Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1891-02-19
MIGRATION A LAW OF NATURE.
The Mysterious Forces Which Operate to
Preserve the Earth's Equilibrium.

IL mas become u Woll-cSCdDl lSQeO 1lcG
that the vast bodies which populate
space were kept in motion by two forces;
that the one, the centrifugal force, sup
plies them with the impetus to fly far
out from given center, while the other,
the centripetal force, draws them as
powerfully towardsit it. Ifeither of them
should overpower the other for one
short moment, the equilibrium would be
at once destroyed and the body would
either fly toward and crash against the
center or be hurled at random into
space, to meet fate of which we natur-
ally lack even the dimmest conception.
These same forces, however, manifest
themselves not exclusively in the plane
tary system, but are found at work even
in the human mind, balancing each
other there with the same precision as
elsewhere. 1t appears to many Won
der why some nations have remained on
a low plane of civilization, while others
have reached a high standard of culture,
and they seek to solve the problem by
denying to these nations the capability
of culture; but is their savagery not due
rather, to the fact that for various rea-
sons, too numerous to be counted here,
they have remained stationary? May
it not be conjectured that, if the cur
rents of immigration and emigration had
produced healthy circulation of blood
they might have risen intellectually,
morally, and industrially to the same
height which is occupied by those ma
tons which have had the opportunity
of atomic circulation by migration?
Wisely, however, the centripetal force
is balanced by the centrifugal force
here also. Behold the yearning of the
child to see other places; behold in the
youth the eagerness to seek his fortune
in far off countries, his belief that the
further he goes to seek it, the surer his
chances of finding it. Behold our love
for all that is strange, and behold the
success of the stranger. Has the reader
ever CHANGED to observe that, in spite of
all the advantage which the native born
has over the stranger, in spite of better
knowledge of his surroundings, of men
and things, it is always the stranger
who succeeds? How many families re-
main and prosper for several genera
tons in the same locality? And if they
do. when we reach backward but few
hundred years, we find that the origi-
nator of the illustrious house or family
has come and settled down-a stranger
in these quarters. Has the reader ever
observed that it is the visiting strange
young girl who is sure to fascinate the
young men of a place, or that the
strange young man is the most danger
Gus rival, and sure to win the affection
of the other sex? And has the reader
ever tried to explain to himself why
this is so? Both the yearning to leave
the parental roof, and the success which
the stranger always meets, are the
manifestations of the centrifugal force,
which wills that the atomic particles
shall not remain at rest, but shall ex-
change places and combine in new form.
| Migration is law of nature. AS the
sea is stirred by the storms, or the
atmosphere by the currents Of wind,
thus are the atoms of which humanity
is composed kept in circulation by the
innate desire of each to leave it's place
and seek another abode. 1t may be a
daring assertion, vet venture to make
it, that the marvellous development of
the human race during the last
century, on which we pride ourselves
so greatly, has been made possible
and is due to the greater facili-
ties offered to migration, and that,
in the same ratio as these facilities
and migration increase, humanity will
rise upon the ladder of civilization. Our
historians tell us-and endeavor to con-
vince us of the truth of their statements
that Europe has been populated by
the overflow population of Asia; that,
thousands OF years ago. Asiatic tribes
crossed the Balkan or the Hellespont
and entered Europe from the East The
migration of swarms of barbarians
moving from the northeast toward the
southwest of Europe, which began with
the appearance of the Cimbri in Italy,
and, after having shattered the Roman
Empire, ended with the Crusades, are
historical facts frequently dwelt upon.
But large as these expeditions may have
been, what are all the migratory move
mcnts that occurred during the known
ages of history, in comparison with the
extent of migration which has been
made possible and taken place through
the inventions of the last century? The
migrations of the past were tribal Or
national. A tribe or nation, impelled
| by the centrifugal force, would break
up quarters and move on to other places.
For the safety and success of the indi-
vidual it was absolutely necessary that
the whole tribe should march together,
exactly as it is of absolute necessity for
the birds that migrate in winter to
southern climates to unite into large
swarms. To-day migration has become
| individual. The better organization of
society has made it possible for each
atom to change its position, and if the
hosts of people who make use of the OPP
portunities offered to them and ex-
change places in nearer or wider circles
could be counted or be seen in march
ing order, as could once the savage
hordes that fell upon Rome, magnif-
cent spectacle would be offered, and the
vastness and strength of the current
which at present circulates throughout
the whole organism of mankind would
become at once apparent.-Rabbi Solo
mon SCHNEIDER, in The Arena.