The Daily Texarkanian., 1894-06-08
MATERIAL PROGRESS AND CIVIL
IZATI0N OF THE NINE
TENTH CENTURY.
BY FANNIE KAHN.
At st. Agnes Academy, May 81, '94.

To this enlightened age of ours
belongs the glory of having attain
ed unequalled success in discovery
and invention, in the unfolding of
science and its application to the
practical purposes of life, Truly
ours is a wonderful, a golden age.
Yet in ennumerating these bril-
liant achievements it must not be
forgotten that they, for the most
part, lie in one direction. The high
ideals of the ancient poets and ar
lists have been abandoned for the
more practical fields of science and
mechanics.
The tendency of the present age,
especially here in our grand Repub-
lie, is to contrive means by which
manual labor may be lessened, and
the power of locomotion increased.
This is so true that the inventive
genius of the American has become
proverbial
For this purpose electricity and
steam, the greatest motive powers
in the world, have been realized,
factories and railways constructed
and a postal service established.
These are the mile-stones which
mark the pathway of material pro-
gress.
Rapid and wonderful has been
the Transformation in all the walks
of life; what was difficult is easy,
what was expensive is cheap, what
was distant is brought near. The
necessaries, nay, Injuries, of life
are cheaper, better and more easily
gotten than they were one hundred
years ago. Journeys can be made
in at least one-fourth the time it
in the early days of the
In fact, never in the
annals of time has material pro-
gress attained such perfection
But have the gigantic strides of
scientists and inventors satisfied the
heart Of man? Is this the grand
goal for which he has been striving?
Is it from a material standpoint
alone that civilization shall be
measured? There is yet a higher,
holier standard. True, our privi-
leges outnumber those of our an
cestors. We have electricity, gas,
telephones, steam presses, cotton
gins and countless other convenien-
ces that were never dreamed of a
hundred years ago, but does having
all these make us better or wiser
than our forefathers? 1t can not
be denied that this century has
done much toward moral and men
tai improvements; but we must not,
on this account, think ourselves in
finitely superior to all who preceded
us.
Before deciding upon the value
of the numerous inventions of the
present age we must first take into
consideration what they have done
to make the world of today better
and nobler than the world of the
past, to elevate the mind of man
and broaden his views-in short, to
promote the moral social and men
tai welfare of the great human
family.
The great white City" which
sprung up with mushroom-like rap
idity, on the shores of Lake Michi-
gan, is an undeniable proof of the
gigantic strides the world has made
in the path of material progress;
yet the crowds of starving men and
women who throng the streets of
our busy cities show but too plainly
that even the Nineteenth century
has fallen short Of reaching the
acme of civilization.
1t must be admitted that GER
tain degree of civilization has nat
urally followed from the condition
Of the age Books have been null
tiplied, opportunities for acquiring
education largely increased, facili-
ties for travel greatly improved.
But civilization means more than
this. In it is included the intellec-
tual side of life, upon which mechan-
ical appliances have little effect
and the social, over which material
progress wields a mighty influence.
The establishment Of large facto-
ries and the consequent growth Of
business has had an effect that can
not be'overestimated. Manufactur-
ing, taken from an inventive and
financial point of view, may be re-
garded as one of the most glorious
triumphs Of the Nineteenth cen
tury. But viewing it from a plilan-
thropic standpoint we must admit
that this amazing progress is over
balanced by the moral and social
degeneracy which it has brought