable. But
before the store was fairly closed, and while the trip of the
“Talisman” was yet exciting the country, an event occurred which
interrupted all of Lincoln’s plans.

A NEW SALEM CENTRE

TABLE.

This table is now owned by W. C.

Green of Talula, Illinois.
Originally it was part of the
furniture of the cabin of Bowling
Green, near New Salem.
A CLARY’S GROVE LOG CABIN.
—NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.

From a water-color by Miss Etta

Ackermann, Springfield, Illinois.
“Clary’s Grove” was the name of
a settlement five miles southwest
of New Salem, deriving its name
from a grove on the land of the
Clarys. It was the headquarters
of a daring and reckless set of
young men living in the
neighborhood and known as the
“Clary’s Grove Boys.” This cabin
was the residence of George
Davis, one of the “Clary’s Grove
Boys,” and grandfather of Miss
Ackermann. It was built in 1824,
seventy-one years ago, and is the
only one left of the cluster of
cabins which constituted the
little community.
 CHAPTER XI.
OUTBREAK OF SACS AND FOXES.—
LINCOLN VOLUNTEERS AND IS MADE A
CAPTAIN.—INCIDENTS OF HIS SERVICE AS
CAPTAIN.—STILLMAN’S DEFEAT.

ne morning in April a messenger from the governor

of the State rode into New Salem, scattering
circulars. These circulars contained an address from
Governor Reynolds to the militia of the northwest
section of the State, announcing that the British
band of Sacs and other hostile Indians, headed by
Black Hawk, had invaded the Rock River country, to the great terror
of the frontier inhabitants; and calling upon the citizens who were
willing to aid in repelling them, to rendezvous at Beardstown within
a week.
 NANCY GREEN.

Nancy Green was the wife of

“Squire” Bowling Green. Her
maiden name was Nancy Potter.
She was born in North Carolina
in 1797, and married Bowling
Green in 1818. She removed with
him to New Salem in 1820, and
lived in that vicinity until her
death, in 1864. Lincoln was a
constant visitor in Nancy Green’s
home.

The name of Black Hawk was familiar to the people of Illinois.

He was an old enemy of the settlers, and had been a tried friend
of the British. The land his people had once owned in the
northwest of the present State of Illinois had been sold in 1804 to
the government of the United States, but with the provision that
the Indians should hunt and raise corn there until it was
surveyed and sold to settlers. Long before the land was surveyed,
however, squatters had invaded the country, and tried to force
the Indians west of the Mississippi. Particularly envious were
these whites of the lands at the mouth of the Rock River, where
the ancient village and burial place of the Sacs stood, and where
they came each year to raise corn. Black Hawk had resisted their
encroachments, and many violent acts had been committed on
both sides.
Finally, however, the squatters, in spite of the fact that the line of
settlement was still fifty miles away, succeeded in evading the
real meaning of the treaty and in securing a survey of the desired
land at the mouth of the river. Black Hawk, exasperated and
broken-hearted at seeing his village violated, persuaded himself
that the village had never been sold—indeed, that land could not
be sold.
“My reason teaches me,” he wrote, “that land cannot be sold. The Great Spirit
gave it to his children to live upon, and cultivate, as far as is necessary for their
subsistence; and so long as they occupy and cultivate it they have the right to
the soil, but if they voluntarily leave it, then any other people have a right to
settle upon it. Nothing can be sold but such things as can be carried away.”

JOHN A. CLARY.

John A. Clary was one of the

“Clary’s Grove Boys.” He was the
son of John Clary, the head of
the numerous Clary family which
settled in the vicinity of New
 Salem in 1881. He was born in
Tennessee in 1815 and died in
1880. He was an intimate
associate of Lincoln during the
latter’s New Salem days.

Supported by this theory, conscious that in some way he did not

understand he had been wronged, and urged on by White Cloud,
the prophet, who ruled a Winnebago village on the Rock River,
Black Hawk crossed the Mississippi in 1831, determined to evict
the settlers. A military demonstration drove him back, and he
was persuaded to sign a treaty never to return east of the
Mississippi. “I touched the goose-quill to the treaty and was
determined to live in peace,” he wrote afterward; but hardly had
he “touched the goose-quill” before his heart smote him. Longing
for his home, resentment at the whites, obstinacy, brooding over
the bad counsels of White Cloud and his disciple Neapope—an
agitating Indian who had recently been East to visit the British
and their Indian allies, and who assured Black Hawk that the
Winnebagoes, Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawottomies would
join him in a struggle for his land, and that the British would
send him “guns, ammunition, provisions, and clothing early in
the spring”—all persuaded the Hawk that he would be successful
if he made an effort to drive out the whites. In spite of the advice
of many of his friends and of the Indian agent in the country, he
crossed the river on April 6, 1832, and with some five hundred
braves, his squaws and children, marched to the Prophet’s town,
thirty-five miles up the Rock River.
As soon as they heard of Black Hawk’s invasion, the settlers of
the northwestern part of the State fled in a panic to the forts; and
they rained petitions for protection on Governor Reynolds.
General Atkinson, who was at Fort Armstrong, wrote to the
governor for reënforcements; and, accordingly, on the 16th of
April Governor Reynolds sent out “influential messengers” with a
sonorous summons. It was one of these messengers riding into
New Salem who put an end to Lincoln’s canvassing for the
legislature, freed him from Offutt’s expiring grocery, and led him
to enlist.
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