130 Missouri Agricultiu^al Report. 



life. Unless a man lives so that his work goes on and finds frui- 

 tion in the happiness of his children, and their children, indeed he 

 has lived a narrow, almost useless life. And to farmers, especially, 

 is this proposition peculiarly applicable. Your soil, the world's 

 soil, is a trust that you are called upon to administer for a brief 

 space. The soil was not created for you alone. It is only loaned 

 to you for a time, and not to you alone, because while you occupy 

 it others must live upon its products. You are but a tenant who 

 must give up to others a goodly share of the things you produce. 

 But this is not all that is expected of you. As it is expected of 

 the conductor of the passenger train that he shall give the proper 

 orders for the running of his train so that his passengers may be 

 safely transported, so it is expected that you will so manage and 

 conduct your farm that it may pass on to your son, or other suc- 

 cessor, in better condition than that in, which you received it. It 

 is the obligation you owe your children — posterity. I know it is 

 the desire of every man and woman in this audience to leave the 

 world — not too soon, of course — a better place for your children, 

 than it has been for you. This must be so. Otherwise the world 

 would perish and all in it. 



Now, it is my philosophy that compensation for one's work or 

 efforts is but partly measured in the money wage he receives. In 

 fact, this is a small part of real compensation. The pleasure 

 in, doing is the real reward. To raise more wheat per acre, not 

 because it will add that much more to your bank account alone, 

 or surpass the efforts of your neighbor, but because you have 

 added more to supply the needs of the world as a result of your 

 intelligence and industry, is the true compensation. It is satisfy- 

 ing. You cannot tell me that the full compensation to the man 

 who produced the champion steer at the late International was 

 measured in the premiums and price the beast brought to him, 

 high as they were. The greater compensation was in the con- 

 sciousness on. the part of breeder and feeder of this wonderful 

 animal that he had done something worth while. That will last. 

 It is the compensation of achievement. 



What an obligation we are under to those who will come after 

 us. You and I are first of all interested in our children. If any 

 one was to insist that our children should be denied opportunity 

 to share in the world's happiness, or to be limited in opportunity 

 for commendable achievement, we would resist to the bitter end. 

 It is no less incumbent upon us that we strive to leave conditions 



