The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-07-05

Of railroad traversing the state from cas-
to west
But it IS not In our rich harvests, oui
bursting granaries our increasing banl
deposits, or our great system of railways
that the state has made its greatest ad
vancement- There was not a schoolhous'
in Kansas for half a century after Pike
raised the flag here. There are nov
more than nine thousand in the state
| There are eleven thousand school teach
| ers and an enrolment In our schools OF
four hundred thousand pupils. This
shows that more than one-fourth Of oul
population are enrolled in the common
schools. and that one out Of every one
| hundred and thirty Of our population is a
| school teacher. That our schools ar
efficient are shown by the fact that Kan
| sas has a smaller per cent Of Iliteracy
than any state in the union.
One Of the strongest influences in this
wonderful development has been the pub
/ lie press. There are now published in
Kansas eight hundred and thirty-eight pa
pers and other periodicals. These go to
the homes of our people and afford means
Of keeping in touch with all the topics OF
the day. The influence of the schools and
homes and newspapers had a forcible il
lustration during the Spanish-American
war, when in four fun Kansas regiments.
enlisted from all parts Of the state, there
was OF a single soldier who could not
write legible hand. A remarkable thing
in all of this wonderful development is
that it has taken place within the space Of
a single life.
Many of the men who shaped and
moulded public sentiment in Kansas IN
the early days are moulding and shaping
public sentiment still. OF the coterie Of
newspaper men who directed the current
and trend of popular sentiment in the
great struggle TO make Kansas a free
state some still WELD a ready pen in de-
Tense of the institutions which the early
Kansas press made possible. OF these
men, John A. Martin of the Atchison
Champion, Sol Miller Of the Troy Chief.
s. S. Prouty of Freedoms Champion. D.
Dwight Thatcher of the Lawrence Jour
nal and f. G. Adams of the Atchison Free
Press have gone; but D. R. Anthony Of
the Leavenworth Times, N. NJ. Murdoch
of the Wichita Eagle, and George W. Mar
tin, formerly of the Junction City Union,
now of the Kansas City Gazette, are still
in the editorial harness. 1 think many fail
to realize the great and successful fight
that the early free state press of Kansas
made for freedoms cause and the inhu-
ence it exerted to give breadth and pur-
pose TO Kansas civilization.
By every golden harvest, by every low
ing herd, by every bursting gTanary, by
every successful business enterprise. by
every overlooking bank, by all OF her In
creasing streams OF business-already
bank full-Kansss has reason to congratu-
late herself upon these evidences Of ma
terial prosperity that have followed the
planting of the flag upon her soil long be-
fore Kansas was born. But better than
all these-in its many happy and con-
tented ZONES, from the dugout 20 the
in all its public schools, univer-
stiles, colleges and academies, IN It's
many churches, Of whatever name, de-
nomination or creed and in the product
of all these, its noble type Of manhood
and worna nhood, Kansas finds its real
cause for rejoicing.
And this suggests two questions. IF
the hauling down of the Spanish flag and
stead at this place, in the early days Of
the last century, has been productive of
so much good, can the hauling down of
the Spanish flag and the planting of the !
American flag in its stead in any other |
place, in the closing days of the same cen
fury, be productive of harm? If the haul |
Ing down of the Spanish flag and the |
planting Of the American nag in its place |
brought so much of liberty and blessing |
to millions of people and displaced a saw |
agery by high Christian civilization. is |
here any danger that the hauling down 1
If the Spanish flag and the planting of /
he American flag in its place two hun |
lred years sfterward, viii bring hardship.
granny or oppression?
And now, in the name Of Kansas. in
he name of its one and a half million
trong, brave and Iaw-abiding citizens. in
he name of its public schools, the pride
nd glory of our state; in the name of its
ZONES, its churches, its public press; in
he name Of its early pioneers. living and
lead; in the name of the boys and girls
Who are soon to come forth out Of our
ZONES and churches and schools-the pro
uct Of our civilization-to take upon
heir shoulders the responsibilities and the
ares of the state; in the name Of religion
nd temperance and law; in the name of
II that is good and inspiring in the his
DRY Of Kansas; 1 hereby accept, in the
anne and behalf Of all these, the deed to
his historic spot
The Masonic Grand Lodge Of Kansas
aid the corner stone Of the monument.