The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-16
THE RESULT OF A CENTURY>OF TOLL.

AS much as any state IN the Union IN
diana is the development of the closing
century. When it began the territory now
bearing the name of Indiana was a wilder
ness, and a very unpromising one at that.
A few feeble settlements existed on or
near the banks of the largest rivers, but,
as a whole, 1t was the possession of the
Indians. and so covered with forests that
the emigrart passed beyond to the prairies
of Illinois. Indeed. many, after they had
begun in Indiana and had made an opening
in the forests, abandoned their homes. like
the Lincolns, and sought others in the
prairies, where it was not necessary to clear
the and Of trees before crops could be
planted. 1t is near the truth to say that
no other area VI The country as large as
Indiana required SO much toll to fit it to
the requirements OF civilization as has In
diana. One often hears of reclaimed lands.
but Indiana is a land won from the wilder
ness by the settler. his ak, his grubhoe, fol-
lowed in time by mis- piow, after he was
done with the Indians. BY a most extensive
system of underdr aiming hundreds of square
miles have been made the most fertile fields
in the country. Nearly every farm to-day
represents the toll and privations of an
entire family for years. Most of the in
habitants to-day are the successors of the
men and women who wrested Indiana from
the wilderness.
There is nothing unusual in these state
ments, but, If some of the theories which
are put forth to-day are sound. the people
who wrought the miracle of Indiana should
have been a WORKOUT race. If it is true
that protracted and severe labor. with all
| sorts of privations. breaks the spirit and un-
dermines the bodily vigor of a people. the
! natives of Indiana. who are the descendants
of the pioneers, should be the fag-end of a
decaying people. What is the fact? The
| sons, and even many of the men who van
pushed the wilderness were called in 1861
to take part in a war requiring the highest
physical endurance and the most uncon-
querable spirit. What does the record
show? Simply that the sons of the men
who struggled with the wilderness for bare
existence had no superiors in physical en-
durance, while their valor and intellectual
and spiritual force was conspicuous on
every DlOOuy iiClus III an thO PNoNNAuA
fields of effort and achievement the people
of the State. whose civilization is the fruit
of the severest trial and struggle. are the
peers of those Of any other section. For
more than a generation the Hoosier was
1.-The man with the hoe" and a very heavy
hoe at that, but 1t did not make BIN a clod.
as a home poet has represented. Eating
.1-. Dortions IF broad In rivers IF
sweat during his generation did not emas-
culate. On the contrary. the struggle de-
veloped brain as well as muscle. and the
spirit which overcomes.
The man who wrote THE Man with the
Hoe has explained that he would like to
do something to relieve the tedium and the
dreary round of the life of his early days
on the farm. If so. let him become inven-
tor and give the world a new machine to
economize effort. rather than an untruth-
full jeremiad. In this country, the man with
the hoe represents an era of effort and prog
| ress. The men who fought at Lexington
knew more of the hoe than the musket.
The man with the AK and the hoe prepared
the way for the planter, the cultivator and
| the harvester. Because the man of the hoe
represented toll and progress Indiana is a
commonwealth in the forefront of progress
| siye civilization. But for its pioneer workers
it would now be dominated by a few thou
sand savages. The miracle Of a century Of
| human exertion. which Indiana represents.
should be a reproof to those who set forth
the attractions Aof a life Of leisure. or.
| rather. Of idleness. while the toil-made In
| diana Of the closing century is a rebuke to
the idler, rich or poor.