The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-10-31
ETCHTNGS FROM
CURRENT TOPICS,

This is an age Of condensation. All
distances are lessened by rapid transit;
space is almost annlhilated by the gen.
ius of man, and, only he. or she who
thinks quickly acts promptly, and says
what there is to be Said in as few words
as possible, can hope to influence the
public mind or arrest the public atten-
ton. The day of long, expansive ora
tions is past the time for never-en ending
sermons is gone. If a man has
thought ito make known, or a truth to
tell, he must tell it clearly, concisely and
promptly. This is electric age; the
minds of thinking people seem to be
connected with sensitive, unseen wires,
which a few words set in motion. This
is a period of nervous, palpitatlng, vital
energy, and The intellect is keyed up to
the pitch, which regulates the pace of
advancement. One touch and the whole
intellectual system vibrates and re-
spends. The old flint and steel age is
gone, when an orator had need to pound
the brains of his hearers for hours 20
strike a CLEAN of responsive fire. The
messages to humanity must be brief,
terse, but full of mental power. to claim
a hearing from the busy men and women
of this hurrying, restless nineteenth CEN
fury. The orator who commands the
attention of an audience has put behind
him all the sophomore temptat ons of an
early, faulty training and has consigned
TO kindly past, the set phrases of pre-
historic rhetoric. A man or woman
who has anything to say worth the lis
tening to can tell it all in thirty or forty
minutes and many forceful speakers in
less time than that. When more space
is needed 1t can safely be decided that
the speaker is very weighty, very pom
derous, or his audience exceedingly
dense. The latter IS not usually the
case. The comprehension of a congre-
cation, or an audience is generally far
in advance of that preacher, or speaker
who covers UP a few good ideas with
a network of dreary platitudes.
The beautiful, fascinating oratory of
the past was born of the leisurely cond.-
t.ons of another period. Men had time
to letter, linger and listen, in the years
that are gone. The well-roundsd me-
lodious sentences, and the ornate figures
of speech, employed by the orators and
prea of the long ago, were attuned
to that other age when comfort and plen-
ty went hand in hand with tranquil hap
siveness in more ways than one. This
is a time when every moment counts in
the fierce struggle for existence. 1t is
the age of action and condsnsat ton.
1t is also the age of intense individ-
uality, an age when the man with posi-
tive, fearless views is, the man who in
fiuences public opinion, and makes a.
channel for public thought. There is
little room for the drifter in this day Of
individual leadership. He who COM
plaoently floats with the t,de-goes UP
and down with the ebb and flow-soon
finds his proper level at the bottom of
the great sea of Life. The man who
awaits the verdict of his fellow men
before forming an opinion on q question
of general import, is as useless in the
great struggle for advancement as the
proverbial fifth wheel to a moving We
hicle. The moral coward who fears to
express his convictions on questions
which have for their object the ultimate
elevation of his fellow creatures, be-
comes merely camp follower, when
the army of progress moves forward
lead by men of brains and courage. The
aspiring politician who trims his sails
to suit every passing breeze, generally
finds himself voteless when the ballots
are counted.
In the approaching political campaign.
It behooves the citizens of Alabama to
force the men who ask office at their
hands to take an unequivocal position
upon the burning question of the hour,
the need of Alabama, for a newer and
broader constitution. The man who
is content with the present appalling IL
Eteracy of the white people of the state.
should be permitted TO spend the resi-
due of his days in the retirement Of pri-
vate life A politician who prefers the
votes of men who make their mark in
lieu of writing their names and who
cannot read the ballots they cast to plac-
ing within the reach of the children of
the state absolutely free schools, should
be consigned to- shades Of Oblivion by 81
people who desire to take their rightfu1
rank in the steady march OF advance
ment. Alabama with its present consi-
tuition and Its present flliteracy is con>
slant reproach to those men and women
WITHIN her boarders who have aspira.
tons beyond the holding of petty Offices
The average office-seeker Of Alabama
has been the greatest burden the good
old state has had 30 bear. Every re.
form, every suggestion of helpful changes
has been defeated in the past by men
who craved the votes of an illiterate con-
Though these same selfish Lii
liputian politicians. with their abrievf-
ated mental capacity, the aspiring, pro-
gresSive citizens of Alabama have been
kept with their hands tied by laws made
fore more than a. quarter of a century
ago. Free schools, absolutely free
schools and the education of the masses
mus; be one of the principal planlss in
the next political platform of Alabama.
RAIL.