英文版原文
A Message To Garcia
In all this Cuban business，there is one man standsout on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion.When war broke out between Spain and the UnitedStates，it was very necessary to communicate quickly withthe leader of the Insurgents.Garcia was somewhere in themountain vastness of Cuba-no one knew where.No mailnor telegraph message could reach him.The Presidentmust secure his cooperation，and quickly.What to do！
Some one said to the President，“There"s a fellowby the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you，ifanybody can.”
Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be deliveredto Garcia.How the“fellow by the name of Rowan”tookthe letter，sealed it up in an oilskin pouch，strapped itover his heart，in four days landed by night off the coastof Cuba from an open boat，disappeared into the jungle，and in three weeds came out on the other side of theIsland，having traversed a hostile country on foot，anddelivered his letter to Garcia-are things I have no specialdesire now to tell in detail.The point that I wish to makeis this：McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered toGarcia；Rowan took the letter and did not ask，“Where ishe at？”
By the Eternal ！there is a man whose form shouldbe cast in deathless bronze，and the statue placed in everycollege of the land.It is not book-learning young menneed，nor instruction about this and that，but a stiffeningof the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to atrust，to act promptly，concentrate their energies：do thething“Carry a message to Garcia.”
General Garcia is dead now，but there are otherGarcias.No man who has endeavored to carry out anenterprise where many hands were needed，but has beenwell-nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the averageman-the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thingand do it.
Slipshod assistance，foolish inattention，dowdyindifference，and half-hearted work seem the rule；andno man succeeds，unless by hook or crook or threat heforces or bribes other men to assist him；or mayhap，Godin His goodness performs a miracle，and sends him anAngel of Light for an assistant.
You，reader，put this matter to a test：You aresitting now in your office-six clerks are within call.Summon any one and make this request：“Please look inthe encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for meconcerning the life of Correggio.”Will the clerk quietlysay，“Yes，sir.”and go do the task？
On your life，he will not.He will look at you out ofa fishy eye and ask one or more of the following questions：
Who was he Which encyclopedia ？Where is theencyclopedia ？Was I hired for that ？Don"t you meanBismarck ？What"s the matter with ？Charlie doing itIs he dead Is there any hurry ？Shan"t I bring you thebook and let you look it up yourself ？What do you wantto know for ？
And I will lay you ten to one that after you haveanswered the questions，and explained how to find theinformation，and why you want it，the clerk will gooff and get one of the other clerks to help him try to findGarcia and then come back and tell you there is no suchman.Of course I may lose my bet，but according to theLaw of Average，I will not.
Now，if you are wise，you will not bother to explainto your“assistant”that Correggio is indexed under the C"s，not in the K"s，but you will smile very sweetly andsay，“Never mind，”and go look it up yourself.And thisincapacity for independent action，this moral stupidity，this infirmity of the will，this unwillingness to cheerfullycatch hold and lift-these are the things that put pureSocialism so far into the future.
If men will not act for themselves，what will they dowhen the benefit of their effort is for all？
A firstmate with knotted club seems necessary；andthe dread of getting“the bounce”Saturday night holdsmany a worker to his place.Advertise for a stenographer，and nine out of ten who apply can neither spell norpunctuate-and do not think it necessary to.Can such a one write a letter to Garcia ？
“You see that bookkeeper，”said the foreman to mein a large factory.“Yes，what about him”“Well he"sa fine accountant，but if I"d send him up town on anerrand，he might accomplish the errand all right，and onthe other hand，might stop at four salons on the way，andwhen he got to Main Street would forget what he had beensent for.”Can such a man be entrusted to carry a messageto Garcia ？
