Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1902-08-23

IL one IOr every 100. Anu tnlS III
crease IL an Increase in real farms
not mere garden patches The Ameri-
can countryside Is holding It's own and
more. too. In the rapid general advance
Of the country. This state of affairs Is
good for the nation. While
In the cities the tendency Is toward
the loss Of indlvidualism and for the
masses to become employees and depend
cnts of great corporations and firms, the
tendency In the country Is for the heads
of families to he more and more indie.
pendent of others and more and more
dependent upon themselves. 1t Is the
Of the independence of the
farmer. of the landowner, that Is caus-
ing farmers to buy more land and Is
arousing In city people an intense long.
Ing for piece of mother earth that can
be called their own. He who has some
land has little sovereignty of his own.
There he can establish himself, and, II
his wants are simple and his habits
good. may live without worry for the
morrow while the trusts and monopo-
lies and the growing concentrations Of
capital enmesh his fellow man In the
city. The present great land movement
In the West II due In no small degree
to an almost universal longing for land.
based on the idea of independence that
goes with land holding, and a feeling
that the opportunity to get e..eap lands
will soon be gone forever.
~6A
Thirty years ago President Grant, In
private conversation. remarked that
there was only one war clearly In sight
for the United States-a war with
Spain over Cuba. which war he regard
ell rs inevitable. He added that, after
that contest should be decided, the
future Of the American countries Dor.
dering on the Atlantic would have been
determined. and the attention Of the
world would be absorbed In CONNER.
cial struggle In the Pacific. President
Grants far-sightedness has been vim.
dicated. The war with Spain has been
fought. and now the energies Of the
nations are engaged In various prob.
lens Of the Pacific. The United States
itself Ii dealing with one OF the most
difficult Of these problems, the govern
ment Of the Philippines. 1t has much
ut stake In another Of them, the main.
tenance Of the Integrity OF China. The
possession Of Hawaii ana the new as.
sured isthmlan canal add to Its interest
In Pacific questions. Japan has be-
come u nation Of the first rank. whose
power may some time decide Asiatic
questions. Korea, no longer hermit
Kingdom" Is being exploited. CONNER.
cially and politically. Already the &C.
casIOn OF one war. she may yet be the
pretcxt for another. Alliances between
Japan ind Great Britain and between
Russia ana France suggest a grouping
Of powers for emergencies. China IL
harnsscd by two rebcllions. ana by "a
war OF concessions" ut Pekin. In which
Germany, Great Britain and other pow.
ers are taking part. Altogether. there
Is no part OF the world which IL more
interesting. and no region where his.
tory Ii making more rapidly. than In
the countries and islands washed by
the Pacific.
The late Dean Hoffman, Of the Gen.
eral Theological Seminary of the Prot
estant Episcopal Church. had large
fortune and was prOpOrti0nately great
giver. The aggregate Of his benefac-
tions no one knew but himself, and no
would not betray the secret. The Cd.
timated total. according to press dis.
patch, IL more than million dollars.
Publicity Is Il wholesome stimulus to
giving. A liberal example bears fruit
In more generosity. But there are cases
OF such nature that the chief aim
would almost he defeated were the
names of the recipients known or the
objects openly designated. The dean
seems to have appreciated the fact that
In some circumstances 1t IL best that
only three should be cOgnizant of ben.
efactiOn, namely, the bestOwer, the per-
son helped and the Lord, who loveth
cheerful giver.
4 county superintendent of schools In
Illinois lately organized ana conducted
an excursion for farmers ana their fam
ilies to the Agricultural College of the
state. \ party Of nearly three hundred
persons was gathered, nearly One-half
OF them boys. The visitors Were en-
abled to see for themselves the fine
specimens of stock, ana how they are
kept, the experiments In fertilization,
cultivation. and the hundred and one
other things which make the agricul-
tural colleges so valuable to the cOun-
try; ana In the department of dOmes.
tic economy the farmers wives had OPP
pOrtunity to see the best methods Of
the work which most interests them.
The plan Is feasible In any county OF
any State, and deserves to be copied.
~6
After all, the Civil War veterans
should not object to the change In
army uniforms. 1t gives them a mon
opoly Of the glorious "boys In blue"
distinction.