DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



57 



governors of Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, Utah, and the others. Surely, 

 it is impossible that Kansas can have all these things, and Colorado have 

 all these things, that Arkansas can have all these things, that Utah can 

 have all these things, and yet that Oklahoma can spring up in the midst 

 of these states and can have a million people drawn out of these same 

 states. Why should these Kansans leave the land of milk and honey and 

 go to Oklahoma. Why should they go there from Arkansas and take their 

 politics, if there had not been something in Oklahoma? 



Talking about coal, we have coal enough in the vicinity of McAlester 

 to keep warm that climate that the preachers talk about for many million 

 of years. We have lead^and zinc enough in the vicinity of Miami to fur- 

 nish material for the wars of Europe. We have apples enough and 

 peaches enough and corn enough and hay enough — all of these things you 

 claim — and I will add just a little bit to what the last speaker said, and 

 say that in telling a story it is awfully good to get to tell your story last, 

 especially a fish story. But fortunately, Oklahoma is not a state about 

 which one has to misrepresent things. It is only a short distance from 

 Wichita across the state line, and it is only a short distance from Fort 

 Smith across the state line. I have been told, though, that it is farther 

 from Fort Smith to Oklahoma than it is from Oklahoma to Fort Smith. I 

 don't understand just exactly how this is, but I have been told that the 

 distance is not the same. 



No matter. Laying aside all joking, I am not going to tell you what 

 a great state Oklahoma is. People in Wichita have known Oklahoma ever 

 since she was born. In fact, Oklahoma is one of your children, and yoti 

 have got to stand up for members of your own family. Oklahoma was born 

 on account of the tremendous activities of you Kansas people. And they do 

 tell me that there was a lot of Kansas people in the State of Oklahoma 

 before the 22nd day of April, 1889. "Sooners," I believe they called them. 

 Well, they have become good citizens since, anyhow. Some of them have 

 been elected to the legislature — and some to the penitentiary. Last winter, 

 when the legislature was in session, I thought that was the worst thing 

 that ever could happen to Oklahoma, but since then I have seen other 

 things — a Lieutenant-Governor, for instance, when he swings open the 

 doors of the penitentiary. 



I have greatly enjoyed this Exposition. The exhibits, I think, are 

 even better than they had at the Oklahoma State Fair, and that is saying 

 a great deal. I am not making too great an admission, however, because 

 I have been told that this is a better show even than they had at Hutchin- 

 son. 



If I wanted to drop one serious thought here tonight, — and I think all 

 of us should be serious once in a while — it would be the thought that was 

 dropped by a Belgian visiting this country. He said: "The thing that 

 strikes me most profoundly about America is the tremendous waste I see. 

 In the cities, the waste of men — in the country, the waste of lands." Some 

 means ought to be found to get the unemployed and the poorly employed 

 people of the cities on to the waste lands of the country. Belgium, prior 



