The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1897-04-30

No one denies but that the country
d making very rapid advancement In
the accumulation Of wealth. Tie in
ventioH Of steam AID electricity and
labor-savinp machines have produced
q socisl revolution. The daily life
and habits Of the people have under
gone a change. Dwellings are more
costIy; the furnishings more elaborate
and expensive: travel is more comfort
able and cheaper. Stores, te=ements,
churches, and public buildings, are all
In keeping with this new life. The
''pIainness" and simplicity" which
marked the early years Of the republic
have disappeared. Bat does the new
order Of things mean that the country
Is more prosperous-that the people
are better of? Have not poverty and
paupeFism and vice also multiplied
Less than fifty years ago the whole
wealth Of the country Was put down at
seven billions OF dollars. You could
count the miIIienaiTes Oh the Gugers
Of one hand. Ii is now estimated at
one hundred billions, and inilli0paiTes
are too numerous 10 attract attention.
But what does the other side Of the
picture disclose? In New York cigS
today there are more paupers iAaD
there were in the whole country Ia
1850. Iustead Of labor beiBS Drneii.gse
by laLor.saying inventions the cyA-
lrary has been Tue case. Com e..&4o4
has been keener an1 tbe struggle lo4
bare subsistence hss Jeevf4e nsore IL
tense. As one rs Accommodates n,s
millions one hundred other men ru-t
20 deeper dowu into the drrgs II -.
erfy. This is satisfied. Aad hos
long esn this state If aiIair- ISIS?
grsAl rieheo wrIe 20 daug-rnus II ths-
time o, Christ Is % cali forth his IN
precafioa, sd ceasare, are they les
d. geTous non Did the Great
Teacher say, es WIS recently said by
one u the isad'ng newspapers Of this
stat, that The 'aen Vi great riches were
the promoters AID masters Of civiiiza-
ton? Not 50. On the contrary, this
Galiilean, whom We bow before in
humble alteration, taught that great
riches were q meEace to social order;
10 civil government; 10 q religious
life aud amounted almost 10 a prohi-
bition TO the joys Of the heavenly
Kingdom. There Is nothing truer
In the record of his life than what i
here quoted. And if he could 80 speak,
and did 80 speak, is it crime 10 call
attention to the same dangers that
now threaten our social order aud po-
litical existence?
II great riches were dangerous then,
when did they cease to be dangerous =?
If great wealth could bring ruin up
on Rome, is it harmless to bring ruin
upon US? Are not the same causes at
work here that were at work there?
Let us ask question: "What did
lAlc AnDACy -bAe57 NAiAt NNiE III A[A &DD5~
on Mark Hanna signify"
Is not the power Of wealth under
mining the fabric and changing the
form Of our government? And has it
gotten to be a crime to call attention
to it?
Shall we cry, "Peace, peacel" until
we have a repetition of the downfall
Of the Roman empire?
Do we need the second coming Of
Christ, with his whip-cords and male
dictions, to awaken us to realizing
sense OF the dangers that threaten US
from the vast aggregations and accum-
ulatiOns Of great wealth?
Is it treason to democracy, in order
to eounteract the tendency of the
times, to invoke the memory Of JEFF
ferson and jackson?
Does 1t augur well for the safety of
the republic that we have outgrown
the rigid simplicity which character
lied the lives Of these heroic builders 4?
Il IL anarchiara tn f...II "A b.ffO