San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-10-13

aggressors in the savagery that
cropped out in their attempts to re-
tain possession OF their lands and
their mines and their temples. Tn g
attitude of all simple people is at
first one OF distrust, for life is with
race a struggle for existence. Once
that distrust has been allayed
there is not any special inhuman.
ity observable. On the contrary,
these primitive people are general
ly more inclined to be hospitable
to new corners than the more civil
lied.
There is reason for this. The
simple tribe man, with few artifi.
cial wants, finds a broad field for
all his needs and they are easily
supplied. AS a consequence, he is
not fearful of his new neighbor
seriously interfering with his
natural supplies. In the CIV
ilized condition this is not
true. The natural greed grows by
what it feeds upon. Riches steel
the heart to calls Of pity. A man
with a million requires a million
hands to defend himself against
those who would feed upon him II
he permitted. He finds the need
Of fighting the harder the more he
has to fight for, The necessity
grows as wealth grows. There is
no inhumanity under the sun like
that of rival trade. Can the round
globe among all of its savage hordes
show such inhumanity as Wall
street, the cotton and wool and
pork and wheat exchanges of the
great marts of this continent and
Europe.
1t is not that these men who do
business there are inhuman, in the
sense Of being wantonly cruel to
their fellows. But these men are
engaged in contest in which the
prizes are few, and the man who
gives a point in the game is going
to get floored. 1t is the law of
self-preservation, a law that is
older than any idea of humanity,
of civilization, Of philosophy, Of
organized benevolence; a law that
is ingrained into the very fibre of
human nature, and there has not
yet been found power in the uni
verse great enough to overcome it.
1t is the law Of the humanity. 1t
is very questionable II 1t will ever
be annulled. So far there is no
immediate prospect of its being
done, and those who are looking
for radical change are doomed to
disappointment.
From this cursory review of the
subject, one might reasonably con-
clude that the very term, inhu-
manity, as applied to this subject |
is a misnomer. 1t does seem that
this disregard OF our fellows, this
trampling of the weakest under
foot in the rush for place, this sec.
tionalism even in our best efforts
to overcome this indifference, this
universal reign Of selfishness in
the home and the church and the
society, as we'll as in trade and
politics and national relation-it
does seem as though this was the
native condition, and that which
Games natural to humanity. If so,
does it not seem strange to call it
inhuman? Passing this by there
comes the serious inquiry; must
this present condition of supreme
Indifference, this selfish disregard
Of others, this so-called inhumani.
ty, must it endure? Is there no
hOpei in the future Of better things
than in the past?
TO the consideration Of this SUBJ
ject the LIGHT preacher will direct
attention one week hence. 1t is a
question that will call for radical
consideration, for 1t is evident that
new forces must be brought into
play or the result so desired will
not be reached. When we say,
result so desired, it is only used in
the sense Of conveying the general
impression on this subject. To the
LIGHT preacher it is not clear that
this law of selfishness is not the