Address of welcome, to the Select Knights, A. O. U. W., at Topeka,
October 13, 1885.
GENTLEMEN: When requested by the local committee, some weeks ago, to
welcome to Kansas the Select Knights of the A. O. U. W., I very
willingly assented. For, although not a member of your organization, I
knew enough of its purposes, and of the principles on which it is
founded, to assure me not only that it was worthy of the respect of all
good citizens, but that it worthily represented, in its membership, the
best citizenship of the United States and Canada.
The ceremonial addresses of this occasion are, however, only the outward
manifestation of the cordial welcome with which the people of Kansas
will greet you. The real welcome will be extended in the outstretched
hands, in the open doors, in the generous hearts of your friends and
brothers throughout this Commonwealth.
Human nature demands society and friendship. The impulses which lead men
to band themselves together in associations, are far deeper than any
tendencies to individualism and isolation. Out of this craving for
fellowship has grown your Order, and all other societies of similar
structure. It is not a very “Ancient” organization, unless, as I have
heard it said, this country of ours has lived a full century during the
past twenty-five years. But it has grown and prospered until its lodges
are scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and its membership is
over 150,000. This is the best possible evidence that the Order of
United Workmen deserves to live. The American people, fond as they are
of organized fellowship and society, are intelligent, discriminating and
practical, and no organization having unworthy aims or ideas, can long
survive among them.
I congratulate you, heartily, upon the prosperous condition of your
Order. I congratulate you on the harmony and enthusiasm prevailing in
your ranks, and on the manifest interest and pride that is felt, by all
of your members, in the preservation and growth of your organization.
And I welcome you, sincerely and cordially, to Kansas.
A quarter of a century ago William H. Seward said that in the future
“men will go up to Kansas as they go up to Jerusalem.” Whether you came
here in this spirit or not, you feel something of its inspiration before
you go away from our borders. I warn you, here and now, that there is
irresistible fascination in the atmosphere of Kansas. The history, the
growth, the prosperity of this State are all exceptional. Not yet
twenty-five years of age, Kansas has outstripped, in population, wealth
and all the elements of an advanced civilization, more than half the
States of the Union. This State has carried off the first prizes at the
International Expositions at Philadelphia and New Orleans. It leads the
procession in the reports of the National Agricultural Department. It
has built nearly five thousand miles of railway to carry to market the
largest crops ever grown on American soil. It has assailed ignorance
with seven thousand school-houses. Of its 270,000 voters, at least
110,000 were soldiers during the civil war. The map of the Continent was
disfigured by a desert—these people touched it with the magic wand of
industry and enterprise, and lo! a garden blossoms in its stead. To
populate a county thirty miles square within six months, and round out
the half-year with a fight over the county seat between six towns, or to
build a fair-sized city within a twelvemonth—these achievements may seem
like a fiction, but they have been realities in Kansas. Beware, I say to
you again, lest you catch the contagious enthusiasm of Kansas, and,
telegraphing for your wives and children to come by the next train,
return to your old homes no more. I don’t want to break up the A. O. U.
W. in other States, by transferring you at once to Kansas, and so I give
you this friendly warning.
But whether you come as visitors, to enjoy, for a brief time, our
hospitality, or as immigrants to become permanent citizens, I bid you
welcome, thrice welcome to Kansas. I know you will like Kansas, and I am
equally certain that Kansas will like you. We are all glad that you came
here to hold your biennial conclave, and, speaking not only for your
special hosts, the United Workmen of Topeka, but for the large-hearted
people of Kansas, I can say:
“Sirs, you are very welcome to our house;
It must appear in other ways than words,
Therefore I scant this breathing courtesy.”