Wichita eagle., 1890-02-27
THE POSSIBLE UTOPIA.
HOW TO REACH THE IDEAL STATE
ABOUT WHICH WE DREAM.
Human Nature Is Rich in Resources. and
Needs Only to BE Cultivated Properly
and Lifted Up-Ths Forces of Religion,
Philanthropy and Culture.

! Needs only 10 1Sc SattlV2SeQ properly
and Lifted Up-Ths Forces of Religion,
Philanthropy and Culture.
Apropos of the current discussion respect
ing Utopian state of society and the way 10
reach it, we wonder whether any one has
thought of calculating the results which
would rapidly follow if every individual
would honestly try 10 do the best be knows
how TO do in the sphere in which he is placed.
Human natere Is exceedingly rich in re-
sources, and its vast powers have never yet
been half utilized Every one Is conscious Of
| being able to do great deal better than he
ever does. Mos. of US choose our tasks I'M
| wisely, we waste time, we loiter and We daw-
die, We do but inperfectly what We might
do in such a WAY that it would bring us
credit and advancement. Then thereis the
large number of people at the top OF society
| who are beyond the necessity OF labor, and
who only aInuse themselves in lie and the
larger number at the bottom of society vino
are too INDECENT or too vicious 10 do any use
full thing. 1t IS evident thar if every indivi-
| dual would find some useful occupation, such
as he is naturally fitted 10 succeed in, ami
would perform all It's duties to the best OF his
powers, society without going aside from its
| present lines or development would rapidly
/ approach that perfect state, Of the ultimate
coming of which Isaiah propheSied and Plato
| dreamed
In the first place we should instantly get
! rid of our police forces and standing armies,
/ all prisons, most ssylurls the larger part Of
our law courts and oil those forces and insti-
! tutions which are occupied with keeping GER
/ tain classes in order and in settling the dis
/ putes of others. Most of the non-producing
| professional men, the lawyers. the doctors
and the judges, would lose their employment
and could go about some better business in
the world, which would have few disputes to
settle and less and less diseases 10 heal as time
goes by. The great army of idlerS would be
! at work, either increasing production or short
ening the hours of labor Of those who are now
industrious. The poor except IN the compar-
atively few cases of accident or misfortune
would have enough and To spare through The
practice of the virtues of industry and econo-
my. There would be no idle women and no
lazy men living useless life upon the inter
est of inherited money, for each would find
some nobier task, either of self culture or in
the unpaid service of the arts or the sciences.
Business, exempt from its present losses
through dishonesty and fraud would be car
ried on with a freedom and profit now inn
possible; every manufactured article would
be better made and every purchase would be
cheaper, 1ns pubic gaining immensely there
by.
A thousand couvenieaces would be possible
in q society in which every member was In
dustriouS and the most were well TO 90 even
MIR. Belamy's fanciful picture of social pros
perity and happiness being surpassed The
intellectual life of mankind would be won
ha.
veal thousand yet undreamed of truths, in
vention would adapt the laws of nature to
the use of man in directions vet undiscovered,
what sermons we might hear in the churches
from clergymen now using only half their
power, and then free from the necessity of
spending 80 much time III exhortation to DO
the things we well know ought 10 De donel
What books might he written by authors
who now trihe with their powersi What
editorials we might read In every mornings
paper, the result OF accurate knowledge and
perfect style acquired by years Of patient
TOLL Amusements, too, would be d thousand
times more delightful rs man discovered the I
Resources of his intellectual and moral being
and learned 10 find bis recreation IN using the ,
higher gifts of his nature instead of the lower /
In order To the realization of an ideal state /
Of society like this 1t is not necessary that any
new direction be given 10 human progress.
All the panaceas that have been reported 10 /
date, the naturalization Of land. or the vari-
Gus phases of socialism. are deficient in the +
came fatal respects. They take no account of .
human nature. The defects in the existing
state Of things lie not III society but in indi- /
vlduals. They exist IN men who make no /
wise or good use OF powers and opportunities 1
which they now possess, and would undoubt- 1
edly act in the same way amid other con-
dItions. Ideal surroundings would be- of iittls
use TO men who have the disposition TO be
idle, or incorporate, or vicious, or 10 prey
upon their fellows. No reform ia institutions
can ever remove the consequences of these
vices. 1t Is the vast number Of parasites, /
that prey upon the social body and sap its
vital forces, that retards human progress and
prevents 1t from reaching the ideal OF which
IL IS capable and which has been IN the minds
of its poets and philosophers since ths world
began. Without saying that present CON
ditions are all that they should be. il is per
fectly evident that any enc of sound health,
using his forces and opportunities at their
best, whatever his sphere in life, may find
happiness enough and a sufficient degree Of
wealth. What humanity needs is. not 10 listen
10 the fanciful teachings Of ideaiiSts. but
some inspiration which viii lead its individ-
uals To use their present resources
It is this inspiration which the combined
forces Of religion, philanthropy and culture
are seeking 70 iTnpart Varied In their lines
OF effort. they are all working 70 TINS end.
Tie time has been when religion was too
much occupied with the concerns of another
life; but it Il beng more clearly recognized
that, as Epictetlls said, the concern how to
live wisely in this world Is the great and mas
ter thing; tnat. indeed. any other possiOis
life Is dependent upon the kind u life that Is
lived here Clear now ia Us perception u
this fact, the best religious influences 81 orr
time are uniting With those q philosophy and
culture in teaching men and women how 70
Use this life To the best advantage What
ever hopes Of progress socicfy nss lie 10 tue
sIccess o. these effort. Their spneTe II labor
lies mainly among those who ere not u0S
industrious, sober, eoonouiczi o. their re-
source, or viTtuous al lie. Wnoever among
these cllsSss II saved from vlcs or ick--s.s4 y
20 much c-ad weight hffsd from the wneeis
Of progress, and sdds an eo1aI strength O.
the power wnIch I-aT~1 iceza onward -
Providence Journal
The Equality of Death.
Death cones equally - - sIi and rnasss
A~.r- ;