Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-12-02

girded with joy.
The pastures are clothed with
Hooks; the valleys also are covered
with grain; they shout for joy; they
also sing
A Thanksgiving Day For All.
my brethren, we need to get back
to this thought that whether we live
| amid the frosts of winter or in the
spring time when nature puts on her
beautiful garm ents, or in the heat of
summer with its singing birds and
fragrant flowers, or in tho autumn
which crowns the year with the har-
| vest, the merciful God is at work all
the while for the happiness of his
creatures. Day by day he gives fresh
| proof OF his unfailing interest in the
! children of men, which should always
excite our gratitude and cause us to
Tcherish feeling of humble dependence
upon Almighty God. We are all debt
ors to the. Giver of all good and every
perfect gift. He sends the showers and
the sunshine without discrimination
upon the evil and the good, upon the
just and the unjust.
But when We say this has been a
year OF material prosperity because of
the immense output of the field and
pasture the factory and the mine we
are not Gnmindful of the fact that
there are many today who as they look
back over the year cannot say that it
has been year of prosperity with
them. Sickness may have been the por-
tion of the family. In some places
crops may have been destroyed, finan-
cial loss may have been the outcome
of exhausting toll, or loss by death may
have been the most significant event
of the year. Can these persons join
the procession of thanksgivers TODAY ?
answer that. question in the affirma-
tive. Thanksgiving day is not alone
for the man who in adding up his ac-
counts, finds large balance to his
credit, not only for the farmer whose
! field God has enriched In showers and
! sunshine. 1t is for all who are depend
ent upon God for temporal blessings.
| we need to reconstruct our philos-
ophy of life. There is t. deep cause for
thankfulness even in things blighted
and ruined. The wasted fields of life
often produce the richest harvest of
virtue and the rarest flowers of faith
| Tt would not do one has said, for
all the fields of the world to overflow
with corn. The nations would become
luXurious and effeminate; toll, difficult
/ ty danger and loss dlsclplines human
lily unto diviner strength and peace
Disaster may be blessing in disguise.
Wealth, ill-gotten or Infused, may be
a curse. while poverty. born in the
spirit of honest contentment, may be
a mark of the truest nobility of char
! acter. We have not the true reason
for gratitude until we base it on
I faith as well as on sight. 1T must
! be born of profound sense of the
/ blessedness of life and the beneficence
of the whole order of creation
Tribute to Roosevelt.
"The year 1905 has been a period of
marked moral advance 1t is not
easy to tabulate moral results. The
mills of Goo grind slowly and the pro-
duct does not evoke the same degree
of interest that material tangible re-
suits show. Yet we recognize that the
Fcause of reform mas received splendid
encouragement in this year of our
Lord. AS a nation we are at peace
with ourselves as well as with other
nations. More than that. as nation
we have in the providence of God
been the means of establishing peace
between hostile and warning nations
We humbly render thanks unto the
God of nations for the wisdom. tact
and courage of the president of the
United States, who in an hour big with
destiny, came forward as a peace.
maker. We cali him the man of the
! strenuous life and the war-like spirit
i but now we know him TO be first in
peace as we'll as first in the hearts Of
his countrymel,. We talk about the
/ big game he has captured on his vaca-
ton in the Rocky mountains. The big,
gest bear he has captured this year
and that By peaceful means, was the
mighty grizzly that had planted one
foot on Manchuria and the other on
/ Corea and was poking it's ugly snout
into the island empire of Japan.
thank God that the man in whom we
/ delight to honor Theodore Roosevelt
is man of incorruptible character, OF
answering loyalty to all that makes
for righteousness and Justice and who
in public and private life manifests the
spirit of hum Bile dependence upon AL
mighty God.
Year of Moral Progress.
ut has been year of moral awak.
ening along many lines. Private
| plunderers have been aroused from
their luxuriant nests and combinations
\ of thieves have been broken up. Cities
long held in the merciless grip of a
political gang Of grafters, blackmailers
and bosses have with surprising as
sertion of independence thrown off the
yokes of bondage While we cannot
be too optimistic and declare that the
day of the CRATER ana the political
boss is passed, we are confident the
signs of the times declare their days
are numbered. The public conscience
is more sensitive and everywhere the
moral standard has been raised. The
people demand integrity and honesty
of their public servants. They will fol
low such self-sacrificing leaders as
Jerome and Folk, who without respect
of persons, strive for high ideals in
/, national life.
| Spiritual Blessings.
Nor must we forget to give thanks
u rs TN<~x1 a.. 49, s~syAt ,rxl