Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1884-02-13
AE45fA, "WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1s 1884 nIINRr17
Il tAe World Growing worvs,

1t ia . popular fallacy that the NJ
V growing worse. Many minis
tell us 30, and would have us belfS
that every day takes us further d.
the hill. In corroboration. we
pointed to the hundreds Of crin
that come flashing over the teleera1
wires every day, TO the current crimii
court records and the present r.
number of skeptics and iniidel phil6e
piers. To any one judging from supo
ficial signs it would appear that N
edness is increasing at fearful 70
But is 1t SOP Are the arguments ofESf
in proof substantial? It should beH
membered in the first place that W
to-day have an infinitely wider ran2
Of knowledge than did those OF twsaj =
hve or even ten years ago The prS
abilities are, that fully as many crir
were committed then as to-day, In ul
portion. Only we did mot know;
them all. The telegraphic systam =
nOtx0k perfect, the efforts nf ahrey
streh06Gs, tho Circuiati0ns of The noWe.
papers themselves, not one-fourth 70
wide and general Crimes that to-day
horrify the whole country, . few years
ago shocked only few counties at
most; abscondings, breaches Of faith
and defalcations that everybody reads
of now, on the day Of or after their
occurrence, were then heard of by only
q few, and weeks, perhaps, afterward.
There were just as many such in the
''good old days." in proportion. II
criminal dockets show that the Eighties
are cursed with more robbers, murder
ers and miscellaneous scoundrcls than
the 'Fortics or the 'Fif,ies. it is because
the world has grown in numbers since
then. II is perfectly safe to say that
when the percentage Of growth is
ed. So far rs the unbelievers are con-
cerncd, they form no trustworthy
index. Infidelity has been fashionable
with some people since we began to
reckon our time by A. d. They had
just rs many off-color philosophers fifty
years ago or twenty-five years ago, ~
We have now. the growth of the world
being always remembered. We are NO
more cursed than our grandfathers
were.
A. good guagc is charity. 1t may be
set down rs true that if q people con-
tinucs charitable its morals are not
retrograding. We will take this then
as . guage, and we shall find that, when
disaster comes to . city or . country.
and when call for relief goes up from
those stricken, . stream of help Is
broad and wide rs humanity itself goes
rushing forth to meet and satisfy the
call. Dozens Of examples might be
given. The thousands Of dollars that
went to Ireland in her trying hour, the
myriads of trains that carried succor to
the sufferers by the western fires some
years ago. or coming near home, the
generous response to Shenandoah
appeal, from almost every settlement,
village and city of the statc.--all this
attests the bond of brotherly love
among us, as strong and true to-day ~
1t ever was. So long as we have this
in full measure our morals rs . nation
or as world are not travelling back
ward.
There is an enormous quantity OF
wickedness In the world, of course,
and there always will be. The only
point made here is that the wickedness
isn't increasing any faster than the
people increase, and that we are not
any blacker than they used to be. The
twentieth century will find . fearful
number of bad men and women on
earth, but the nineteenth dawned upon
fearful number also. The world 10
not growing worsc.-W Williamsport