1900.] ESSAYS. 121 



perity. In the two fields every good manual or intellectual 

 worker can find an opportunity for the employment of his 

 powers. Each is an assistant builder and maker of the State. 

 I freely admit that the writers and thinkers, the inventors, the 

 mechanics, the manufacturers, the professional people, and the 

 business men and women in our cities, who are striving to earn 

 an honest living and to be good citizens are instrumental in 

 enlarging the limits of knowledge and trade, and are doing 

 bravely and well their part in the advancement of civilization. 

 But it should not be forgotten that the patient rural workers, 

 who drain marshes, clear the fields, raise the crops, rear fami- 

 lies, and establish and maintain pleasant homesteads, are also 

 doing valiantly and well their share of the world's work. They 

 too should be set down among the workers who are the real 

 creators, conquerors and possessors of the earth, and deserve 

 our gratitude and everlasting honor. Good roads will help them 

 to live more comfortably and intelligently, and they will induce 

 people in the cities to join their ranks, where they will find 

 new vigor, better air, and more happiness in close contact with 

 nature as they live on the open bosom of mother earth. 



