The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-02-06

Of wretchednesa. He SAN every thing
With bis Own eyes. he tested every sof-
J fering By his own experience In one
Gaol be foend cell 90 naSrUw and
; noiecme that the poor wretch who in
habitee IL begged - . mercy for hang
ling. Howard shut himself up in the
cell and bore its darkness and foaluess
till nature could bear no more. But it
Was BY work OF this sort, and b. the
} faitaful pictured Of such scenes which
IL enabled him TO give, that h brought
!. about their reform The work. by no
, means Of the church, but Of one man
who, in the presence Of sorrow, reaii1-
J ed that IL God SO loted the world
Jesus meant far more for this life than
the church had ever declared Of Him.
For the attitude of the church then
Justined, Is its degeneracy does again
to-day, the impression that Christ came
only for the salvation Of souls from the
Fathers wrath, not to lead captivity
captive and &c give temporal gifts TO
men. The church, engfossed with the
command OF love TO God, in order to
escape the damnAtion Of hell, forgot,
through fear Of His wrath, that the
love OF man was no less the religion Of
Jesus. Philanthropy and religion,
though welded in the heart of Christ,
were divorced in the conduct Of the
church.
The simplicity Of most OF my critics
IS As evident As the venom Of many, in
that they seem never 10 have dreamt
that there can be any form of slavery
other than that Of chattels. Chattel
slavery being overthrown, they seem
to think that only freedom can thrive
under a republican form of govern
ment-a thought ruinously untrue.
For just as the church may lose the
spirit of its head and accept the lord
ship of Constantine or MammOn-and
control Of the church by the greedy
and great Is no less destructive Of free
dom than control Of the church by the
State-sO q republic may be robbed Of
the fruits Of democracy and its citizens,
through dire necessity, become slaves
OF Increasing aggregatiOns Of wealth
ard power. And such is the rapid
tecsiency of the times and of the coun-
try in which we live.
| Nor is this new tendency: the con-
centratiOn of wealth and consequent
power in the hands of the few-wealth
which melts away mountains and pet
rifles the hearts of men-enslaved the
many and wrought the destruction of
the civilizations preceding ours.
"Wealth accumulates and men decay"
The stronger ruthlessly trample under
foot the weaker, the masses are impov-
erlshed, degraded and enslaved. So
ciety disintegrates, and the masses and
classes relapse into barbarism; the one
through impoverishment, the other
| through an intellectual and moral tur-
| pitude. Such is the inevitable out
| come urged by Mr.. Brooks Adams in
his Law Of Civilization and Decay"
"The progress of the race" says DR..
| Josiah Strong, has been along two
lines, viz: the development of the in
dividual and organization of society,
the kind of organization of which So
ciety is capable being dependent on the
measure of development attained by
the individual. In the history of Eu-
rope, for centuries together, progress
seems to have been along only one of
these lines at time-a development
of the individual at the expense of So
cial OrganlzatiOn, followed by a close
organization of society, a centraliza-
tiOn of power at the expense of per-
sonal liberty. Thus, when society be-
gan to emerge from the lawless indi-
vidualism of the barbarians, it was or
gained under the aristOcratic form,
and then passed into the more central
lied form of absOlutism, which culmi-
mated in the 18th century and under
which individual rights were ruthless
y sacrificed. In the next century the
reaction toward individualism came
with the French Revolution" which
was followed by a century remarkable
for individual growth. "And now we
see unmistakable evidences that the
pendulum of the ages has again begun
TO swing in the direction of q closer Or
ganizauiOn of society. One of
the most striking features of the mod
ern business world is the growth of
powerful corporations, and more pow
erful combinations in the form of
pools, trusts and syndicates. The con-
ditiOns of production and transpOrta-
tiOn," he continues, shave largely
ceased to be democratic and the ques-
ton may be reasonably asked: can our
government remain democratic and
our industries continue aristOcratic or
mOnarchic-that is, controlled by the
corporation or the industrial king?"
Mr.. Depew, who heads a great rail-
way system, is credited with saying
FIFTY men in the United States have
it in their power, by reason of the
wealth they control, to come together
within twenty-fOur hours and arrive
Nv
wheel OF trade and commerce may be |
stopped from revolving, every avenue
of trade blocked, and every electric
key struck dumb. These fifty men can
paralyze the whole country; for they
can control the Giro ulatiOn of the cur
rency and create a panic when they
choose"
Following this same line of thou ght,
another eminent writer has said 'IThe
great American republic seems to be
entering upon new era, in which it |
must meet and solve new prOblem-l
The reconciliation of democracy with
the modern conditions"
With production, transportation and |
The means of exchange in the hands of |
'barons," kings" and "lords," if their |
,0nquests are unhindered, popular en-
'iavement is inevitable. What recon.
ask, is possible? These are
conditions incompatible with a free
government. Our government in the
beginning gave to the world the def
1ition of freedom. The genius of the
Declaration of Independence was the
peaceful progress of the race along the
w0 lines of development at the same
lme-the fullest possible development
Il the individual and the protection of
l!o AA6 AoS W q pcIMducuC, nelp1Ol SO.
lal organization. 1t was 4 new ven-
ure in the WORLD a humane effort to
top the destructi We oscillation of s'the
.endulum of the ages" 1t built upon
he due relation of man to man. 1t over
brew hereditary right of individual
nd class. 1t owe rthrew privilege, the
ane of liberty in every land. 1t struck
own despotism # every grade. 1t de-
Jared the doctril le of equality as fun
amental law, making equality of
light the found alton and means Of
the. divine right to life,
Derty, and the pursuit of happiness.
done for all iaen what the Magma
harta had done for the few. But nov
be problem is gain the same as at the
eg;nning. Org 1uized power presses
n for the suhin s>A;oD &c tho |