ADDRESSES OF MAJOR LACEY 311 



was a brave race that settled this country, and men de- 

 serve to live, who are not afraid to die. 



The builders of nations may be rough, but they must be 

 strong. The very faults of the old settlers may be class- 

 ed among their virtues. Men complain now about what 

 these old men would have called trifles. They worked 

 and cared for themselves and would have scorned to ask 

 the government to take care of them. Put those men on 

 an island and they would soon organize a free govern- 

 ment, and put it in running order. They had an abiding 

 faith in their ability to take care of themselves and to get 

 the best of everything. 



In 1861, when a thousand of the first settlers of Kansas 

 met to organize a regiment, to take part in the war for 

 the Union, they first organized like a town meeting, with 

 a chairman and secretary. They had not yet selected a 

 colonel and officers of the line. The question arose as to 

 whether the regiment should go out as cavalry or in- 

 fantry, and after considerable discussion, as to the re- 

 spective merits of the two arms of the service, one old 

 settler arose and said, "Mr. Chairman, I move we go out 

 as infantry and come back as cavalry." The motion pre- 

 vailed, and, sure enough, when the regiment was mustered 

 out they were all well mounted. 



The men of Iowa did not build this state alone. In no 

 state have the women taken a more conspicuous part. 

 They were ready to bear their part of the hardships of 

 the first settlers, and upon them fell the sorrows and bur- 

 dens of the Civil War. And to them, more than to the 

 men of Iowa, is due the fact that Iowa stands first among 

 the states in freedom from illiteracy. 



Her climate renders her future as promising as her 

 past has been astonishing. With variety and variable- 

 ness sufficient to create a rugged race, the feeble and 



