The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-02-23

Aue'tsSi VI buiidiAS II on Tie uOttOAu
up, adding a great big surplus to our
business capital stock, conserving our
priceless resources and increasing
production. 1t is the only sure road
to permanent prosperity.
The greatest benefit man can be-
stow upon his fellow man is to pro.
duce something good and useful. It
may be a good sermon, a pair OF
boots. q Cooper dam or a shirt but
ton. The wisest and best men Of all
ages have been producers. The world
owes nothing to The idle, the ignor>
ant, the depraved except trouble
that's the only crop they raise Any
thing which increases production ben
Gifts everyone. 1t means more men
employed at higher wages, 1t means
more comfort and happiness to hu,
mainly
1t needs no prophet, nor the son
of prophet to say that the farmer
who is wasteful and slip-shod in hrs
methods and who does not care to
flearn from the masters of his voca-
ton, cannot afford to live In this part
fof the country, with land selling at.
from $3.50 to $3.50 per acre, much
longer He must follow the setting
sun, or journey up toward the aurora
borealis and seek land which is az
cheap as his method Of farming. And
If in new countries he may find his
friends and neighbors profiting by the
wisdom of the agricultural sages, he
! may even down III the pan handle of
Texas or In the shadow Of the Canad-
ian Rockies, have to stand in weedy
and neglected field, like "Grief upon
monument smiling as dispairH'
This Favored Section.
We, whose daily vocation is Ill
trade and commerce must not forges
the foundation upon which we erect the
superstructure of our commercial pro-
gress But we are, believe, greatly
blessed in this favored section of our
country. Not only are we living in
a state which is supreme In, agricul-
tural production, but the star Of In
dustrial supremacy is slowly, surely
moving westward TO this granary of
earth where we may live to see the
hosts Of commerce march to pay trib-
ute to mans inventive genius and
the resources of nature. The scepter
passed long ago from King Cotton to
King Corn, and here we view his pal
aces, and at the same time are fac
| ing the realization that the CONNER,
| cial destiny of every people In every
country has eventually been worked
! out in the great fertile valleys. That
! has been an historical truth from
1 Nile watered Egypt down, and it will
+ be true of this Mississippi valley.
! This great valley is destined to be
the center of industrial activity just
as it is now the center of productive
ness. The great cities will be locat-
I ed here, just as We find them located
along the great internal water courses
( in practically every country.
Industrial Achievements of the. Cen,
fury.
Two marvellous industrial achieve
ments of this young century have In
them possibilities for this section so
/ vast that think we fail at times 70
! realize their import. Soon the waters
of two oceans will be backed up to
our very doors and it is no idle fancy
/. to picture barge laded with pro-
ducts manufactured by electrical pow
err from the Mississippi being trans
ported in one bottom down this ma
jestic river, through the locks of Pan
anna and a thousand miles along the
/ Pacific coast to South American
republic, or to the distant empires Of
4 the orient.
Again one may here stand upon a
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