The Topeka state journal., 1901-08-02
NONE OTHER
COULD Do IT.
6continued from FIrst 20

after victory in the ceaseless strife
Waged against wild man and wild ma
ture- The winning of the west was the
great epic feat in the history of our
race.
We have then right to meet today
IN a spirit of just pride IN the past
But when we pay homage to the hardy,
grim, resolute men who with incredible
toll and risk laid deep the foundations
OF the civilization that we inherit, let
US steadily rem ember that the oniy
homage that counts is the homage Of
deeds, not merely of words It is well
to gather here to show that we re-
member what has been done in the
past by the western pioneers of our
people, and that we glory in the great
ness for which they prepared the way.
But lip loyalty by itself avails very
little whether it is expressed concern
ing q nation or an ideal. It would be
If ever the day came when we consid-
cred the great deeds of our forefathers
as an excuse for our resting slothfully
satisfied with what has been already
done. On the contrary, they should be
an inspiration and appeal, summOnlng
US to show that we too have courage
and strength; that we too are ready to
dare greatly if the need arises; and
above all, that we are firmly bent upon
that steady performance of everyday
duty which in the long run is of such
incredible worth in the formation Of
national character
The old iron days have gone the days
when the weakling died as the pen
atty of inability to hold his own in the
rough warfare against his surround
ings. We live in softer times. Let US
see to it that while we take advantage
of every gentler and more humaniZing
tendency of the age we yet preserve
the iron quality which made our fore
fathers and predecessors fit to do the
deeds they did 1t will of necessity
find a different expression now; but
the quality itself remains just as nee
essary as ever. Surely you men Of the
west, you men who with stout heart,
cool head and ready hand have
wrought out your own success and
built up these great new common
Wealths, surely you need no reminder
OF the fact that if either man or ma
ton wishes to play great part in the
world, there must be no dallying with
the life of lazy ease. In the abounding
energy and intensity of existence in
our mighty democratic republic there
is small space indeed for the idler. for
the luxury loving man who prizes ease
more than hard, triumph-crowned
effort.
We hold work as not a curse but as a
blessing and we regard the idler with
scornful pity 1t would be in the highest
work in the same way or at the same
things, and for the sake of the real great
ness or the nation we should in the full
est and most cordial way recognize the
TACT that some Of the most needed work
must from lts very nature pc uHFe1nuHeE-
ative in a material sense. Each man must
choose, as far as the conditions allow
him, the path to which he is hidden by
his own peculiar powers and inclinations.
But if he is a man he must in some
ter making all the efforts that his
strength of body and of mind permit, he
titled 0 a certain share of respect be.
cause he has made the effort. But if he
it a.lf-heartedly and recoils from the la
Dor. the risk. or the mere irksome. mo.
nontony of his task, why he has forfeited
all right to our respect and has shown
himself of mere outpumber of the
to succeed. but it is given to US all to
strive manfully and deserve success
must go with true manhood We need
age, of indomitable will, of power to do
without shirlking the rough work that
must always be done. and to preserve
of seeming failure which always come be-
fore any final triumph, no matter how
brilliant. But we need more than these
qualities. This country can not afford to
have its sons less than men; but neither
can it afford to have them other than
good men. If courage and strength ana
intelle are unaccompanieds by the moral
purpose. the moral sense, they become
merely forms of expression for unscrupus
1ouS force and unscrupulOuS cunning. If
the strong man has not in him the lift
towards lofty things his strength makes
him only a. curse to himself and to his
neiehbor All this is true in private life
them the whipcord fiber of moral and
menial strength the soul that steels it,
self to endure disaster unshaken ana
with grim resolve to wreck victory from
defeat. then the one could not have found~
federal union The least touch Of f1abbi-
have meant ruin for this nation and
hope of mankind. But no less is It true
that had either been Influenced by self
seeking ambition by callous disregard or
others, by contempt for the moral law,
they would have dashed US down into the
black gulf Of failure. Woe to all Of US If
& 00n0nnA
afford to lose social and civfI decency and
honesty than we can afford to lose the
the naerest trllisrn to saw that the nation
rests upon the Individual. upon the fam~
lily: rests upon individual manlinesS ana
womanliness using the words in their
widest and fullest meaning
To be a good husband or good wife,
a good neighbor and friend, to be hard
social relations, to bring many healthy
children-to be and to do all this, is to
lay the foundations of good citizenship
as they must be laid But we cannot
stop with this. Each of US has not only
his duty to himself, his family and his
but his duty to the state
and to the nation We are in honor
bound each to strive according to his or
her strength to bring ever nearer the
day when justice and wisdom shall OBJ
tain in public life as in private life.
We cannot retain the full measure of
our self-respect If we cannot retain
pride in our citizenship. For the sake
not only of ourselves but of our chill
dren and our children's children, we
must see that this nation stands for
and honesty, both at home
and abroad. In our internal policy we
cannot afford to rest satisfied until /
all that the government can do has /
been done to secure fair dealing and +
equal justice as between man and man. I
In the great part which hereafter, I
whether we will or not, We must play
in the world at large. let us see to
It that we neither do wrong I
nor shink from doing right I
because the right is difficult; |
that on the one hand we infiict no IN /
jury, and that on the other we have a I
due regard for the honor and .the in |