The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-09-03
BEECHER'S VIEWS ON ECO
NOMICAL PHILANTHROPY.

In his first public lecture delivered
in San Francisco. as reported in the
Alta. Henry Ward Beecher speaking on
the subject of Wastes" said :
The first great waste is that of human
strength and life by sickness
death. For that matter, weakness is
the worst enemy of political economy.
If man is sick he gets we'll or dies
If he is weak he does neither laughter !,
lie simply holds on and becomes bur
den to all. 1t may be regarded as a
premature dying in the way of useful
ness. and is the greatest evil known in
political economy. Man should live to
60, 10, so or 80 years, and should be
forehanded in life. He should be
ashamed to die before 20. Laughter.
And yet the average productive power
of society is 80 years. No! For we
must deduct the first eight or ten
years, and also some for the declining
years of old age. In fact, human
society derives benefit from not more
than one-fourth of the productive
power of man. No corporation or CAPT.
tai could stand such waste. Yet such
is the elasticity and toughness Of society
that, with only one-fourth Of the natu-
raj productive capacity, it augments
its power from year To year. What
would it do if it bad one-half or three
quarters. as it should have? TCheeH. I
In our own nation the property produc.
ing capacity of each person is 5000 per
annum; so that, when man dies, So
cie.y loses al income of 5000 a year.
Of course. if I were standing at q
funeral. it would never do for me to
say. Brethren, another 5000 has gone
out" Laughter. Just think of it
Multiply this 5000 by tie number of
our inha bitants and then see how much
the nation loses annually. There is
nothing society can so ill afford 10 lose
AS man. and yet there Is nothing 30
cheap. We think almost wholly of the
bereavement, or the horizon which is
beyond, but do not study the loss of
wealth. The general tendencies of civ
ilization are to produce better health
and longer years. The brain is both
the food and medicine of health, and on
the whole the average is thereby ex-
tended. and yet civilization brings with
it some of the morbid tendencies de-
structive Of life.
He then attacked the almost total
disregard to the laws Of hygiene exhib
tied in the construction of public build
ings, churches and lecture halls. AL
though people spoke of the laws of
health, they were misunderstood and
ignored. An ordinary man will
consume two thousand cubic feet of air
out Of doors minute. anu yet indoors
where could he get it A thousand peo-
pie would sit III a hall for an hour.
breathing and re-breathing each others
breaths. until at the end of that time
each had had q taste Of the insides of
each man, woman and child in the
building, and-it tastes good, doesn't
itS Immense laughter. For if door
or a window is opened they become
restless. 1t is not only dangerous but
dirty-this vaporous intimacy with
each others interiors. have seen peo-
pie that looked good enough to eat. bnt
not enough of them to enjoy this aerial
cannibalism. Cheers and laughter.
A knowledge of the laws Of health
should be developed into practical life.
In general, modern architects were like
Phsrisees-th exterior Of the platter
was beautiful and the interior full of
the dead breath of men. In peniten-
tiaries they allowed 600 cubic feet an
hour. How is 1t with the schools of
San Francisco! don't believe that in
this respect there is one dit for dog to
live, Cheers. Go measure them and
see la the model city of Philadelphia
the schools are noted. and vet they al.
low but ljS feet. In Brooklyn, 80, 40.
so. 90. and in one ineffably disgusting
institution. "a instead of 1000, and yet
if our children were sent to jail they
would have COO. We can't afford TO
waste productive life in this manner.
We would not do it with our money.
II we could pick out our politicians we
had better lose twenty Of them than
one skilled workingman In the city
not to be more than twelve in one thou
sand. II is els hteen, entailing loss of
$500, 900 year on that littlecity. New
York loses 100000 to $4,000, 900 a
year because men die who ought not.
The tenement population of nearly
500. 900 are crowded into rooms in
which are from five to fifty families
together with bad water and
imperfect drainage. The squsndering
of such gigantic forces entails a waste
to the nation of an unnecessary loss of
life, greater in amount than the money
whid8 is dug out of the mines OF Cali
fornia and Nevada, We object 10 lose
our house. and yet lite is of more value:
i. is the cause of property.