Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1873-05-07
ENGLISH CIVILIZATION.

Mr.. Thomas Hughes, member of Par
lament, has contributed to ldch1iUdn'S
Magazine an article on problems of Civil
lizationn which has attracted some atten-
ton. He defines the purpose of his article
to be to find whether our modern civiliza-
ton has improved the condition of the
people of England. 1t would seem to most
readers that it would not take long for the
honorable member of Parliament to prove
that it had. Most any Sophomore in Col
lege could prove that, in one page essay.
The writer defines civilization for his par
pose to mean "the increase of the means
and appliances of life-material, intellec-
tual, social-which the accumulation of
wealth, the progress of science and the con-
seuuent growing facilities of communities
ton of all kinds have placed, and are
placing, more and more within the reach
of men and women in our time" His test
of improvement he recognizes is the rela-
tons of persons and of classes of persons
to each other.u Are these better or
worse, he asks? Have family relations
been strengthened Do employers and
employed deal more justly with each
other ? From these definitions and ques-
tions it will easily be seen vast field is
opened to the essayist. He deals trenchant
blows at the weaknesses of the rich and
poor, at the growing evils of eXtravagant
of independence and good sense in social
usages. He says on the statement of
Mr.. Gladstone "that more wealth has
in this little island of ours been
accumulated since the commencement of
the present century-that is within the
life time of many who are still amongst us
than in all the preceding ages, say from
the time of Julius Caesar. And again at
least as much wealth in the last twenty as
in the preceding fifty years. To this rap
id increase in wealth, Mr.. Hughes attrib-
utes many of the evils of the day. Men
who inherit great wealth, marry fortune,
or come suddenly into possession of a large
estate are not so well qualified to care for
it, as those who earn what they are worth.
The former grow giddy over their gain
and think they must straightway adopt
rich mems habits. They eXpend money
eXtravagantly and their bad example de-
moralizes men of less wealth who ought to
have more sense. Domestic service in
England Mr.. Hughes pronounces demon
allied. More servants and better wages are
the rule, but ga willing and faithful SER
vice. is hard to buy. Discomfort and an
undue ambition for wealth is the engross.
ing passion and evil of this class. 1.-The
tendency of population to accumulate in
great cities is another evil Mr.. Hughes
strikes hard. The first generation die fast
er from disease because of the density of
pOpuldllOu, anu the SeCOlu SeleraIlOn de-
teriorate greatly in size. "a sound mind
and sound body are riches that money
can not buy and they are worth more to
to the population and to the country than
the mere increase of wealth.
Riches, says Mr.. Hughes, to be profitable
must be :" well gotten " and "well spent,u
He then asks whether the wealth of Great
Britain is blessing by this rule. Their
wealth, he thinks, has been gotten by hard
work and honest trading. He admits that
he cannot say that the honest trading still
continues. He refers to the growth of the
STEERS " trade. Sizing is put into cotton
cloth, and increases the profit. He looks
upon this as fraud, sapping the integrity
of the cotton trade that has made England
millions. The trade in opium with the
Chinese he characterizes as fraud. In
the spending of their money, he thinks
the English not as wise as the Ameri-
cans.
After a careful examination of the char
acter sketched above into the habits of
| the English people, Mr.. Hughes concludes
| that, on the whole, some slight progress
has been made in civilization but he warns
his countrymen that the need for reform is
pressing, and that, without it, they cannot
much longer maintain their present posi-
| ton in the civilized world.