The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1910-09-02

lolAuhdlt movement Dy Wnlcn lne
small farm has tended gradually to
take the place Of the great unfenced
ranch. ! now travel in every comfort
on railways across lands which when
first rode across them, were still the
home of the Indian and the buffalo;
and and find cities where one can
obtain not merely comfort, but luxury,
In the places where thirty years ago
there was not a building beyond a log
hut or a dobie house. The men who
did this work were engaged in the fin-
al stages of conquering the continent;
and it was their privilege to do one of
the great works OF ali time, to do their
part In the performance Of an epic feat
In the history of the progress of man
kind
Il have used the word progress. The
West stands for growth, for progress.
So must the whole American people
stand A great democracy must be
progressive or 1t will soon cease to be
either great or democratic. No nation,
no state, no party, can stand still. Il
must either 90 forward or go backward
and it becomes useless II It goes back
ward Therefore l greet YOU, men of
the West, and | stand for progress as
all men must stand who are progress
sive.
"The pioneers and their immediate
successors won victory only ty prov
ing that they possessed the great,
masterful qualities which lie at the
foundation of national greatness. There
are certain well.meaning men of in
tellectual cultivation. but lacking men,
tai robustness. who complain continu-
ally that they find American life, and
especially the life Of those American
communities emerging from the pio-
neer stage. crude and without genius
or beauty. Genius is fine thing for a
nation, but character Is a still finer
thing, and though beauty is good
strength Is an even greater good. The
men who have made this great repub-
lie of the West what It is. and especial
I ~ the men who have turned II into a
continental commonwealth, have pos
sessed In the highest degree the great
virile virtues of strength courage, en-
ergy, and undaunted and unwavering
resolution. Their typical leaders--of
whom Abraham Lincoln. though the
most exceptional was most typical
4 have possessed keen intelligence, and
character not merely strong but
lofty, a character exalted by the fact
that great power was accompanied by
high and fine determination to use
this great power for the common good.
for the advancement OF mankind The
pioneer days are over, save in few
places: and the more complex life of
today calls for a greater variety Of
good qualities than were needed on
the frontier. There is need at present
to encourage the development of new
abilities which can be brought TO high
perfection only by kind Of training
useless IN pioneer days. but these neE
qualities can only supplement, aud
never supplant, the old. homely vir-
tues; the need for the special and dis
tinctiYe pioneer virtues Is as great as
ever In other words as our civllza-
tlon grows older and more complex.
while II Is true that we need to devel-
op men whose lives are devoted wholly
to the pursuit Of special objects. It Is
yet also true that we need a great
and not less development of the fun-
damental frontier virtues. These yir.
tues include the power Of self-help. to-
gether with the power Of Joining with
others for mutual help and. what is es.
peeially important the feeling Of com.
radeship. Of social good-fellowship Any
man who had the good fortune to live
among the old frontier conditions must.
in looking back, realize how vital was
this feeling of general comradeship and
social fellowship. There we're good men
and bad men in the new communities
Just as In the old communities. and the
conditions on the frontier were such
that the qualities Of the good and the
bad alike were rather more strikingly
manifested than IN Older communities;
hut among the men who tried to lead
hard-worklng, decent lives. there was
a feeling Of genuine democracy, which
represented an approach TO the Amerl-
can ideal which we certainly should do
everything in our power 70 preserve.
We did not try 10 say that men were
eouai when they we're not eouat hut