The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1896-11-06

with the author for their exclusive publcation.)
Life in "home OF the brave and the
land Of the free" is not by any means
the selfish tOoth.and-nail struggle for
existence that some would have us be-
leve it to be. One phrase of evolu-
tion has become so commonly accepted
among US that VIC rattle off survival of
the tittest" quite glibly, and imagine
it explains everything Of uncvenncss
in the lives Of our fellows who are bet
ter or worse off than we. When, how.
ever, you and | can see many "unft :"
both surviving and flourishing, we
must look for some law in operation
different from that which Herbert
Spencer shows to prevail among lower
creatures, carnivorOns animals re-
move from hcrbyOrous herds individ-
uals past their prime, and weed out
the sickly, the malformcd, and the
least fleet and powerful"
~
And what may this different law be
that explains the continued existence
of those who are weak and feeble and
puny? The law that in the hearts of
the highest beings of the earth there
shall grow with their progress up
ward from the animal an increasing
recognition Of the claims that the fee
bic have upon the strong. This i'm
pulse Of man to look after and protect
his weaker brethren is more com
ple;ely pervasive Of our civilization
than would appear from the surface of
our daily life, covered as it is with
people scrambling eagerly for self and
pelf, these two. But surface indica-
tions are not enough for our inquisi-
tive human race, else were coal mines
and other forms Of mineral wealth
practically unknown, and we would
still creep in and out of caves and
gather our scant shccpsklns about US.
W.
Look then with me, just for few
moments, beneath all the fierce strug-
gle for wealth, food, life even, going
on around us. and by the law of "thc
survival of the flttcst explain to me
the existence of SO simple thing as
your public school. You will find
yourself unable to do it, for you will
find there the children OF worthless,
shiftless parents who make no contri-
button to the maintenance of the
teacher, and yet who reap the benefits
that are secured to all children alike
by the industry and thrift OF the pa
rents OF some.
by that same law explain hos
pital where suffering creatures, maim-
ed in many cases beyond all hope OF
future utility, are kept alive by the
most expensive appliances of science; ;
where even the slightest neglect Of
the poorest patient, If that neglect
becomes known, arOuses an upr0ar.
You cannot by any possibility see
from such a place that the lit alone
survive or are deemed worthy to
survive.
Endeavor to understand liow, by the
rule of "cvery man for himself" your
little country church came into ex-
istencc. Your task will be IL hard one,
for into it are built the widows mite,
the farmers hard-carned dollar, the
mechanics gift saved out OF some per-
ilous cmployment-all gwen up gladly
without hope OF personal gain.
Again, tell me or yourself whence
come public libraries instead OF the
private aggrcgati0ns Of the middle
ages !" public parks instead enclosures
prollibitivcly walled against all that
are "commop or uncleans' public art
galleries. where the c0nn0isseur needs
must jostle against the poor and the
threadbare?
In all the foregoing examples, the
chief bcnehciaries are those who have
succeeded In doing least to gain such
pleasures. From the well-to.do have
been distracted the advantages they