The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-12-03

/ y.
all in this kind of a lottery is as foolish rs
to invest ones all in the louisiana iotterv.
You may make a fortune by IT, put tne
overwhelming probability is that you Will
lose all you invest and your time TOO.
boaI Inc number h OF men who get g,ar r.c4 4han Ia
Dooms each year is probably smaller IMAM
the number who draw fortune from the
louisiana lottery; and it costs the patrons
much more on the whole to keep the poom
lottery floating. And yet thousands Oh
| people all over this part OF the country are
| just camping for day or month or
year, devouring their substance, waiting
| for some balloon to arise on the horizon
| that they may chase it over the country
and be under it when it falls. AND all
/ this with the natural resources or no part
OF this vast country half developed. ana
all about us thousands of acres or as rlcn
land as Gods sun ever looked down upon
| still unbroken. What fools these NOR
! tails be! Sumner county people moving
| TO Washington and Utah for landl Inou-
/ sands OF people in Kansas villages ana
| towns waiting for the outlet to open, that
they may move into new villages and
I towns, and thousands also already in the
new towns OF Oklahoma waiting for still
| newer towns TO open that they, too, may
novel And then all move! Evidently
there is something the matter, ana what
Is It! In nutshell, it is this: the people
are trying to get something for nothing
I
hope to find something, OF. strike some
| thing, or have something fall 10 them, or
get possession of something for nothing.
| They want fortune, but they don't want
to earn it, They plan to get fortune.
but they don't plan to make 1t. And
where everybody is planning to get for
tune, and nobody planning to make for
tune, there will soon be much want and
much moving about. Too few. are en-
gagged In the actual production OF wealth, !
and too many in schemes to get possession !
of wealth that they themselves do not pro- |
duce or help to produce. Men shrink
from the mOnotony of moderate living |
fairly and honestly earned, and eagerly |
and titfully rush after an expensive living, |
the expense of which they are not capable !
of earning, and do not expect TO earn, but |
hope TO get, by luck or by their wits, out |
of somebody's else earnings. Men are not |
content to live upon what they are capable |
of earning. So they will invest in lotter- |
les and booms and the chances Of frequent |
moves, constantly falling of the chief end |
of life, losing the choicest blessings OF |
life, and one in a thousand striking for |
tune, which he is incapable OF using after !
he gets it.
Compare such ftful and uncertain
acreers with that of the sober |
minded and stalwart farmers and |
mechanics who settle down on /
their farms and at their shops to make for /
themselves homes and earn livelihoods. |
Compare them with the sturdy, straight /
forward business men who have engaged |
in the legitimate lines of trade and stuck /
to them through thick and thin. These |
are the Classes who have laid the fOunda- |
tions of our industries and our institutions,
and today constitute the backbone of our
cities and towns, and give form and sta
bility to the state. 70 them we and the
generations to come will owe a lasting debt
OF gratitude. Our fathers VINO came TO
this state were of this class. They came
here to live, aud to lay broad and deep the
foundations of godly and prosperous
commonwealth. Bnt we, the second gen.
Grafton, are in danger of becoming a race
OF nomads, squandering in our wander1ngs
the rich Inheritance left us of our fathers.
Now l am just old fashioned enough to be-
lieve with our forefathers that the best
kind of a living is one that has been fairly
and sQuarely earned; and that the best
kind of people for Kansas are those like
our fathers of the last generation, who,
when they moved, moved to stay.
verify believe that the voice of God to
the people of Kansas today is that same
message to His ancient people: IF We still
abide in the land, / will build you and not
pull you down; will plant you, and not
pull you up: for repent me of the evil
that | have done unto you"
And, now, if there are those present here
today who are wondering, whether it is
not about time for them to make their an
nual or semi-annual move turning long
ing eyes toward Utah or California or Ore
gon or Washington or Missouri or Geor-
gia or Texas or Morton county, l ask you
to examine the grounds of your hopes;
reckon the costs before you pack up. How
much have you gained by your last three
moves? And in the column of losses do
not forget to add to your financial losses
the spiritual losses which every move is
liable to BRING And do not forget to sub
tract these spiritual goods from your finan-
cial hopes
If. on the other hand, circumstances
compel you to move, and you have decided
that you must go, let me urge you to Sc
lect the brightest spot of earth you know
anything about: and before you start for
it, vow before God, for your own good, for
the good of wife and family. for the good
of your church, for the good of that COM
munity to which you go, for the good of
the kingdom of God on earth, that there
you will settle down to live. Toll and dig
if needs be, eat coarse food and wear
coarse clothes, if you must; but cease this
life. Life is too brief and its
blessings too rich to be thrown away in
Gypsy travels. So, settle down to the
real business Of living before death or the
for the poor pick you up
along the road.
This do, my wandering friends, and
year from today, even though you cannot
afford a turkey for dinner, you will have
more to thank God for, and, in the end
more to leave your children, and more to
take with you into the life to come where
Gods children live in settled mansions, not
in prairie schooners. 60, then, prepared
to feel at home in those mansions.