The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-03-30

! type tld5 dilObICI Inv bPNohOA
thought that if men understood the
form of cattle they would have better
cattle.
Mr.. Gregg illustrated his remarks with
drawings.
EVENING SESSION.
President Northrop's Lecture.
President Cyrus Northrup was greeted
with good house on the occasion vi his
address to the Institute Thursday even
ing. The Germanis band was i'll attend
ance and rendered several choice select
ions before the time for the address.
Supt. Gregg opened the exercises by
reviewing the progress of the Institute
WORK from the time of its conception at
the meeting of the Northwestern Dairy
mems Association in this city until the
present time, and outlined the work
that would be attempted at this Insti-
tute. The Institute was intended to be
practical school of practical agriculture
going from place to place. Nothing was
presented that did not have the test of
experience.
The speaker introduced Mr.. J. +.
Brown, of Mapleton, whom he had APP
| pointed to act as chairman during the
conve ntion. The latter, in turn, after
expressing the qualification the compli-
ment afforded him, introduced the
speaker of the evening, President
NorthrOp, who spoke upon "The Divine
Law of Labor" Pres. Northrop is an
able and eloquent speaker and a clear
thinker and held the closest attention of
his audience during the three-quarters
of an hour he occupied in speaking.
The following is synopsis of his adj
dress:
Man was originally created not for
idleness, but for work. If his labor has
grown harder in process of time than it
was at first, we need not wonder at it in
view of the multiplication of people and
the conversion of necessaries into lux
uries, nor can man blame any one for
tins but himself. 1t is not the Divine
Law of Labor which makes trouble, but
it is mans own selfishness and greed
which have destroyed the harmony of
lilo. Take away from men all unneces-
sary appetites, all the waste of eXtraya-
gAnce and pride, and you could create,
by saving, fund large enough to sup
ply the needs of everyone. But appe-
tite is too imperious to permit this.
Things which seem utterly foolish to
some, seem necessary to others. Mark
Twain's gang of intoxicated Cornish
miners in Nevada, cheered to the echo
the more than half drunken reporter
who harangued them on "the iniquity
OF squandering the public moneys on
education when hundreds and hundreds
of honest, hard working men were liter
ally starving for whiskey."
We could make perfect social and
economic system at once, if it were not
for few IFS. But We must take the
world as it is, and do the best we can
with it without impossible conditions.
New plans that depend for success upon
the destruction of the state, of the pres
ent social system, of the rights of proper
ty, cannot commend themselves to the
majority of the people. The ideal COM
| monwealth of foreign socialism Is too
uncertain OF success to be at present ap-
proved by the people. There have been
many attempts to establish communism
on larger or smaller scales. Jesus and
his disciples as they journeyed had
common purse-though the disciples
probably had private property at home.
Their treasurer, however, proved to be
u thief. The first church at Jerusalem
had all things common; but this was a
Temporary arrangement and was not
initiated by the other churches. The
Pilgrim Fathers tried the cultivation of
the earth in common for three years and
nearly starved to death. After land was
distributed TO each man to cultivate on
his own account, there was no more
fear of starvation. Paul enforced the
divine law of labor eff any man will not
work, neither shall he eat" Spiritual
mindedness is not laziness. The only
example of real success in Communism
on a large scale is furnished by the
Shakers. But with them the inspiration
to this success Is a religious and not an
economic idea People who have no
families and who are sure of good care
in sickness and old age, as the Shakers
are, may live together on communistic
principles, but people generally do not
believe in communism in children, and
having children they desire to provide
for them. Communism cannot be gem
orally successful till men are more like
one another than at present.
| A man sometimes says, THE world
| ONCp siiS ~ II tilS anu Il 6OluH " udNO
it," Quite often this is not true. He
has done nothing for the world, and so
the world owes him nothing. Every
man has right to the chance to earn a
living. The trouble with men who claim
a living because they cannot get work,
is that they wish to say what the work
shall be, instead of letting the world
that is to give them living say what it
shall be
Every year in large cities are people
ready to commit crime in order to spend
the winter in jail. If jaIls are made
more comfortable than the homes of the
honest poor, it may be well to inquire
how much they discourage crime. We
have heard the questions, Does Protec-
ton protect? Does Prohibition prohibit?
We might ask, Does Punishment punishP
1t is much TO the credit of the labor
organizations that they emphasize the
divine law of labor-''if any man will
not work, NEITHER shall he eat" They
have never shown any disposition to lie
down and do nothing, Insisting that the
world owes them a living they have in
sisted simply that they shall have a
chance to earn by honest work decent
living. That they ought to have. But
this world is greatly changed from what
it was quarter of century ago Polit-
lcal economy HOW duLHlIb LIldJ II CduuOL
say to workIngmen what it would have
said then. The ''let alone" policy, the
law of supply and demand are not SO
omnipotent as they were once thought
to be. New forces have entered the
world of industry that did not exist in
!. the days when gigantic combinations
were not possible and there was fair
competition. II looks now as If COM
paratively small number of gigantic
combinations, or trusts" might soon
own everything. Some OF these would
like monopoly of the air and then put
up the price SO that men could not afford
more than four breaths minute. There
t lis no fair competition possible in such
cases. But because these evils exist is
no reason for destroying everything.
The demand for what is unreasonable is
not the remedy for what is unreasona-
BILE. l am, however, of the opinion that
, the government in the future may be ex-