The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-09-25
CONFINED rI:OM FIK&T rAGE.

(CoNTlNrED From FIRST rAGE)
making of money second. Does that
spirit hold It's own to-day? 1t may seem
uncallcd for to speak of ignorance as ono
Of the dangerous tendencies Of the day.
But the census gives us, in round mum
5crS, 1000, 600 who are ten years old and
upward, who stand enrolled among the
Illitcrate class. The number Of men III
our country who sign their named with
two short lines crossing each other is not
small. Late in life a man began to learn
his letters, and when he came to the let
ter Y he frightened up and exclaimed,
that my fathers name: I've seen him
sign it many Il time We have III our
country 5000, 600 WHO would see their
fathers name in the letter y if they
should ever go to school With our free
school system in successful operation;
with universities and colleges that are
the admiration of the world, if illiteracy
were equally distributed, we should find
in every group Of ten persons, one who
could not read. Lafayette was right
when he said, Education is the only
soil on which Il Republic will grow and
liberty flourish
Take the three classes | have spoken
of, the illiterates, the tramps, and the
paupers. Could there be better soil i'll
,t-l, oh, f1,A 10. Of wi, IL
communistic ideas which have given so
much trouble in the old world, and that
seem destined to give trouble in the near
future here? 1t has been said that every
man holds within him a mailman. So
does society hold the possibility of mad
ness: and history is full of instances in
which society has gone wild i'll frantic
cndeavors to attain some good end by
questionable methods.
There is a fend now in society with
the white foam of madness on its lying
lips, preaching the reconstruction of So
ciety, and that ticnd is Communism
There is 4 class of persons whose specu-
ldlltllS anu " HUSt IIblllistlt pun l'tSSS
have for a few years past attracted con-
siderable attention. There are far more
violent classes than the one now referred
to. but none more dangerous. Commun-
ism is an idea that has taken root upon
American soil. Its purpose is to reor-
gallize society. 1t would put the distri-
Of ,I,+i
employment into the hands of the gov
eminent, and would dispense with all
| those laws of social and political econ
omy that are supposed to keep society
together.
Let US trace for Il moment the growing
tendency Of the American people to
gather into cities: let us measure it by
figures, and we shall be surprised to see
how very strong it is, and how steady is
the sweep of the current that sets in the
one direction of concentration.
| In 1890, onc-thirtieth of our population
was found in cities. In 1900, we find
one-twenty in cities. In 1910 and
1920, the proportion is one-twentieth.-
In 1880 it has grown to one-sixteenth.-
In 1910, one person out Of every twelve
is to be found living i'll a city. In 1850,
| the proportion has grown to one-eighth.
| In 1860 it was one-siXth. In 1870 it was
more than onc-tiith. What it is to-day
we do not know exactly; but Judging
|
| fourth of our entire population must be
! gathered III our cities. This tendency to
concentration of great numbers i'll cities
is one which seems bound to increase.
| Just as We see that it has done for almost
Il hundred years. Just us river widens
and deepens as it approaches the sea,
| life that sets i'll from the country to the
city will be broader and deeper. Let us
see what cities means.
Moral and physical disorders always III
| crease as population concentrates in given
! localities. Cities engendcr the most re-
| pulSivc forms of vice. The dangerous
| classes and the pcriShing classes congre-
gate there. To keep these tendencies
within proper bounds-te preserve society
from hopeless corruption under them
| that is a task which will tax the best
as our numbers increase. Trace these
! evil tendencies to their source as you
would a stream to its fountain head and
what do we find the source to be? We
| find two sources: one is popular ignor-
ance, and the othcra corrupted, debauch-
! cd public conscience. We must get back
fathers before We can have such high
| toned morality in the body polite as will
make men look ut all the great questions
of the day from the moral standpoint,
and we have got to make our educational
arrangements broad enough and cheap
enough to meet the wants of the poorest,
as well as good enough to meet the wants
of the richest. Ignorance is bad enough
and dangerous enough: but oar greatest
peril is from the lack OF those fine moral
qualities in the public mind that. when
lackin. in the individual, leave linn on
the road to ruin. We have slept over
these dangerous tendencies Il good while,
and we will not be surprised if, at some
time, they break out in ways that will
give us an awakening as startling as the
Indians ut midnight sometimes gave our
Puritan foreiathcrs.
JvuJuS ;JISh, tuyn yr;wWy