The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-03-06
Edward Atkinson's Philosophy.

Edward Atkinson's Philosophy.
1t Is pleasant once in n while to
have a prophet of good tidings stand
up in our midst and tell us that as
the rich grow richer in this country
the poor grow richer along with them.
And the words OF such an apostle are
none the less true because they are
seldom heard.
While Henry George and DIR.
McGlynn and numerous other agita-
tors go preaching their destructive
theories to unthinking crowds, it is
fortunate that real thinkers like Ed
ward Atkinson see through the mists
of popular error and discern among
the accidental misfortunes of the age
the true progress which the world and
especially this half of it has made and
is making daily and hourly.
1t may be claimed that this is the
poor mans era, the time Of his eman-
cipation from the thraldom of his
poverty into the realms of physical
comfort and spiritual regeneration.
1t has never been hard for the rich
man to make of life a thing OF pleas
ure and beauty. The civilizations of
the past made time and eternity
the property of high birth, wealth
and lofty station. In this age, all
positive effort is directed towards pro-
viding for the poor and humble, com
fort, pleasure and refinement in this
existence, and towards developing the
spiritual part of him so that he might
participate in the joys Of the great
future.
The sum total of enjoyment as be-
tween the aristocrat of Babylon, of
Memphis, of Athens, of Rome, Of
Venice, Of the London of the Stuarts,
or the Paris of Louis XIV. was doubt
less very much the same, and not
greatly different from that enjoyed
by a Vanderbilt or a Westminster of
the present day. The pleasures, the
manners, the ideals might differ in
form, but In essence they were the
very same, and the man of 9 a and
leisure was allowed to safe himself
with the enjoyment of them
But il we compare the thoughts, the
ideals, the education, the aspirations,
the physical conditions-the food, the
homes, the clothing of the artisan and
the laborer today with those which
prevailed In by-gone times, we find
that all the progress of the world has
tended in their direction, and they are
in truest reality 1.-THE heirs of all the
ages.n
The learning which was for centur-
les the secret of the few; the art
which was the property of courts and
princes are today bestowed a free gift
upon the millions who are reached by
European civilization, while it might
be said that the humblest citizen of
the progressive nations enjoys Ore
material comfort in his home, and
more ease and safety in his daily
walks than any potentate could boast
of, a hundred years ago.
Neither is there any evidence of a
check in this tendency. On the con-
trary it appears to us the principal
efforts of wealth and intellect alike
are daily being directed to the i'm
provement of the life of those who
while they do not actually handle
wealth still enjoy many of the advan
tages 1t brings. The improvement of
the average home is a matter of daily
progress. The cheapening of the e
of general communication goes on
day by day, and every day spreads
wider the general means of informa-
ton. These after all are the three
principal extraneous factors in
every mans life, and all the
rest depends on his OWN efforts.
If then the popular teachers of the
day, instead of urging the general
mass of the people to pull down and
overturn the social and economic
structure, would urge them to turn
their attention towards the utilization
of what they have, a true era of con-
tent and enjoyment might begin, and
the world might settle down into ways
of peace and progress.
Such a condition of things, how
ever, would afford no opportunities
for the agitator and the destructive,
and of course it is the last thing they
would desire to see.
NrExx nrTDr rrATT0NS