The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-01-30
MASUN7S GLOOMY VIEW.
HE MAKES A PREDICTION WHICH Is
IMPORTANT " TRUE.

Otis Mason. Of the bureau of ethnology
ST the National museum, has evolved a
theory that the resources of the western
hemisphere viii, in comparatively /
short time, be exhausted as support for 4
civilized man, and that North and South /
America will be depopulated, except by /
savages of a very low order. Professor
Mason said:
In order that this may be understood, |
it is first necessary to explain that tins |
western part Of the world, known as
North and South America, Is from the I
point of view an inferior con- |
tinent. as compared with the land masses !
of the other hemispheres. By that Is
meant that, while superior 10 Europe, !
Asia or Africa in point of vegetable !
productiveness. it is less adapted for the
support of animal life. To show that
this is so, make a little comparison for,
yourself between the beasts of this heIni-
sphere and those of the other The ele-
plant of the Old World is represented
here by the tapir What we have as a
substitute for the camel is the llama,
which Is Just big enough and strong
enough to carry what would be load
for man. The lion and tiger of Asia
and Africa are represented on this side
of the earth by little more than big cats.
LOOK AT OUR MONKEYS.
but TO arrive at the most marked ex-
hibition Of this contrast you cannot do
better than consider the monkeys, which
are most highly developed of all beasts,
approaching very nearly to man. What
is there to be found in the Americas TO
correspond with the snthropoid apes of
the Old World? The gorilla, which uses
a club; the chimpanzee. which Is easily
taught TO wait upon the table and TO
perform other domestic duties, and the
ourang, which presents so many like
nesses to the human being, are repre-
sented on this side of the world by mis-
cradle little monkeys with tails.
''Thus it is that this part Of the earth
is termed an inferior continent, because
it is not able to produce or support such
high developments of animal life as are
found in the other part. Civilized man
exists here to day, not as natural prod
uct, but as an importation.
Professor Mason then, in elaborate de-
tail, described the lapse Of wheat farm
ing in one state after another until the
field has been transported to the Dako-
tas and the very verge of the great desert;
the rapid exhaustion of the soil and OF
the minerals; the tremendous drain in
every way upon resources, which, new
lv developed as they are, must be nearly
exhausted even within the next century;
the ruinous cost of producing and trans
porting articles necessary TO civilized
life. He then concluded his remarkable
forecast as follows:
ITO put it plainly, the so called Amer
lean people have camped over this con-
tinent regardless of their future. They
have delyed into the soil, chopped into
the mountains and used up the land I'M
til there stares them in the face the al
most immediate prospect of starvation.
| AS for the state Of Nevada, we have not
been there twenty-five years, and its re-
! sources have been exhausted. In other
words, it will almost Immediately be
unable to SUPPORT a population. The
people who inhabit it are obliged to 90
/ because they can no longer make their
/ living there, and it is simply a question
| of short time when it viii become a
/ dead state, and so lapse into the condi-
/ ton of territory as impossible TO re-
/ vive into the living condition of a state
/ as if it were a district on the moon.
PAINFUL REFLECTIONS.
The painful reflection incidental to
the subject is that other states if not all
of them. are destined sooner or later TO
follow Nevadas example. The popula-
ton on this continent cannot necessarily
survive the means of subsistence afford
ed it by the country. II what science
SAYS is true, the white man has got to
20. There has been talk TO the effect
that the Chinese must vanish, but IL
must be confessed they are very much
better adapted to continue existence on
this hemisphere than ourselves. for the
obvious reason that they will survive US
here. and that they will continue In their
own manner the civilization which We
have made an attempt to start.
But the Caucasian, if the scientific
men are 10 be believed, will not be able
to support existence on this hemisphere
after the capital. in the way Of agricult-
ural and min rdl resources. has been ex-
hausted. as il must be soon. HewIll dis
appear. The natural question Is by what
process: II is very evident. When q
/ superior race becomes poor, and thereby
unable to maintain its superiority, i
( lapses into the condition Of poor white
The Caucasian does become thriftless
incapable Of eIertion, eventually ap
preaching to the savage. la other words
he loses his status n the scale Of crea
ton.
Through the progressive exhaustion
Of the resources Of the country. STATE
after state viii necessarily become unin
habitable. because II viii be incapable
Of supporting population. Thus VII
come about the depopulation Of one stai'
after another-of cOurse by slow proc
ess through many years and there Wi
be presented the remarkable phenOm
enon Of the dropping from the Union q
these states successfully, because theI
have come to be no longer entitled =
representation under the law, by sena
I tors and representatives
: Nevada will simply be the frs. stat
TO succumb to the operation Of this IN
evitabie law. The outlook is melancholy
That is not 10 be denied tits not pleas
ant 70 consider the frame q mind " th
, r,=- --v7I1zaI man on thfz Continent
? few centuries hence, standing on san
: hilI. where once the maize luxun0usl.
: crew. and shedding silent tear q sffec