'Cbe Conservative *
tion ! May they , with devout thanks
giving , comprehend that every genera
tion is the living heir to all the posses
sions and achievements of its long line
of ancestry , receiving as priceless be
quest all that , from the dim and hoary
past , has been wrought out by the
struggle , the sacrifice , and the martyr
dom of countless upward-aspiring men
and women ; and may they in turn ac
cept the duty of retransmitting a legacy
, . made richer and' more precious by vir-
v i\ \ tue of their own strenuous and lofty
contributions ! May in that era the irritating -
ritating questions of our time have received -
ceived a satisfying solution I May all
prejudice of sex , of race , of color , of
religion , and of class , have ceased to
exist 1 May the close physical relationship -
ship of every animal , human and nonhuman -
human , have come to be understood ,
stimulating a sense of brotherly guard-
iauship in man , and cementing ties of
love and service between every being
that lives and breathes on this planet 1
May you more perfectly comprehend
the full , unfathomed meaning of the
fact that Law and Beauty are the under
lying , all-pervading characteristics of
the universe , generating in your minds
a spirit of trustee-ship for this globe ,
leading to the loving preservation of
every attractive feature and landmark
of Nature , and to a far higher oultiva
tion and expression of man's efforts to
re-create beauty which we call Art !
May the mad pursuit and worship of
wealth have given place to the striving
and admiration for those high , shining
virtues , which in every station , how
ever modest or exalted , adorn and dig
nify the true man 1 May a full realiza
tion have come that the abiding posses
sions of mankind are spiritual ; and
that over the ocean of Time have en
dured , not the wealth , the ostentation ,
and the material splendor of nations ,
but those spiritual vessels which , as
priceless cargo , have borne the golden
thoughts of good and wise and poetic
men ! May in your time every capital
ist be a veritable laborer in humanity's
vineyard , giving to society a full equiv
alent'for benefits received ; and may
every laborer be a capitalist , so far as in
just and generous degree , he will di
rectly share in the results and profits of
his own labor 1 May your generation
give heed to the physical breeding ol
the race , controlling and restricting the
right of reproduction in order that
Society may be relieved from the bur
den of the physically unfit and the men
tally and morally defective 1 May to
you the criminal be a being not to be
shunned and immured , but a soul to be
purified and reformed ! May self-loving
politicians have given place to altruistic
statesmen whose primal affection shall
be love of country ! May patriotism
have expanded into a flame of justice
and of fraternal devotion for every race
that inhabits this globe ! May the
Golden Rule have become the basis of
action between nations ! May that mul
tiplied murder and that barbarous
waste which we call War , have ceased
to exist ! May this nation and every
nation have learned that , whatever its
strength and force , it dare not think
itself strong enough to do wrong !
May powerful natures and powerful
nations realize that their vigor is given
them not to dominate and trample on ,
but rather to uphold and to bless , the
weak ! May mankind appreciate that
diversity is Nature's law and charm ,
teaching that every nation , under in
ternational safeguards , should live its
own life , and be encouraged to develop
its own characteristics and its own
civilization ! May the guiding princi
ples of the fathers of this Republic
those prophetic men from whom we are
separated by the span of a century
burn more brightly on your national
altar , inspiring a more sacred and more
unyielding regard for the common and
equal rights of all mankind ! May the
influence and memory of those who are
now living here be not wholly lost ; aud ,
stretching over the vanished years , may
our spirit-hands sustain and help you
upward on the patriarchal world-ladder ,
inciting to higher standards of life , to
deeper love for our city , and to nobler
efforts for the Commonwealth ! And
may this "Century Chest" come to you
so full of interest , so laden with pro
found significance , so possessed of abid
ing value , that you will transmit a
similar Chest to your descendants with
the reiterated hope that they may also
repeat this ceremony , thus binding the
centuries together with wide links of
affectionate regard , and bridging the
ages with living words of buoyant hope ,
of glad prophecy and of steadfast love !
WORK ON WINTER WHEAT.
The' following letter , written by Dr ,
Miller to the Omaha Bee , is a well
deserved tribute to a man whom those
who have known him are sorry to see
leave-Nebraska. Mr. Smith has just
resigned the position of assistant gen
eral passenger agent of the B. & M. ,
to engage in business for himself in
New York City.
Mr. Arthur B. Smith's departure
from the scenes and labors of twenty
years of successful life in Nebraska
lias been signalized by an important
statement in respect to the discovery
of winter wheat as a great crop in
our state. I am made the principal
hero of the narrative. Now thai
this young man has gone out from
among us I wish to speak for hun
dreds of men who know him as well
as I do and for tens of thousands who
do not , by saying that his absence
from among us means a distinct loss
to our best citizenship.
It mar have been four years ago
that I received from Mr. Smith one
of the most flattering expressions re-
ailing the work of Manager Holdrego
and myself in the interest of winter
wheat ten years ago. Ho insisted then ,
as ho insists now , against my private
protest , upon ascribing the victory
in that battle to me. The actual truth
is that Mr. Smith's magnanimity has
run away with his judgment on this
purely personal phase of the discoverjr
of winter wheat in Nebraska. Permit
me to state the facts to show how much
our people owe to Manager Holdrege
and Mr. Arthur B. Smith himself for
this great benefit.
General Manager Holdrego is the
man , influenced by Mr. Smith and ar
guments made by me , who directed
the undertaking and experiments with
this great staple. The telegraph lines
of the Burlington were instantly
opened by his direction. Mr. Smith
began and prosecuted the organization
of the work and secured the first ex
periments with winter wheat. Under
Mr. Holdrege's quiet , but always
sharp , observation , Mr. Smith's sue-
cess was amply demonstrated by the
results which he now proclaims.
Nothing discouraged , nothing daunted
him. If failure came to him in one
case he found success in another.
With all respect to Manager Holdrege
and without in the least depreciating
my own part in bringing about the
important discovery in the agricultur
al progress of our state and country ,
Mr. Arthur B. Smith is entitled to
lasting honor in having assisted with
his own executive ability making
possible 50,000,000 bushels of winter
wheat in our corn-stricken state in
this year of our common Lord 1901 ;
25,000,000 of 100-cent dollars in the
pockets of the farmers of our state in
a single year by the aid of this great
man-eating corporation through the
test which they wore bravo enough
to make in a matter of vital import
ance to more than 1,000,000 people
who are dwelling hero today and to
countless generations who are to come
after them. Mr Holdrege , as my be
lief is , transported all the seed free
of cost for experiments.
My strenuous efforts in behalf of this
great staple were based upon four
facts , which were within my knowl
edge at the time I presented the case
to Manager Holdrege aud Mr. Smith.
First , that all winter wheat in our
country is raised south of the northern
Nebraska boundary ; secondly , that
Colorado had shipped into Omaha
thirty years ago , by wagon , flour
from wheat of its own raising ,
which was of a superior quality ;
thirdly , that this superior wheat
grain in Colorado was due to the gi
gantic wash from the Rocky moun
tains , which is in our own soil aud
which furnishes an excellent pabulum
for wheat grain , and , fourthly , that
the sowing of wheat by the drill
method here provides ample protec
tion from two elements of destruction
which existed on account of the ab :
sence .of snow , viz : Warmth against
cold and the blowing of seed out of
the ground by the terrible winter
winds. GEORGE L. MILLER.
