The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-11-24
The Romance of Progress,

II is a most curious and interesting
speculation that some of the British
|JourTials have recently entered into
/ regarding the future Of England; and
/ while ii may seem some what fanci-
/ ful at present, it possesses all the
\ more Interest for all civilized peoples
4 becaaseit 1t touches nearly upon the
4 solution ofthe problem of the wei l-
ktre OF the whole human race, and
I the lifting of the burdens of over
4 popufation and excessive production
l which are now afflicting great ma
lions ON either side of the Atlantic
Persons who are not habitual readers
/ of the L0ndonperiodiceis are perhaps
ldnaware that some of the most
lathaugbtfltaand influential Of them
have oflate been seriously looking
| toward the time when, to use the Ian
guage of the SDecf0t0r, England will
be only IAN agricultural country,
| inhabited by six millions Of sleepy
tillers of the soil" The argument is
that within the next two centuries
England will have exhausted It's
cheap fuel, and as this is its great ad-
vantage i'll manufacturing, manufac-
lures, the principal means ofaccumu-
lating wealth, will haye departed.
AS the Spectator says "The factories
will close one by one, the iron and
coal mines will be shut up like the
tin mines Of Cornwall, the fire in the
forges will he blown out, the ships
will be laid up to rot, the railways
will be limited to few great arteries,
rentals and prices will all sink, and
the population, after one attempt to
live on the realized wealth, which
will then be enormous, will rapidly
disperse to distant lands" Whether
i'll this dispersion Englishmen will go
abroad as peaceful emigrants IN mod
ern fashion, or whether the Bersekar
streak in their blood will dispose
them to cross the seas and debark
| upon foreign strands as armed con-
querOrs, is point that affords much
opportunity for musing in the minds
of the London writers but we haye
seen no endeav0r to cOntrovert the
essential proposition that the island
must in the near future be depopu-
lated by a movement of its people to
other climcs in search of that exist
/ ence which will be no longer possible
/ to them at home.
Is This line of thought is applicable
to all the overcrowded regions of the
earth. 1t has direct reference to the
condition Of those districts of the
United States in which a multitude
Of men and women are yainly seek
ing for profitable employment, or
partially or entirely subsisting on
public or private charity. 1t is not
doubtful that the resources of the
world are more than sufficient to
amply sustain all its population if
that population were evenly distrib-
uted, and the appliances Of uyiliza-
ton brought to bear TO deyelop on
an adequate scale universal trade,
commerce, manufactures and agricul-
ture; but we have at this day the
overwhelming bulk Cfthe most pro-
greSsive and enlightened people in
habiting comparatively small frac-
ton Of the surface of the globe, and
gradually wearing out its capacities
for production, while vast lands rich
in fertile soil and mineral Wealth are
waiting for the influx of capital, en-
ergy and industry. A familiar illus
tration of the fact may be seen in our
own country, where east Of the Mis-
sissippi and north of tile Potomac.
there are more hands offering than
there is work for them to do, and
yet in the South and West there are
grand openings for settlement and
labor. 1t seems indeed as if the great
thing needful for the advancement
and prosperity of humanity is re-
adjustment of the populations = an
exodus from the old centres of wealth
and enterprise to the virgin fields as
yet trodden only by the pioneers of
civilization and yielding but tithe
of their possible products to the bus
mess and wants of the whole people.
Livingstone's dream of opening AT
RIGA to commerce is growing nearer
to its realization, and the scheme of
flooding the Saharan desert with the
waters of the Mediterranean has for
its impetus the idea of tn" reclama-
tion of the interior of that continent.
The vast continent of Australia, the
islands of the South Seas, the mighty
expanse of South America and the
interior of Asia all beckon to the
hardy and vigorous soldiers of civil
ization to come out from the thrOng-
ed regions where life is scant and
pinching and wrest treasure from
h.,s. q. H..