The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1905-07-20

and unmeasured wilderness. We of
today stand in the midst of an empire
whose shores are washed by two mighty
oceans, whose hills and valleys are
drained by rivers, the grandestO in vol
ume and length in the world. From our
mountains we have torn all the treas
lures that enrich and embellish modern
civilization. Bands of steel unite our
cities, villages and communities in all
the benefits of commerce. An American
citizen, Robert Morse grasped the
lightning as it flashed from the clouds
and forged chain that binds the hemis-
pheres, and the bed of old ocean be-
comes highway upon which teens the
thoughts of men. Our western states
have yielded the precious metals, gold,
silver, copper, lead, zine, iron, coal and
petroleum. Our mountains have poured
stream of wealth into every channel
of the worlds commerce. Over two
hundred thousand miles of railway,
enough to encircle the globe almost
eight times, distributes the products of
our natural energies. We are proud Of
our progress in every field of enter
prise.
| There are three forces that sustain
the life of a nation. These are the in
tellectual forces, the moral forces, and
the economical forces. From the proper
development of all these may we ex-
pect to sustain the position we now
boast of in worldwide affairs. We must
educate, we must distribute our wealth,
we must in our business relations OBJ
serve the golden rule, "Do ye unto
others as ye would that others would
do unto you" In other words million
dollars stolen in distribution from a
million homes is as bad in principle as
million dollars stolen from one man. In
the first we affect the comforts and me-
cessities of innumerable conditions Of
life, in the second one family is affected
in it's relation to others. The organiza-
tion of certain lines of industry into
trusts for the control of prices to pro-
ducer and consumer is form of piracy
upon commerce and the Americans owe
it to their sense of justice to those prin-
ciples once proclaimed and that will
last as long as men shall live and guar
antee the equality of every citizen in
the opportunity to create home and a
position in life. We should sweep these
pirates from our commerce, not as Com
modore Decatur swept the Algerian
pirates from the high seas, but by the
awakening Of a public conscience, and
the demand for rededication of those
eternal principles, equality, fraternity,
justice, the foundation Of republics and
true government. Every year the Jew,
under whatever government, circum-
stances or conditions he may be placed,
eats of the feast of the passover of un-
leavened bread to commemorate the
providential deliverance of his race
! from their bondage to the Egyptians, by
shifting the first born of the Egyptians
and passing over the houses of the
Israelites which were marked by the
blood of the paschal lamb. We, the Amer
lean people, as we annually assemble
to commemorate by speech and song and
do bow down again at the feet of the
Goddess of Liberty to renew our vows
of devotion to the principles of liberty
of monarchial institutions, should pray
that we be led not astray by the God of
Mammon; that we forget not that the
decay and death Of nations begins in
the palace and the centers OF great
wealth. The ancient Spartans realizing
the enervating influences of great
wealth, passed laws ordering the dis
tribution of the gold and silver of con-
quered nations. In the progress of our
national life we have lived down many
inconsistencies, we have trampeled
under our feet many evils. 1t is said
by one of our greatest modern thinkers
that we live ever in the shadows of the
past, and the light Of advancing events.
That we discover new truths and cling
4
unfoldment, that intellectual develop
!. ment is the evolution of ideas. America
was discovered in 1892 and for thous-
and years prior to that time scarcely
. one new idea had broken the legarthy
Of human intelligence, while an ignor-
. ant fanaticism had destroyed much of
! the knowledge accumulated before that.
:. But prior to 1892 there were, signs of
an intellectual awakening. AT the
> close Of the eleventh century the free
: cities arose and began to assert an in
fuence. In 1915 King John was COM
PEELED to grant the great charter to the
barons of England. In the twelfth CEN
tury the Nance League, or free cities,
was formed for the protection of COM
merce and they were located in Ger
III ID =