The Wichita daily eagle., 1903-09-30
GREATNESS OF KANSAS
Never Better Words Spoken
of Her Than by Martin.
ON SCORE OF OCCASIONS
His Speech at Garden City in
'86.
IN SCORE OF OCCASIONS

with her grandeur and greatness, but IN
the great multitude of the good things
said about this splendid state. there can
be found in no volume so many lnspir-
ing ecomiums as are embraced in the
little book containing the addresses de-
livered by Jno. A. Martin during his term
as governor from 1884 to 1883, declares the
Capital of Topeka This little book, COM
piled by D. w Wilder contains As ad-
dresses delivered by Governor Martin on
as many different subjects. 1t mattered
not if the occasion was an old soldiers
ramp fire. a speech of welcome or talk
before an agricultural society, the glories
of Kansas and her brilliant future were
painted in words and sentences that thrill
ed the heart of every loyal citizen.
Soon after his Inauguration I'm 1856 Gov
ernor Martin responded to q toast on
kansas at a banquet given by the
Topeka Press club. One short sentence
In that address told a truth which is rec
ognized in every quarter of the nation:
Kansas is the electric light of the
Union:
In the same short address Governor
Martin briefly told the story of Kansas
in these words:
kansas is the state of great crops.
great herds, great fiocks, great railroads.
great school houses, great development,
and great prosperity. There Is nothing
small about Kansas except her rivers,
and these were probably made small be-
cause Providence, in fashioning the state,
created a land so rich and goodly that
It was deemed extravasant to waste much
Of it In big water courses"
In June. 1885, Governor Martin address,
ed the students of the State university,
saying:
The erowning glory of Kansas has
been her schools, embracing those OF
every grade, from the rude dug-out on
the lonely frontier to the stately build
.ngs on Mount Dread. Those bright chill
dren of the state are her jewels, and
she can point to them with pride equal
ling that OF the Roman mother. For they
are worthy OF her as she is of them
worthy Of her love and fostering care,
a. well as of her pride"
On September "a, 1885. Governor Martin
vent out to Smith Center and delivered
en- address before the Smith county fair.
selecting for his subject, Kansas Farms
and Farm Interests" re admitted that
he knew nothing about practical or the
oretic farming but before he had finished
his audience recognized that he possessed
some well defined ideas about home life
on the prairies These are some of the
best things in his address:
'"Th. patient heroisn, the true nobility
that has illustrated in the daily lives
Of thousands of Kansas farmers and Kan
eas farmers wives-men and women who.
come here with hardly a dollar, live in
rude dag-outs or cabins, in cruel isola-
don and bitter poverty, toiling, saving
and enduring patiently the most trying
privations, in order that they may at
last own a farm and a home-this sort
of Kansas heFoism so common and yet SC
splendid. may justly challenge the ad-
miration of the world.
"Of what value is money if it does
not purchase some of the comforts of
life? OF what value are expanding acres
and Iuxuriant crops if they do not bring
in their train of delights of a pleasant
and cheerful home?
Il know farmers in this state-men.
abundantly able to build comfortable
homes. and to surround them with all
seem content to exist amid the meanest
and most squalid surroundings. The
charm and glory of beautiful land is all
about them. but it touches no responsive
chord in their hearts. Their houses are
not homes-they are simply places in
which to eat and sleep. Summer suns
and winter winds blaze and beat upon
them No overhanging trees throw
around them the refreshing coolness Of
their shade. No verdure of grass or
perfume of flowers encirCles them. No
birds make the air about them vocal
with music There they stand lonely and
oesoIate avoided by every sweet and
beautiful thing in nature. sand even the
fresh breath of the morning and the gen
tie breeze Of the twilight come to them
tainted and impure.
There is. as ! have said, no excuse
for the farmer. who after a residence Of
four or FIVE years in Kansas. continues 10
live amid such surroundings. de may
not be able to build a rne house. but he
can at least plant few trees around
his home and let the rich grass and the
lively flowers of our prairies grow and
bloom about his door-yard. All these
son and daughter OF Kansas. without
wealth 10 buy them; and with them will
come the music of singing birds. the
shelter against sun and wind. and com
fort. rest and a larger and broader view
Of the beauty OF life and the bounty Of
God"
In this same address Governor Martin
paid a tribute TO Kansas and her people
worthy a place in any scrap-book. Read
his prophetic words-his inspiring eulogy
with this fair land as his home, with
this productive soil as his workshop, and
with the rare and healthfuI atmosphere
Of Kansas 70 stimulate his ensrgy. tn
farmer of this state ousht 10 be con
tented ard prosperous Certainly in no
other state have the opportunities for Sc
curing pleasant homes and productive
farms been so favorable and so numerous
an here IN Kansas Certainly in no other
land has so much material wealth been
dug out in so brief tine as here IN
Kansas Certainly in no other country
under the shining stars have so many
poor and struggling men won modest
fortune by honest industry. as here IN
Kansas.
Here is a people who have wiped
desert from the map of the continent and
replaced it with garden. Here are the
men who have pushed the plains 20 the
foothills of the mountains; who have
dotted the treeless prai-ies with forests;
and who have made the solitudes OF the
bson the home of the plow. OF what
In - art