The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1910-06-17
A Man and His Town.

AT u recent meeting In Honolulu
Robert ]. Burdette delivered an ad
dress on What Man Owes to His
Town His remarks are as applicable
in Owosso as in the Hawaiian metropo.
lis and no apology is needed for repro.
ducing them in full. Like everything
Bnrdette has written or said, they will
meet with general appreciation and ap-
proyal:
He owes this duty to himself and
the town-to owN-a part of it. Ever
80 small lot, if he can't own a big
one. A forty.foot front, if he can do
no better. But he should OWN a part
of the town. That gives him a stake
in it.
THE man who owns home in the
town never calls his town-lT. When
he speaks of it, whether it be London or
Tailholt, New York, or Waikiki, he
says wE-oUR town. And he has q
right to. He is stockholder, a part
| ner.
more than that, when he owns a
piece of ground, farm or town lot, he
has stake in the EARTH. He is a
citizen of the Universe. His property
extends from the birthstone out to the
stars. Even now, they are disputing
the right of an airship to sail through
the air over mans house without the
owners permission. The very thought
is enough to make a man feel chesty.
And with good cause.
when wild anarchist buys town
lot he subsidies into moderate socialist.
When he builds house on it, he fades
into conservative citizen. When he
brings wife into it and transforms the
house into home, he is apt to join the
republican or democratic party, and
begins to question the wisdom of strikes.
When the baby is born he opens an
account at the bank. And when the
boy is IA years old, he begins the very
serious study of the question of prohi-
bition as contrasted with an open town
with the lid off.
"A man who owns his home begins
to study his ticket six weeks before
election day. He scrutinizes every
name on it, and looks up the candidates
record. 1t is the man who can tie up
his real and personal property in hand
kerchief that shuts his eyes and votes
the ticket the boss gives him, without
unfolding it.
"a man owes it to his town to boost
it in pxblic on all occasions, and at all
times. The correction of its failings
and faults are for the privacy of the
home circle. A man who would thrash
his boy on the front steps of the court
house ought to be whipped out of town.
The citizens who welcomes the stranger
by telling him what a rotten city gov
ernment we have, what corrupt set of
officials rule the town. how the town
lags behind the age in all matters of
progress and development, that it is a
dead town and will be, so long as cer-
tain men rule it, is an undesirable citi-
zen.
when a man tells you that what his
town needs is half dozen first. class
funerals, he may be correct. But HE
shduld be the first to be buried
"A man owes it to his town to shout
its advantages from the housetops. The
entire registry list should be the pro-
motion committee. If necessary, put
binders on the visitor, and let him see
what you WANT him to see. When
he asks you what chance poor man
has in town, tell him the truth. Tell
him the poor man is the only man who
has chance. And that is no joke.
Show him the beautiful homes of the
men who came here with a capital of
working hands and thinking brains.
Tell him the story of the man who be-
gan with day wages. Tell him you
think there should be law compelling
the poor man to give the rich man a
handicap when they come into compe-
tition with each other, so as to give the
rich man no chance 1t is the penniless
boys like John Rockefeller, Andrew
Carnegie, Phil Armour and that class
who backed the rich mans sons Of their
poverty laden days, clear off the earth" ="