New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-09-11

crrAsing deterioration Of moral condition pro
scnted m necessary consequence OF the laws
Of God, and therefore totally beyond the reach
of man for its correction.
Where. then, shall we land nj the close of even
another half century Every Improvement Of ma
chinery IL but tie preparation for new and
greater one. and II those already made have pro
ductd the injurious effects already observed, how
much greater must be those in prospect Hall
a century since we knew nothing Of the steamboat
Thirty years since, the railroad was scarcely
known. Twenty years since, the electric telegraph
had not been invented, nor had the planning ma
chine been thought Of Ten years since, the sew
ing machine was thing to be dreamed Of but 1t
was dream whose realization was not to be ex-
pected Five years since, the type-composing ma
chine still remained among the desderata OF the
printing Office and yet il is now in full operation.
The machine for the preparation of flax cotton is
vet to be invented, but dozen years can scarcely
elapse before it, and hundreds Of other inventions
now unthought of will be seen in full activity.
If, then, the improvements of the last few years
have really brought about the centralzing results
we now witness, is it not evident that the next
half century must exhibit them in infinitely
grauder proportions Will not the close of the
century witness the consolidation of land on q
scale similar to that observed in Great Britain and
ireland and almost equal to that tax Of the declining
DAYS of Rome, when individuals m0nOpolized the
land that in earlier and better days had furnished
food to thousands of small proprietors To this
question, having once admitted that the facts OF
the late census are the inevitable effects Of
natural causes" there can be none but an at-
firmative reply for nature works always in the
same direction, and the longer she works the more
distinct become the evidences of her labors.
Further consolidation of the land is therefore,
according to our contemporary, to be considered as
inevitable Consolidation of land is, however,
always attended by diminutiOn Of the freedom of
man, and the experience Of the world may be ad-
duced to prove that when long continued it termi-
mates in slavery. Admit the correctness OF the
views contained in the article we republish, and
we shall find ourselves forced to admit that free
"society, as asserted by the slavedrvers, not only
is. but must be "a failure'-that the natural
relation Of man to his felow-man is that of master
and slave-and that all attempts at increase Of
freedom must end in disappointment.
Were all this 20, it would open up gloomy
prospect for mankind, and We should find our
selves forced to pray that there might be no fur
ther improvements in machnery-that men
should no further avail themselves Of the great
powers placed at their command by the Archi-
tect of the unyerse-in order that they might be
D, further enslavea. Happily, however, this
doctrine has in 1t no semblance truth, all the
facts now presented to US being readily suscep-
tible of explanation in a manner that will still
allow us to rejoice in substituting the sewing
machine for the needle, the magnetic telegraph
for the slow. moving mail-coach, the railroad car
for the wagon, and the patent reaper for the
sickle and the scythe. In the following table we
give the population of several of the interior
towns at the dates of the three last censuses, to