The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-11-12

yet show by deeds and words our know
ledge that in such a government as ours
each of u. must be in very truth his
brothers keeper
AT the time when the growing COM
plexity of our social ana Industrial
world has rendered inevitable the intru-
sion of the state into spheres of work
where in it formerly took no mart and
when there is also a growing tendency
to demand the illegitimate and -unwise
transfer to the government of much of
the work that should be done by private
persons, singly or associated together it
is d pleasure to address a body whose
members possess to an eminent degree
the traditional American self reliance of
spirit which makes them scorn to ask
from the government, whether of a state
or s nation, anything but a fair field
and no faVOr=Who cOnfide not in being
helped by others but in their own skill
and business ca9acity to achieve sue
cess. The first requisite of a good citi-
zen in this republic of ours is that he
shall be able and willing to pull his
weight-that he shall not be a mere
passenger, but shall do his share in the
work that each generation of us finds
ready to hand; and furthermore that III
doing his work he shall show not only
the capacity for sturdy self help but
self respecting regard for the rights of
others.
THE chamber of commerce, it is no
idle beast to say, stands in a pre-emi-
nent degree for those qualities which
make the successful merchant, the sue
cessful business man, whose success is
won in ways honorable to himself and
beneficial to his fellows.
There are very different kinds of
success. There is the success that brings
with it the scared soul-the success
which is achieved by greed and vulpine
cdnning-the success which makes hon
est men uneasy or indignant in its pres
ence- Then there is the other kind of
SUCCESSIVE success which comes as the
reward of keen insight of Sagacity, of
resolution, of address, combined with
unflinching rectitude' of behavior. pub
lie and private. The first kind of sue
cess may in a senSe-and in a poor
sense-at that-benefit the Individual
but it is always and necessarily a curse
to the community: whereas the man
who wins the second kind as an incident
of its winning, becomes a beneficiary to
the whole commonwealth. Throughout
! its history the chamber of commerce
has stood for this second and higher
! kind of success. 1t is therefore fitting
I that l should come here as the chief
executive of the nation to wish you well
/ in your new home; for you belong not
/ merely to the city. not merely to the
state, but to all the country and YOU
1 stand high among the great factors in
building up that marvellous prosperity
which the entire country now enioys.
| The continuance of this prosperity de-
Ponds in no small measure upon your
sanity and common sense, upon the way
! IN which you combine energy in action
( with conservative refusal to take part
! in the reckless gambling which is SC
often bred by, and which so inevitably
puts an end to prosperity. You are men
of might in the world of American eff
fort; you are men whose names stand
/ high in the esteem of our people, YOU
are spoken of in terms like those used
in the long gone ages when it was said
of the Phoenician cities that their ner-
chants were princes. Great is youi
power, and great therefore your respon-
sibility. Well and faithfully have you
met this responsibility in the past We
/ look forward with confident hope t.
what you will do in the future. and it is
4 therefore with sincerity that | hid Won
7 God speed this evening and wish for
YOU, in the name of the nation a career
of ever increasing honor and useful
ness"