The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-01-09

borne in upon US that for us there is no
escape; there are no more worlds TO
| discover. no more lands to explore
| We must meet and settle here all the
problems, all the difficulties, from
which our forefathers fed. Upon our
wise conduct depends the destiny Of
| the world, for as America goes so shall
the world. For God has scattered
| broadcast in our soil the seeds of His
millenial harvest; and If We are what
we profess to be, a Christian people,
| the sickle Of His wrath shall not be
| laid to the ripening crop till His full
| and perfect day has come. But the
hour for dreaming is past, for, in the
words Of our INSPIRED Lowell,
If before his duty, man with listless
spirit stands,
Ere long the Great Avenger takes the
work from out his hands,
1T must be borne in upon all whose
! grasp is strong enough to feel the
! throbDing pulse of the times, that we
| stand at the beginning of one of those
periods which mark another step Of
progress, in the history of the race.
| We stand at the beginning of a period
of reformation and re-adjustment. The
problems that confront US are incom-
paraIbly vast and difficult, because
4
| judice men refuse to displace what is"
| for what might be-" This is the his
tory Of the race. Every truth, every
new development comes into its ap-
pointed place only through friction and
| opposition. Every upward step in the
progress of the race has been over a
! thOrny path. Zach new advancement
| is Graded in a Manager, and over and
over again history records the declara-
! ton, There is no room in the inn"
$50 today, civilization staggers be-
meath its burdens yet recoils from each
newly-discOvered truth and develop,
ment because they are new. In the
slow march of the ages, humanity
moves with halting. irregular, yet ever
log :ical steps Centuries ago men bat
| tied for emancipation from actual
chains; then came the struggle for re-
ligiOus and political freedom; having
obtained the ballot a worldwide move
ment has in some form or other, begun
10y which the people seek to obtain
/ peaceable possession of their own.
I'VE are living in a time colored with
| the lights and shadows Of prophecy, fill
ed with blessing and disaster. The hand
of God is on the throttle valve of tine
centuries, and facts the fingers of ON
Impotence are writing on the pages of
+ ".
are crumbling; continents are shaking
beneath the forefOot of progress; pre-
parations are going on that will blot
kingdoms from the map of Europe and
| change the governments of the world.
The world is profoundly Disconnected.
The attitude of the race is one of pro-
test against existing conditions. Never
before was the enginery of deStruc-
tion SO terrible and so largely in the
hands of the mob as at the present.
The crowned tyrantS are marshalling
their blood-fed armies for the mightiest
war of modern times, not because they
fear each other, but because they fear
the people. AriStrocracy may we'll
start aghast from its slumbers as it
dreams of the French revolution and
the fail of the Bastile.''
Mrs. Lease then briefly and eloquent
ly described the present unrest and
said: ''Near-sighted prophets, who
see in the unrest of the present but
struggle for a few more pennies a day
for less hours work or of what shall
our money be made, know nothing of
the real contest. The way is being
prepared for an era of social justice and
Industrial democracy. Such a demo-
crazy as Christ typified when he de-
clared the equality of all men; such a
democracy as the apostles heralded to.
the world when they preached the doc
trine of Christ along the shores of
Galilee, the fishing docks of Caper-
naum and among the huts and novels of
Judea. A democracy the interpreted
ton of which means the fulfllment of
the teachings of the NaZarene, What
soever We would that men should do
unto you, do We even so unto them
1t is drlwning upon the hearts of men
that the highest mission of human gen
ius is TO lessen the sum Of human mis-
cry, and lig'hten the burdens of Gods
toiling millions. We are beginning to
realize that a people can be guilty of
no greater folly than that of attempt
ing TO ignore injustice and immortality
1t may not be popular TO unmask error
and denounce wrong, but the truths
which are today passing from lip to
lip and appealing to the awakened con-
science of an intelligent world are born
of an age of progressive unrest. They
cannot be crushed or burned like men.
You may crush, imprison, or put 10
death individuals; you cannot suppress
ideas.
We may hope and believe that the
last great struggle for human freedom
has been enacted, the last battle fought.
But human greed is not yet dead: con-
Sciously or unsconsciOuSly, we are to-
day taking part i'm that century-Old
conflict between human greed that
would enslave the race, and liberty that
would emancipate it. Eternal vigil
ance now as in the days of colonial
struggle. is the price of liberty. That
human greed that seated on the Brit
iSh throne watched the peoples strug-
giles on a foreign shore and sought 10
levy taxes as soon as there was any
thing TO tax: that human greed sought
to enSlave thefrfellow man because God
had given him a duSky cheek; that hid
its gold in the hour of a nations dan
ger. that IL might speculate in rhe blood
of those who We're periodically shot;
that human greed still lives. II may
never come again with branding iron
or lash or auction block on which 10
sell slaves to Ehe highest bidder.
But it is in the form the subtle and
concentrated wealth which seeks 10
make the Golden Rule subservient 10
the golden calf II Is here in the form
Of federated CEques and monopolieS,
that taking possession of natures gifts
and bounties, rob men of their God CIV
en- heritage Greater forces for evil
and social calamity than history ever
knew are mastering their forces in a
Heaven-born conflict against world
old wrong. When BaUak, after ne AMI
his people had suffered years of griev-
Gus oppression overthrow the arm
les OF Jabin and slew the captain Of
his hosts. Deborah declared that the
battle Was from Heaven. that the stars
in their courses fought against Sisera.
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