Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-09-06
A PARABLE


other Ottumwa papers combined.
A PARABLE.
Our own Governor Shaw is well
known as deep and clear thinker
and as forcible speaker, but in the
role of Trainer of parallels he is not
SO familiar even to the people of Iowa.
That he excells in this line as well as
in others was shown, however, down
at Sedalia, Missouri, yesterday where
the governor opened the republican
campaign with rousing speech. Gov
ernor Shaw's parable" is as follows:
"a few years ago some benevolent
~ disposed people brought a carful of
boys from the slums of New York out
on the Iowa prairies to find homes for
them. BY some unfortunate happen
ing, the train went off and left one of
these waits on the platform. Dirty,
unkempt, untutored, presumably vici-
GUS, he found his way to a back door
of friend of mine. With keen regret
this man realized the responsibility
which came unbidden, but which he
could not honorably disregard. He
took the fellow into his home-he did
not adopt him. He thought it wise to
await developments before declaring
his purpose even. He realized the
possibility that he might want to
change his mind, and he knew
he might change his mind,
whether he wanted to or not.
He also knew that if he changed his
mind he might want to change his pur-
pose, and therefore he did not declare
his purpose in advance. Having abun-
dant land, he pointed him out forty
acres and said to him. Go, live on
that land, and your future shall de-
pend largely upon your own efforts
The first time my friend stepped foot
on that tract this young migrate at
A little trouncing became necessary,
/ lister. 1t might have been better in
the start to have given him the land
outright, but this had not been done,
and pending the trouncing was no
time to do it. About this time big
burly son, who had done but four
years work since back before the '60s
(and during these four he was unfor.
tunate in his crops), began shouting
from across the way: I say, dad,you
are a cruel master. There is not
spark of human kindness in you. Why
don't you give him the forty? Pay the
taxes; you keep up the fences; pro-
tect his crop, if he has any, from ma
rauding herds-from outside interfer-
ence-while he works out his destiny
Do you know what my friend did? He
let that fellow howl. He had heard
that voice before. He proceeded to
administer the punishment, to adjust
matters; meanwhile telling the boy
that he should have the utmost par
! ticipation in the management of the
farm of which he was capable. He
said to him: You have never seen
crop raised. You do not know how to
do anything necessary to raise a crop.
! AS soon as you are able to raise beans,
you shall have control of the bean
patch. When you are able to raise
corn, you shall have the confield; you
shall have all the responsibility OF
which you are capable. But one thing
Il shall not do. shall not put the
burden on my family of paying the
taxes and keeping up the fences while
you unaided and alone go thru the evo-
luton from street gamin to far
mer.' Then he went home, and he af-
forwards told me that he said that
night to that big lubber of son: You
are the DlSSeSC 1ulOL ever Saw IOr
one of your inches. The responsible
ity of that waif is not on me alone,
but upon the whole family. We will
Jointly answer by and by for his fu-
i ture. He is stranger to discipline,
I. and stranger to industry. If you
love him, or have any regard for me,
or for the authority of our home, for
heavens sake keep your mouth shut
until there shall be some slight recog-
milton of our authority"
"Of course" Governor Shaw went
on to say, "this illustration does not
cover the question of title to the Phil
ippine Islands, but title is not in dis
pute. The ratification of the. treaty
was the determination on the part of
the United States that we had author
ity to acquire the islands; and that
when the treaty was ratified and the
twenty millions paid our title would
be perfect. Any talk to the contrary
is from cheap orators who imagine
they are before an audience of the
same grade of comprehension as them
selves"