Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-07-06

and prosperity than ever before. II
Is far stronger than 1t was In 1876
when it was strained to the very
utmost.
\ * " 4
With the dawning of tha second
century the country seems to have
attained newness of life. We
have opened, as 1t were, into u new
era-a new dispensation. Fresh
energies have been developed in
all directions and unknown avenues
opened to enterprise and intelli-
gence. 1t is true that our financial
and com mercial interests have been
depressed, but their conditions are
exhibiting marked improvement.
In the last three years, instead of our
having reached u state OF stagna-
ton and inertia, the minds of our
people seem to have been alm ost
abnormally quickened. Never be-
fore, in the whole eventful history
of our land, has there been
such degree of intellectual &C.
tivity and progress displayed, as
during these last three years. In
no simil period heretofore have
there been so many ait
books written, dealing with the
deepest and most import
ant subjects, affecting the very life
aud essence of humanity, and
reaching out toward the infinite.
In no previous period of equal
length. have SO many remarka BILE
hnr II atnI inyunffnno hnan
made. The carbon telephone, we
are told, is now perfected at the
East, so that people may converse
with each other, and be heard in
their own proper voices, clearly and
distinctly, across any required
distance. If the phonograph re-
allies its possibilities, we shall be
able to hear the voice and speech
ofany person reproduced anywhere
or at any time, even 1t may be
after the death of the speaker, with
all the truth Of original expression.
Electricity, as q means of lighting
houses and cities, is fast supersed.
ing petroleum and gas; and expert
ments are now being made
by many able savants, the
success of which inspires the
hope that we shall very soon, not
only solve the mystery which ELL
shrouds this subtle agent or sub.
stance and know all about it, but
that it will give US force which
will not only warm and light our
dwellings comparatively without
labor or expense, but that it will
drive the factories of the world,
and place the requisites of modern
civilization within the reach of all.
This is not tithe Of the phenome-
nal progress which is being made
in this direction.
n Il ~ - y
Never before in the United States
has such general and absorbing
interest been taken in public
affairs. All of our citizens seem to
have been suddenly metamorpbos-
ed into enthusiastic students of the
science of politics, of government
and Of social economy. The new
Constitution of the State of Califor-
mia, which partially went into ef-
feet at noon to-day, is remarka.
BILE and practical evidence of this
state of public feeling. Nearly
every man has turned politician,
in the larger sense, from the high
est to the humblest. New parties
have sprung up as If by magic all
over the land, based on new ideas
and advocating new theories and
lines OF policy. New men, new
thinkers and orators, unheard of be-
fore, have leaped into prominence,
arresting the attention, securing
the adhesion or rousing the opposi-
ton of our entire people. The
spirit Of change, of progress,
of evolution, is in the air.
We are in the midst of
great moral warfare-a mighty
struggle of ideas. And this Is not
to be deprecated. The human mind,
in its highest and healthiest state,
requires and must have conflict
aud opposition. 1t demands the
training and discipline of severe
and constant exercise. There must
be work, and something to work
upon and against. "Eternal Wig.
lance Is the price of liberty.p
StagnatiOn, and loss of interest,
means decay and death.
"when the mind is quickened out of doubt,
Tho organs, though defunct and dead
before,
Break up their drowsy grave, and newly
move,
With clsted plough and fresh legerity."
1t is said that we are not a con.
tented people. A people who are
thoroughly content-whO are fully
satisfied-with all they have and
are, never strive for anything bet.
ter. They never make any pro-
gress. The Chinese, the E-qui-
maux and the Hottentots of Africa
are content. Discomfort is the
great handspring of progress.
Our climate undoubtedly tends
to activity and diversity of
thought. Europeans complain
that most all the new isms and
ideas which vex them have had
their inception in America.
Our atmosphere contains .su.
er.abundance of oxygen as
compared with that of Europe.
1t might be said that we have less
hydrogen and more ozone. Our
native-born population, as shown
by Prof. Beard and others, are tall
er, thinner and leaner than their
European cousins but on the
other hand, it Is claimed that this
pro oportionate loss and lack of blood
and Drawn and muscle Is more
than recompensed by prepon ler-
ance of nerve tissue, and by the
exuberance of mental and nervous
strength and activity, superinduced
by the exhilarating influences of
our climate. America is naturally
and emphatically the home of new
aud even startling ideas, yet we
may be sure that whatever con.
fiicts may arise between them, the
law Of history and of God will con-
quer, and that after passing