San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-01-17

more people on The face of the globe
than can make good their footing
there. They crowd and jOstle each
other till some are crowded off.
Money is dearer than heSh and
blood. Position is dearer than life.
Place is dearer than humanity. The
whole world seems to be racing for n
goal. and when reached it is only
death A poor thing to race for, but
so it is. Haste is made to be rich.
and in that haste lives are tranpled
under foot until the hot blood of the
heart is poured out upon the path of
avarice. as wine is pressed out in the
vintage. when the winepresS is full.
Ambition fires the energy to mount
higher. and in the mounting the neCks
of the multitudeS are only stepping
stones for the rough and ruthless feet
| of those who would rather reign in
hell than serve in heaven. Lust of
power gOads the soul to madneSS.and
in that insanity kingdoms are laid
waste and the blood of a generation
is poured out on the enSanguined soil
of unhappy nations.
Life is cheap Even the religion
of love is s2duced to do its part IN the
| great holocaust, Fanaticism SeiZeS its
red flag and runs amuck. Age, SEX
condition. worth. beauty. Motherhood
all are lost sight of as the burning in
Quisition goes on. hell is moved to
| meet the feet of the avengers of God
and where the sweet flowers nodded
| their heads and the fragrant grasses
sent up their incense to heaven. q red
trail of blood is drawn across the face
of earth. Life is cheap. The world
ShrugS its shoulders and the deStruC-
ton goes on. Nations are as pitt
less as individuals. and the more
Christian in name the more regardless
too often of the injuStices that cry
for redress into the very ears of hPav-
en-. We are a Christian people and
Cuba is within sight of our shores
Verify life is cheap.
Life is cheap. OverprOduCtiOn makes
all things cheap. There is an OvCrprO-
ductiOn of human life This is as
plain as that life is cheap. In all
other productions laws regulate. the
laws of supply and demand, if it is
Intelligent production. In all other
animal life save that of man the
supply is kept down by one
continual struggle for mastery and
the survival of the fittest improves
the species. Man formerly. in his
savage condition. uncOnsciously regu-
lated the production of his race in the
same way. The eternal preying of
the several races prevented ovpIprO-
ductiOn. Civilization came. Man was
no longer allowed to prey openly on
his fellow. Great chiefs and mon
archs were given n monopoly of the
killing business. Life increased.
Christianity followed as civilization
grew and evolved better conditions.
The sacredneSS of human life was
taught 1t is taught now. The invio-
liability of life is the theory. The
violation of every known right OF the
individual to all that makes life of
worth is the practice. As of Old the
strong prey on the weak. but he does
it under sanction of law. Life is no
longer at the mercy of the strong ply
Sically, but it is at the mercy of the
corporations. the individuals who buy
it in the worlds market. There is Il
law against knocking man down and
taking his life. There is no law |
against knocking his wages down, |
taking away from him the means OF |
life. As opportunities of labor be- |
come limited this taking away work |
takes away life.
Life is cheap. 1t is growing cheap |
or. There is nothing in the outlook |
that offers hope. Only by making |
life scarcer can it grow more valuable. |
SO long as the race multiplies and null |
tiplies faster than there is a demand |
for men so long will life continue to
grow cheap. 1t is a strange perver- |
sion of fact. that the civilization that |
aimed to make life more sacred has |
made it cheaper. That the religious |
teaching that it is wrong to kill has |
introduced a general practice of
cheapening life that is infinitely |
worse than killing the body. This is
the problem of the world How to |
increase the value of life. How to
make life so valuable that there will |
be laws enacted for it's preservatiO ton
that will be operative. True there are
such laws now. but they are inOpera-
tive. because they permit the killing
of life'S opportunities of life.
Life is cheap. The beginning of its |
enhanced value must grow from the
best elements of human society, |
Place must he made for man in the |
economy of life. Regulation OF the |
increase of life must in time he UNI |
dcrtaken. France and New England |
are already at work upon this prob |
lem. 1t is not 4 Utopian scheme. 1t
i a necessity of growing conditions.
II ''f' is not thus regulated in its
supply. if law is rot invoked to do
the work, thCu violence will usurp
the functions of law and there will
be gel Cral destruction. Man in the
slums will not always stay there and
see a few of the race go rough shod
over the masses to wealth and honors
| and luxury. The low, hoarse mutter-
tnGs of discOntent with existing con-
| ditions are heard in every land. When
they rise loud enough there will be
another revolution greater than that
1 of Franco i'm tho timaS Of I o,,iS.