The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1875-06-24
Car Grcat Vest.
Original Essay read before the Uyp
sum Valley Farmers Cinb, Jane 10th,
1875, by Mrs. p. y Manchester.
our GeEir WEST.

our G9Etr WEST.
! The weslern reside : has need Of al
jcctivos. The strongest aid richest OF
item are none too good Tor his purPose.
! This vast region was bat yesterday !,
: bogndleSs waste; now people, wealth,
enterprise and progress demand super
laiives for description.
People in oar vicinity, yea, OF orr
Club, tell OF ranging over these pmiriee
when there were no homes, no roads, no
signs of habitations, except here and
there the rude shanty of the pioneer.
Now thousands throng The wide domain.
Whence came all these people? Have
other regions been depopa!atcd to settle
this Ne vacancies ARE found. The
East and North and countries over the
sea have swarmed and swarmed n ain,
and yet the hives are full, and the West
is fali. No, no tuii. There are nearly
twenty millions here and room for
hundred million more. Aud taey are
coming. In fifty years they will be
found in full round numbers and still
increasing.
Who can describe the West? Who
can give an inventory Of lis growth
In size it is too wide for COMPROMISING;
in resources, it is equally beyond our
grasp. lis growth Is the greatest won
der of the ages.
People become excited ocor the
achievements of single man or woman,
the growth Of a single city, the erection
of a mighty bridge or the construction
of one line of railroad. Bat here doz
en- immense States have sprung from
nothing in a lifetime, hundred famous
cities have been built, twenty thousand
miles of iron road have been construct
ed, and who can tell what more has been
done! Rido q month on lightning
trains east, west, north and south, here,
there, everywhere, through these young
states; notice farms, houses, roads. fen +
ces, orchards, villages, cities, schools, I,
churches. innumcrabe creations, useful I
and ornamental, and yoa viii ask, What
has not been doney
But material results are not the chief
or the best. Tho Development Of the .
great West has done for character more
than 1t has done for matter What en-
= .
IL has enlarged the circle OF human .
thought, stimulated invention, elevated .
ideas OF mans ability, duty AMI priSi-
ieTe, inspired new love OF liberty, hope
Of progress, faith in destiny, courage 10
attempt and resolution TO perform. 1t
las made a strong, hlgil-mlnded, large
hearted, brave people, ucN edition %.
Partans enlarged, newly inspired and
improved.
10 raise up strong mcn AMI women j
Nc must give them work which requires
strength, open before them wide fields OF
lctivity, offer them high possibilities and
them with tremendous rival (,
les. This has been and is being done
n tho West. 1t has already produced
giants IN war, giants IN commerce, in
politics, IN religion, end promises still
more in times 10 come. There are and :
viii be hosts Of weak and worthless PEG S
'lc even where strong men and women c
re made, as there Is blasted fruit where
lncIous fruit a5aands Thoy !
tck the stat ot which strong people are ,
made, and whether abiding east OF west, Z
hey are the same sai failures. L
But what has been done and what - O
ct TO be done in this wide i;ci j, both IN 4
rircs and creates breadth OK power and {
lind and noblcHcSS OF heart. \
Immense pleasure, too, has resg'tcd q
'om this rapid growth. We iini De ?
GIT IL all new creations. Not i wall
Ses, not a structure ia>es form in t0xa 4
r country, not tree Is planted, not an q
ere OF wild prairie Is tRrnci by the |
tow, brit tina. il impar:s pleasure 20 z
seTy bsholder. Who woald rot rather a
re IN growing cocntry than where all n
finished and change Is unknown The u
hole nation has been made happier al
"a especially the eastern siatos, have b
'mo II have happier. more cheerful anG c.
'pclui dispositions nv this western ~
'owih. ltls Impossible tor any one To c.
''blue, soar, dlSpondcnt or hopeless IN
Is season, wilh 50 promising 4 prospect u
a grand crop before ~, and where SO b,
ncn courage, enthusiasm aud coed So
Ger fills the AR, aad where happy iaccs u
rc4;hcd in sulcs grcci Is Oh every q,