The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-03-08
CITY OF THE FUTURE
It Will Be a Great Mart, Not q
Hive of Residents.
4 PLAN OF TRANSFORMATION.
Commercial and Social Features Re-
taIned People to Live In Coun-
try and Meet in City.

ner Of life WAS fitted to the forest and the
plain He lived on river brink lifted
fiIl in mountain nook or native meadow.
but always In the country. NON. after
several ages Of trial effort. he tires o. his
BACKGROUND Of nature and makes a rush
for the foreground Of civiIity. hope ne
will profit by the change. bat have my
doubts.
= The thinkers have rerched a concensgs
that the drift of mankind cityHard Is nat
ural and inevitable. II -. there Is no need
of a rev oil against the uoF eTneni = thlnS
that is decreed b. nature sna insfigstea -
desire viii come whose may Kick or caFtl.
Nature and desire cooperating Will have
their way against all philosophy and dem
onstration alike Of thought and force.
Nature and desire will prevail sooner or
later. over interest. over persuasion. over
ali iaterdict OF iaw, over seven armies with
banners The aa,Irai tendency Of things
has never yet once In the history OF man
kind been overcome or even seriously I'm
reded with any argument or contriyance
OF man.
Some Of our recent writer's, Or. Albert
Shaw In particular. have accepted the sit
uation. They szy that the city Is the ma
tural roaers or Of the human race. They
Say that al fufure civilization rhymes
with city, aud that We have only TO adjust
ourselves 10 the Inevitable transformation
OF society already begun IN all the better
parrs Of the world Ia broad America. as
well "a in narrow EuTope-so runs the Err
elmenf--the tendency Of the civilized life
IS 30 fix itself In tho great municipalities
and TO draw thereto the preponderant
forces the vital energies, the beauty and
the distinction OF the whole world
Let u then get ready. The future city
A. TO oyertop the land side, TO dominate
fhs country regions. stretching around 1t
g. FAR az river ana mountain. To the city
the population IS TO go by gravitation and
preference, The chief activities Of the
people are 20 be exhibited ia city building.
Ia city feeding and In city multiplication.
The twentieth century. IN a word. Is to be-
come the Age OF cities. and the whole en-
ergy and mass OF ciyilizlng things are to
be aggregated about the mighty municip-
alities wherein man Is TO flourish. art
abound. society expand and commerce
whiten from harbor TO harbor and from
shore 10 shore
II may be that this picture IS TO be full
filled, and II so. get ready. But. If so. get
ready with the understanding that the
future city ia TO BE- thing in form and
substance most different from the city OF
today. Indeed. the future city must. II IL
come az All. comedy revolution OF the
present city-if Kot total. at least com
plete The new city must build itself cut
OF the remains Of the present city, using
Its materials and hopes and converting its
vices, foilies amt crimes into a concrete
for It's pavements
Such future city Is not impossible.
There are signs Of IT. coming. and some
Of the signs are 80 conspicuous and certain
as not to be mistaken IN their significance.
We nnd already transforming force at
work IN the supreme municipalities Of the
world. We md at the same time AN out
side energy Developing under the hands OF
science. which. II We mistake not. is Ges-
tined 10 become the principal factor in
that revolution which ia going on In the
heh places Of the civilized life.
II seems TO me- that the future city must
h. transformation 4 must come In
a form and substance essentially different
from anything now known. The future
city is to be mart. That Is its funds
nlenal distinction and the bottom possibil-
iiy OF its existence. The present city Is n
hive ~ residents 2 badly regulated end
confused hive a hive IN which industry Is
mixed with home, courts With afnnsements
hanks with tenements PARKS with shop
keeping ana boarding houses with cathe-
dra,s
There Is no conceivable iurnlle ~ facts
and forces more chostic and ~ suited 10
rational happiness than the great city ~
today The city AS ii now exists IL the re-
salt ar chance II Is mReiStrou OF hap
hazard enterprises OF misplaced Rmbi
tons an1 struggling energies. moro IKE
pandetnorium in tho general result than
like an orderly civic aggregation Of a great
race Of ratloual helnES
Tho city IN its present form has reached
tho limits NJ itS possibilities The funda-
mental vice IN tho situation Is the com
htnatioH 81 residence with bnsiness the
heapins un Of mas~cs of people permanent
" IN tho thick places ~ trade Tho 4 8
ring ont 81 tho earth below and the laying
Of loft on loft above Tor the purpose aud
with the result NJ Hgcr~gafinE an irnmovs-
bile mass OF people in given spot whore
population. as such. ought not to- exist ~
all Is folly and a critn" folly as - 70
snects business and rftruc as " respects
society The problem. therefore is to retain
enlarga ana perfc--f the mart and 10 oNpnl
and scatter tho population that IS the
problem cor1priees tha retention 81 ~ q
the commercial and MOST ~ fhe social fes-
teres Of thu present cttV With the cVpui-
sion ~ residents from tho municipal
limits
TO INV mind - H. tho rssi fs7-e f-tfur>
of the present city that makes SIS further
henes.iel development Impossible. Tho
Capitalization ot the Inhabitants can eo no
fnrther The limits OF rhvsi,-s1 possibility
hnv. teNp actually reached in New Norh
Thn hrening up Of fclks on folks fo 'h"
Very sky has been carried tn the tr'0fr~
aNlo excess ~ rendering further scciu, i-
iatton Impossible. The process has entail
~ all kinds of discomfort. misery. Vt'e
and ,rfnir \ roiuIua ~ platinum a iuif.
ion mites tn height resting On "ue Cnt
rlelt> down Nke a candle On n heated
stove THE lower @ni ~ molecular eutn-
preston lauracs NtPorizr~ ant distp-
pears The human cotHmn in rycry Nreat
CIV han already reached The heleet 30
which farther compensation So tupas, ihle
II 30 So further. an u0.lcr combustion ana
dissips Ian ~ the mass fu'lst ereHr A.