The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1931-12-31

This Is not time Tor peSStmlSm.
This is time for new pioneer eff
fort, for a renewal Of pioneer cour-
age and enterprise. There never
was period in our history when
there was a better chance to lay the
foundations of a fortune than to-
day.
Let's jump out of our gloom. For
get the stock-market, forget Eur
ope, forget the war, forget the big
profits that melted away even more
suddenly than they came, and re-
member that we are living in
America, and in the best part of
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES natur-
al resources are so abundant and
opportunity so free, that a man
may rebuild his broken fortune and
restore his blasted hope even be-
fore his less fortunate neighbors in
other lands can begin to emerge
from their sackcloth and their
ashes.
We are not all broke yet. have
it on the best authority that the
other day a German farmer near
Chaska bought his neighbours
quarter-section and agreed to pay
$16,0 for it. On the day appoint
ed for the execution and delivery
of the deed, he drove up to one of
the local banks with his wife, in a
1920 edition Ford. Lifted a battered
milk can from the box behind, car
ried it into the bank and rolled it
into the directors room in the rear.
When the deed had been signed,
he removed the cover and began
pulling packages of currency out
of the can. They counted the money
but to the farmers great surprise
and discontinue there was only $12,-
600. Everybody else was speeches.
but the good hausfrau turned to her
husband and said, Goodness Grac-
ious, Otto, you didn't bring the
right cant" It is not only diamonds
that are found by digging in the
soil of Minnesota.
It may seem to some that in this
inventory of Minnesota's wealth I
have stressed unduly the things
that are merely unitarian. It was
with deliberate intent that men
toned first the things which con-
Germ business and industry. After
all, economics is fundamental. It
is the foundation that must be laid
before the superstructure of ethics
and esthetics can be raised. Sever
al thousand years ago a very wise
Chinaman said. when granaries
are until the people will know good
manners"
Minnesota is not without the
things of the spirit. Has she de-
veloped courage and passion for
intrepid adventure? The answer
is her Lone Eagle winging his way
across the Atlantic along route
which reversed the direction of
every former pioneering trek. Has
she nurtured love for beauty, as
expressed in art, music and litera-
ture? The answer is Rolvaag, the
first to catch the meaning of the
prairie; the Minneapolis Symphony
Orchestra and the Saint Olaf Choir
known to all who love music. Has
she fostered education and learn
ing? The answer is a rate of litter
acy among children of school age
lower than that of any other state
1.23 per thousand; a $65,0O0,000
trust fund for education increasing
at the rate of $4,500,000 a year; T.
688 rural schools, 401 consolidated
schools, 782 graded elementary
schools, 532 high schools, six teach
ers' colleges, one of the greatest Of
all state universities, SO county
agents, $4,000 boys and girls en-
rolled in All clubs. I wonder whetn-
er these also are not acres OF dia-
monds!"
Our faith in Minnesota must rest
finally, not upon her material
wealth, but upon the character and
quality Of her people. Representing
many racial stocks, they came from
the loins of the picked few of their
generation who had the courage to
venture, the initiative to undertake,
the strength to preserve and the
power to execute. Because they
had these qualities Of mind and
heart, these elements of character,
those giants in the earth" were
able to lay the foundations of a
great commonwealth. We shall
prove ourselves worthy of that her
itage of greatness only by building
towering superstructure upon that
foundation. Have we the vision,
the strength, the courage? The fu-
ture will return the verdict.