Sharp County record., 1890-10-23
SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT.
How to Overcome the Evils Of High
Pressure Ina American Life.


There Is no more cheering sign Of the
desire for social improvement and 0i
needed relic, from ,he burdens imposed
bv our high-pressure eivlUati9E than
the eagerness with which men aud
women now look Forward % an increase
Of holidays, and the willingness with
which individual business irms and
great manufacturing corporations have
lessened the aggregate ygariy amount 0t
individual hbor t1r many wears the
saturday hali-huiidaY has been general
in the business Geniers o, Europe, hu5
it is only Of lato 5ha5 10 has become
widely recognized hece rs alforhng .
partial solution 1i tna great problem ot
overstcaned, oysrwrough5 llta. When
the idea was first suggested persons
who are always lOoking On the lower
side Of human nature were rsady win
arguments to show that It's operatl0n
would lead to business Generalization
and social abuses; but the result On the
contrary, has evidenced that leisure
does not necessarily produce either lazi-
ness or inertia. In comparing the HE
of business or professional man IN
Europe with that of types of the same
class in our own country marked dll-
ference is observed There is no hour
here in which men appear to be unem-
ployed. From early morn till dewy eve
there is a constant rush and hustle. The
drive and excitement of business continue
often far into the night. Upon leaving
his office the lawyer merely transfers
his work to the Quieter surroundings OF
his home; the merchant burns the mid
night oil over his day-books and ledgers'
and when half the world is asleep the
financier is planning fresh schemes or
studying the fluctuations of shares and
bonds. Even the rest and silence oil
Sunday are interrupted by the necessity
for keeping pace with the quick march
of Western civilization. We travel by
lightning express, correspond by tele-
graph, talk by telephone; and ii new
universal language should be invented
it would be one that would shorten the
time that is now wasted in oral commu-
nication. To all protests against this
mischievous pressure the answer is that
the needs of the world demand it; and
yet the people Of older countries, VINO
move more slowly succeed in keeping
abreast of art, invention and discovery.
besides often furnishing us with new
ideas and contributing to our industrial
and Intellectual forces. Nor is It alone
among brain-worlers that the effects OF
this constant pressure are disclosed in
the shape Of diseases and ailments
which are certain to follow an undue
waste Of vital energy The United
States census statistics Of 1850 show an
excessive death rate among farmers,
laborers and mechanics the three
classes Of all others most important to
the material prosperity OF common
wealth-thus implying not only waste
Of life, but a concurrent waste OF time
and energy With diminished pres
sure upon the mind and body
and, consequently, less temptation
to forms Of excess injurious to
health and happiness This forcing
process has, unfortunately, also found
it's way into our educational system. 1t
ought to be recognized as a fundamental
principle that education should proceed,
according to the laws Of nature, in such
a way az to it the child for its station
in life and that nothing could be more
pernicious than the undue cultivation
which advances the mind at the expense
OF the body and the natural affections,
TIE system in vogue in our public
schools not only tends to blunt the in
tellectual faculties, but develops an un-
healthy emulation which ends In physi-
cal deterioration. 10 may be true that
ii is easier TO point ont these evils than
TO suggest practical remedy yet the
application Of common-sensc principles
to business, industry, and education
would tend 10 lessen the strain. Closer
attention TO the laws OF hygiene, munic-
ipal watchfulness over sanitary condi-
tions and an abandonment OF the feel
ing that a man has made a failure when
only successful Ia working out modor'
ate living on the level atwhich he start
ed, would do much toward solving q
problem that so largely affects both in
diyidual and national life. --Philadel
phia Record.