Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1881-05-06
THEN AND NOW.

THEN AND NOW.
When people deprecate the wicked
ness Of the present day and sigh for the
good old days Of half a century ago,
they convey the idea that the people OF
to-day arc more depraved, and
that there is less good in the world
now than then. Is this true! Are the
people growing in wickedness! Were
the people any less prone to comm,
crime then than they are nows What
are the facts in the case! Then. il a
fiendlsh murder were committed (and
they were not uncommon), ifa lonely
traveller was relieved of his valuables,
without his consent, or city burned,
or a village submerged by floods.
it was DAYS and M e t i m S
weeks or m ont IS before the
people in the remote districts Of even
sister state knew anything of the
matter. News then travelled by the
numbering stage coach, or the traveller
on horseback. And SO poor were the
facilities for obtaining news that the
most wicked outrages were committed
and scarcely known outside of the i'm.
mediate neighborhood. But how is it
now II amid the mountains of Maine,
in the everglades of Florida, or on the
plains Of California, there is forgery
committed; il anywhere in the nation
there is case of arson or theft; or if
two men get into row, and one stabs
the other, or punches his head so as to
render him senseless, or If one man
runs away with another's wife, or elopes
with his neighbor's daughter, in twelve
hours the news is flashed from
ocean to ocean, and each Of the lead
ing dailies, from the "Culchad Hub"
to the boasting metropolis of the gold
en- state announce the facts in the
case to its readers Thus the people
in every section ofthe country are kept
informed regarding the turpitude of
the people. Again history goes to es-
tablish the fact that the more intelli-
gent and better informed people the
less inclined they are to cruelty and
wickedness. That as people think for
themselves they become enobled, more
self reliant and better. How was it
with the people of half century agos
Perhaps every other man could read
and one in three could write, and the
woman who had education enough to
"read, write, and cypher" was The ex-
ceptiop. The preacher, the doctor, the
lawyer, and the politician were the au.
thorities to whom the people appealed.
and the individual who had the temerity
to question the law and customs as laid
down by these learned men was to Ger.
tain extent deemed dangerous factor |
in society. The people learned their
politics from the stump, and their re-
ligion almost wholly from the pulpit.
When congressman returned from
Washington he had to travel over his
district and tell his constituents what
he had done or they never knew.
The people were sxayed by the inn
passioned eloquence OF the orator, it
mattered little how full of sophistry
the discourse might be if it appealed
to the feelings, it won. This was the
case upon the stump, in the pulpit and
at the bar. The newspaper had not
then become one of the great educa-
tors Of the people, there being at that
time less than a thousand printed in
the nation, less than are now printed
in Iowa. Illinois, and Missouri, now
they are found in every family of
intelligence and read un-
derstandingly. The people are no
longer carried away by impassioned
they must have reason or
hey do not accept. If the public
speaker makes an erroneous statement.
he sun Drowned farmer knows it and
S not afraid to tell him so. The learn
ID professions no longer have a mon
,poly of the "brains," but educated
md intelligent people are found in i
very avocation of life. The people :
re not more wicked now than they ]
VeEe half century ago, and the mas
es occupy a much higher place in IN.
diligence and culture. b