The Topeka state journal., 1911-05-02
KANSAS CONMENT
A CIvILIzING FORCE.

L
When your neighbor's phonograph
rasps out Casey JONES' for the sew
enth time in a single evening, it may
arouse the savage in you, and cause
you 70 go out and kick the cat, and
throw rocks at the dog or drinks at
yourself. One would not think of the
monograph as an agent of civilization
IN times of stress like that. Yet, it is
douptless that, regardless of some
MeIl-tounded prejudices against it.
EVen ~ as the cheaper and easier means
u transportation have helped in the
progress Of the world, by making the
strange peoples less strangers SO does
the talking machine.
Ihree million dollars worth of pho
nosfapns Were exported from this
couhtry 90 last year, and they went to all
the far=hung countries on the map.
one may md them in India, or Peru,
IN Punta Arenas, or Medicine Hat In
all the Tour corners of the earth they
grind out music and mirth; on the
shlps that sail the seven seas, and
Where canned goods are common, can
Aeo music makes the long voyage
snorter Music is civilizer, and music
tnat is good can be produced from the
pIlehosfaph records, even if most of it
graph does other things; it speaks any
language IN which it has been properly
spoken to. Therefore, the records tell
the accent of one country to that of
a.otheI' Lecturers on great subjects
OF world importance are on the re-
cords, and heard in lands where they
are most needed. And they are need
ed more in the lands where all can
near' put lew can read. TO them, the
monograph is more than entertain
ment, being somewhat of a teacher as
we'll
Douotless the phonograph might
nave been used with better Judgment
than IL mas, and saved a good deal of
agony, hut, approaching it in an opti-
Inlstlc frame of mind, forgetting dis
coFaant ragtime for a moment, one
must admit it is a part of the forward
iharcn; one of the many marvellous
inventions which have helped so much
70 aqd to the worth of living in this
l1fe.-Atchison Globe.
IMMIGRATION AND SOUTHWEST
There is a feeling that this is lust
ABOUT the time for a tremendous i'm
Imigratlon movement Westward and
70 sections of the West which include
the Arkansas valley. This paper shares
IN TINS belief, and only regrets we have
NOT IN Kansas, an immigration COM
mission properly to set forth Kansas
claim. That is one reason The Tele-
gram is so strong for the fullest part
IN lhe approaching Chicago land show.
halfway immigration men in Chi
caSo are Jubllant over the situation
and express themselves generally as of
the opinion that the coming few years
VIII mark the greatest agricultural ad-
IVancement in the history of the ma
tlon. Ofhc1als of lines penetrating the
west are looking forward to a greater
movement of coloniSts during 1911
than took place last year, important as
tnaL year was. Down in Dixie and in
the Southwest, the railway opinion is
that the tide of immigration will ex-
ceed this year the record made last
wear for inPrP9 Snd ~
reasons for this optimism are logical
ones.
A forclble illustration of the stabil-
ity of the Middle-W W. estern movement
for instance, is found in the develop
ment which took place, or is indicated
influx of land settlers, in the state of
Utah in February During this one
month $4,000 acres of land were taken
under the provisions of the homestead
law The United States land office at
Salt Lake City reports this acreage as
the largest, by SO per cent, for the
business for one month in the history
of the office. Recently a homeseekers
excursion was operated from Chicago
to western Texas The colonists repre-
sented 20 different states
These are some of the more potent
contentious of Chicago businessmen
in their predictions concerning the
success that will mark the work of
the Nineteenth National Irrigation
congress in Chicago this year. Chica go
is the one American center and source
of distribution most logically adequate
to the enormity of the development
movement as a whole. and the city is
naturally the most advantageous host
this year for the congress and for the
exhibits of farm products, which are
to be repeated here next fall.-Garden
City Telegram.