Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-05-28
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IOWA PRESS COMMENT
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Change Welcome.-The Reporter is
In daily receipt of papers from all ov.
the state which are actively support.
ing Conger. To read the Des Moines
Capital one would hardly believe ii
possible, but the Red Oak Express
states the facts when it says: with
the exception of the Des Moines Lead.
er and Sioux City Tribune independ.
emit and democratic papers, the Des
Moines Capital, the Marshalltown
imes-Republican and few other ra.
bid Cummfns papers, the state press
gladly welcomes the change In the pc.
litical situation which permits the sup
port of Major Conger for GOVERNOR
Winterset Reporter.
No Gold in loWa.-We are told by
Samuel Calvin, state geologist, that
there is no gold to be found in Iowa
As a man skilled in his particular field
OF scientific research he is able to
speak as one having authority. lie
tells Of the conditions under which
gold may be found; and those condi
tions being lacking search for the
treasure becomes idle and unprofit-
able.
The conclusions of the state geolo.
gist will undoubtedly be generally &C.
cepted, but in the heart of the true
Iowan the announcement will touch
no chord of despair. Beneath the sur.
face of the soil the yellow metal may
not repose, awaiting the miners pick
and the refiner's fire to perfect its
transformation from its bed of the
earth, earthly, to the marts Of trade
and commerce, yet the knowledge that
this is so will not cause single note
of sadness to enter into the refrain
which the Iowan is wont to sing.
Why! Because even as mans
wealth consistent not in the abund.
ance of the things which he possess.
eth, referring, of course, to material
things, so Iowa rejoices in the knowl.
edge that although of gold she may
have none she is rich in the things
which gold can not buy; rich in that
which gold alone can typify.
Since the earliest recorded period of
human history gold, both literally and
figuratively, has been representative
Of those things which were of the
greatest value. History, both sacred
and profane; literature, both ancient
and modern, tell the same story. And
thus 1t is today. Iowa, without gold,
has an inherent and an acquired right
to be recognized in figurative sense
as the golden state.
For justification we can point to
the richest soil that ever welcomed
the tiller's hand in spring or laughed
with an abundance in the harvest
time; to the fairest skies which ever
wept or smiled; to the finest land
scape scenes which ever appeared up.
on the canvass of nature; to prairies
which rise and fall like the heaving
pillows upon the breast Of the ocean !;
to rivers which look like silver cords,
running through carpets Of green, sing
ing as they journey on to their desti.
nation; sheep and cattle, not upon a
thousand hills, but upon the broad
pasture lands Of countless fertile
farms; to a citizenship noted the civi.
lized world over for intelligence, in.
tegrity, sobriety and progressiveness;
to cities and towns which are hives of
honest industry and for which each
successive year can tell story OF
steady and substantial advancement;
to institutions of learning from the
modest little school house upon the
prairie section line to the acad en1y.
college and the university; to church.
aS OF nxarX Graad and denomination.