, 1873-09-12
Whnt isthe Nratter2

which cur country mas nduo Jul
the last decade, In the increase ofmanu7
factures, of agriculture and of popula-
ton, our Territory has sadly failed tol
do its duty Our ''talents have been
buried in the ground" The years
have steadily rolled on, our ''balance
Sheet is drawn, our account is def
cient. What is the matter? Is it that
we live in country incapable OF devel-
oping such results is our climate OF
such severity as to hinder the practice
of industries which have made our sis
ter territories states ofno mean import
ance? When we reflect oni cur ad-
vantages Of location, our facilities for
transportation, our forests OF timber,
our coal fields and quartz ledges, the
fertility of our soil, our climate free from
malaria, our fisheries, our productions
and our markets. Do our advantages
not compare favorably with those Of
Texas and Arkansas, with Michigan,
Minnesota and Nebraska, Kansas and
Missouri? And yet these little while
ago possessing but the name Of States,
some of them almost desOlated by war
and its evil influences, have in the last
few years risen to point of prosperity,
which the wisest heads failed to pre-
dict. Their broad prairies have been
converted into waving fields, their
ranges are covered with valuable cattle;
their mineral resources have been deYel-
Oped, the buzzing saw and noisy forge,
the steamboat paddle and screeeh Of the
locomotive, all tell fale of progress.
And what have we been doing all TINS
time? While encouraged immigration
has swollen their population to hun
dreds of thousands, and the value of
their lands has increased a hundred
fold, we have made, comparatively,
little progress. - ID. ,rl.i.
Self condemnation is not pleasant
thing. To look back on years of mis-
spent time and to regret lost Opportuni-
ties is apt to make the heart ache. And
if such influences should be felt by in-
dividuals, why not by communities?
The responsibility of a community is
even greater than that of the individual
in the one case the fortunes offew are
at stake, in the other the fortunes of
many. Let us ask ourselves as a
people, have we left record behind US
during the past few years that we
should be proud to exhibit tothe world,
can we recall no lost opportunities,
when by strict integrity and conscien-
tious performance of duty, we might
have materially advanced our eOndi-
tion and in a measure kept pace with
the general progres of the nation? We
fear not. The natural advantages Of
our country, have, to. an extent, proved
a curse instead of blessing. A living
can be had too easily. Too many, OF us
have been idle, and as idleness is the
fnveterate enemy Of VIRTUES we have
reaped the natural fruits Of our own
sowing. The practice Of, piety and
morality so necessary to the mainten-
ance of ap orderly, and prosperous
community has been sadly neglected,
and even the education of children
] has not been properly attended to.
Let US turn over new leaf Micaw-
Der like, we have been long enough
waiting for something to turn up"
and all the while, permitting the golden
opportunities Of, the present to pass by
iunheeded. We must be satisfied with
small profits, we must be patient and
/ above all we must practice industry
and economy, ms The excellence of
I Athenian skill and the wealth Of Persia,
astonishing as it seems when we reflect
on the condition Of other nations at the
time these were in ntheir. glory3yw all
owing to the untiFing industry of their
/ peoples. With them idlenesS- was not
only a atIisgraee, it was a crime.ail5
! Eet each member of society follow
steadily some legitimate occupation for
ia livelihood, and that which he has to
lido, let him do with all his might ~ This
Is the only avenue to success. Iaaf
~ ? -'' l5il-----'tsod hath set
Labor and rest, as day and night, to man
| Successive" r.. y ''f'E7
and any departure from a we'll defined