The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-03-07

euIn POpuldr Scubllutub dSdluSb ItlS tuuu6 vi
procedure. Men who are dissatisfied with
existing conditions will learn from such ex-
perienoes that the ballot is, after all, the
surest, quickest, and fairest means for the
redress of wrongs. And when this fact can
be re-impressed upon the voters of the
country, long step will have been taken in
the direction of genuine reform. Moreover,
it would be q false accusation to lay the
blame of these troubles, without qualifca-
| tions, at the feet of the masses, and say that
are dissatisfied with the inheritance of their
| fathers. Chancellor Canfeld, of the univer.
sity of Nebraska, in giving definition of
the word ''contented," +" as applied to Ger.
tain class of citizens, excludes only that
spirit, (which declares anything preferable
to the present status, and substitutes rsvo-
luton for evolution. Nor will it cover that
other spirit-or want of spirit-that leads
some men to forget their manliness; to de-
clare that they have no chance in the world;
that the world owes than living and they
propose hy idleness to collect the debt''-a
somewhat numerous class, perhaps, but igno.
rant and without inf1uence-a floating mist
upon the surface of the political sea through
which the Ship of State sails unharmed.
Opposed to it. are all the countless influences
and better tendencies of civilization; all the
higher classes of society, and that vast army
known as the ''iaiddle classes, the most
numerous, powerful and 'fcontentsd" por-
tion of the whole population.
It is often asserted that foreign immigra-
tien brings to our shores many who help to
swell the volume of the undesirable element,
and this Is partly true. But there has been
in recent years a constantly increasing popu-
lar demand for more stringent regulations
and strict enforcement of the law in this
direction. This has led to action in con
gress, and We may hope in few more years
to see immigration so regulated that
all its evil features will he eliminated. while J
all the good are retained.
Finally. there is the influence of education |
constantly tending to raise the tone of public |
opinion and the standard of citizenship and |
manhood generally. Our educational sys-
tenn is yearly becoming better organized and |
more thorough in its work In nearly every
state in the Uuion the school attendance is
annually increasing In a much greater pro-
portion than the population. Here is the
power that will ultimately bridge over the |
gulf betMee poverty and wealth. This is
the weight that is destined to balance the |
scales of justice and establish the intellec-
tual equality of mankind. The necessity of !
better education for the masses is daily he. !
coming better recognized, and the benefits
of higher education are every day placed |
nearer within their grasp. With the pro-
gress that has already been made, the Amer
can laborer is today more intellectual and
wields more power than the laborer of any
other time or country.
Standing in the midst of all the grand !
achievements of this, the proudest age of
mans existence, one is compelled to believe
that the second century of Americanism will |
be better than the first. The problems of
life were never so near solution, the lessons
of the past were never better understood,
nor the necessities of the future SO carefully
studied and thoroughly comprehended as at
the present day. Man is still enslavsd, to
a limited extent, by ignorance and error
but the:power that brought him from the
savage state will, in the fullness of time,
rend the shackles that still bind HIM. As
the light of the twentieth century dawns
upon the declining years and superstitions
arising from the ashes of the old, to guide
humanity onward and upward to the achieve
ment of nebler and grander deeds.