The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-01-23
CIergyman'S Plan For Uniting
People of Kansas City.
WOULD HELP ALL CLASSES
Rev. Charles Ferguson, Pastor of a
Kansas City Church, Advocates
the Establishment Of an
Institution.

The Rev. Charles Ferguson. pastor
of All Souls church in Kansas City,
NO, is advocating the establishment
of civic university--a university of
the people-in Kansas City. Discuss
ing the question recently with re-
porter Of the Kansas City Times, Mr..
Ferguson said.
kansas City is growing big by mere
force Of its typographical position. The
place Is metropolitan to an immense
area Of the most productive territory
on the face of the earth The city
stands at the crossroads Of an economic
empire Nothing, not even civic con
spiracy TO thwart the laws Of nature
and enrich the few at the expense Of
the many, can prevent this city from
being the biggest city of the mid
continent, the London or Paris of the
American prairie. Whatever we do or
leave undone the city is bound to be
the gathering place Of million human
beings within twenty years.
"The laws Of nature are throwing
vast multitude Of people together here,
but the Wills Of the people must do
the rest must settle the term on which
men shall meet here and the kind Of
society that shall be established. IL
the city shall be dominated by a cen
spiracy Of money makers enlisted to
circumvent those immutable laws Of
art and science that condition the sue
cess of ciyilizing enterprises the city
will be big indeed, but It viii be mean.
The people, high and low. will live sor-
did and uninteresting lives. and Kan
sas City will but add one more Baby
Ion to a tale that is already told.
On the other hand, il the predomi-
nant force Of the city shall be not
conspiracy to balk the moral laws OF
nature. but conspiracy to discover
and execute them, in spite of the regi.
ments of commercial and political
graft. then history will have another
story to tell. There will be a spot In
the Mississippi valley Of imperlshable
and cosmopolitan interest.
"What is wanted is a civic univer-
sity that shall be in effect compre.
hensive labor union, wide enough la
its ground plan to take In the whole
industrial life OF the city and aiming
not merely to raise the wages Of a
trade or class, but to increase the
purchasing power of all honest In
comes by furnishing the highest posi-
BILE artistic and scientific conditions of
social existence Such a union would
use its political and social power to
open up an opportunity for ali kinds of
public service and to close every other
career The hard truth is that as
things stand IN this city today and In
every other American city the shortest
and surest road to social and economic
power does not lie through the service
of the community, but through deyo-
ton to one or another special interest
more or less adverse to the common
welfare. The simple rule, therefore
for building here city rich and splen-
did beyond comparison with any Of its
rivals is to create social organization
that shall appreciate and promote all
kinds of social efficiency and so draw
the best brains and energies into the
service of the whole people. Kansas
City should add to the brilliant achieve
ment Of its Convention hall and its
bright hope Of union station the plan
of third great civic institution, uni
rersity of the people, to house its
working viii as it sets itself to the
mastery OF materials III the name Of
the free creative spirit and the eternal
laws.
Now, section Of the general stat
utes of the state OF Missouri relating
to educational aud benevolent institu
tions provides for the charfering under
the privileges Of those statutes OF Joint
stock building associations for the
housing Of such institutions. Under
the provisions Of this section univer-
sity building could be erected that
could easily assure the stockholders A
per cent on their investment.
Under its general aim OF localizing
the working force Of the public will
ana I'D addition to It's arrangements
for teaching and preaching the gospel
Of the arts and sciences, which. by the
way should entail no public expense.
the university building should furnish
accommodations and headquarters for
three other distinct and subordinate
interests that are now crying aloud for
house to dwell in. And from these
three sources, helped out by other rent.
ais Of offices and studios, the institu-,
tion could derive d self sustaining rev
enue.
'First.The labor unions Of this CITY
are trying to build labor temple
They are not likely to do 1t All by them
selves in this generation, although they
have had some success in getting to-
gether a building fund. The reason
that the labor temple idea makes slow
progress here as we'll as in every other
American city where it has been
preached is that 1t has commonly been
conceived as class idea, and SO is
foreign to the American ideal. IL not
the actual spirit Of American institu-