The sun., 1897-05-17
YES, THE WORLD IMPROVES
AND THIS Despite THE TRUSTS
AND NEWSPAPERS.
Tho Rov. p1inot =. savage Pitches Into the
Dismal Nzornlists who Fail to Sec Anything

| Tho nov lIinot y. savage Pitches Into thu
Dismal NIornlists who Fail to Sec Anythtni
| Good In tho Lifo OF the Present Day
Hot shot for Current Bociniistio Ideas
| The Unitarian Church Of tho Messiah, Thirty
| fourth street and Park avenue, was crowded
| yesterday morning by those who went to heal
the pastor, the Rev. DIR. Mlnot J. Savage, preach
upon the theme, "Is 1t true that tho world II
really getting worse y Tho preacher said, in
part:
There nro great many persons who say
that, no matter how bad former times were, the
present times are out Of Joint. They arc re
formers Of certain sort. They really wish to
do humanity q service. They believe that II
they can convert the world TO their notions the
millennium will shortly come. There are tenn.
perance orators who insist that there was never
so much drunkenness in the world as there is
to-day. Then. and this Is most remarkable, there
are leaders OF religious thought in metropolitan
churches who can sec nothing good in the pres
ent and little to hope for in the future.
There is a certain typo of men who can SEQ
everything better in the past than In the pres
ent. and this type has always existed. But, in
spite Of them and in spite of the patriarchs Of
old, there never was time when the average
length Of life longer than It is now. nor
when mans stature was SO large We have
heard that 'thero were giants In those
days. but nobody has ever seen them. /
mighty.statured men of ancient England, whose
armor Is now in the Tower of London, were
that could not wear their armor, and I'm not
large man. And so we must conclude that these
statements a, about the past are only fond delu u;
glories.
wSr II T ro
ress. We certainly have improvement in travel
ana ana con Sf tine o nSTs M Ss
worldf Once 1t was only tiny planet-no, not
planet, because planet means wandorer, and
a tiny. fiat world with stars above It to light
our footsteps alone; Now we know that the earth
10y barriers Of the north, and presently, we
believe. we shall know the secret Of the poles.
But have we made moral advancement COM
tell us to read the papers, and we shall see in the
stories Of crime there found the degeneracy Of
The world was thousand times @ worse morally,
goo years ago. but the people had no way OF
about 1t.
Are we. so far as our industrial condition is
concerned. going up or down When we look
at the corporations, at the trusts, at tho exam
There
in church thought just now busy in prophesying
all sorts of evil days to come. fheytel us, that
growing richer, and that, unless the barriers
that guard accumulated wealth are broken
to oe On
our our eyes with the % sloomiest OF Of pictures. @ .
but they offer us no satisfactory shelter from the
storm that they say Is certain to descend. They
talk about the misery OF the laboring man and
what they mean by the laborng man. /
speak as laborn{ man, because I work
IN ia M Y In a ftarf tan
or even eighteen hours labor. 1t is an unfor.
tunate set of terms we have to designate the la
that the man who is an enemy to accumu-
lated wealth is an enemy to civilization;
ana on he wh9 is s n to sS Ia
cause accumulated wealth is the first condition
Of civilization. II all the men and women were
mere necessaries Of life there would be no clvii.
zation. Man would be mere animal. 1t would
everybody had to work for a living. If we are
to have any books. any music. any statues. any
%sy es set Would
speare work as a stone mason all his lifei The
social position, in mental attainment, is the
equality of barbarism. II we were to annihi-
late accumulated wealth we would have that
IF man holds and clutches wealth that some
body else has created nobody is benefited. The
guired. are compelled to become public bene-
factors or they won't get the interest on their
the man Who % accumniates the ' most. pV wSeihcr i
he says the public be double D'd, or not
ss money m In puSs % in general
else. To that extent I'm q Socialist. But. ac-
cording to the experience Of the world at present
of corporations than by public ownership. This
Is true, because II you take away the incentive
Of civilization. Then again, It seems to me that
the man who has shown his ability to make
money knows best how to use it.
are richer than you are. The finest things in the
world cannot be monopolized. A rich man may
be loan exhibition, and you and can go and
look at the rich mans possession. A rich man
may be able to drive coach and four, but you
and are healthier, because we can only afford
to walk. And love- friendship, and the service
Of God and hpmanity-the richest of all bless
greater than i used to be- be- Tho percentage Of
wage Garner today Is better than It ever r was,
know anything about the workings Of the trusts
however, that, because Of those trusts, YOU and
can get better and cheaper oil and better and
been crowded out of business. but the great pub
lie, the laboring men, you and l. have been ben
"You owe your very existence to the toll of
your follow men. What We hold is only in trust.
Let not tho rich man iaunt his luxury in tho
iusC VI tho poOi, iel hOt you anu tne laDOr-
ers. the poor men, destroy that wealth with
q dynamlte or croHk at others prosperity. Let us
first, and let us work together to make tho
world better. Let us not delude ourselves that
we can get out patent for the improvement OF
frcemen. The idea that we'll all get what we
want and the world will stop for us to get II is
lotus-eater's 3 dream. Humanity Is on the march,
We must keep up with the procession by our
own excrtions. or the chariot wheels of progress
will roll over us and we shall be left behind"