The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-07
SOCIAL FORCES.
Rev. 9. G. Smiths First Lecture on
Municipal Questions.

Rev. 9. G.. Smiths First Lecture on
Municipal Questions.
An audience Of $50 greeted Rev. 8. G..
Smith at the Y. M. c. A auditorium
last evening and listened attentively to
a talk on the subject Of Social Forces"
The lecture was the first Of a series of
ten by the same speaker on municipal
questions. Rev. Smith was introduced
by Mrs. Condo Hamlin, president Of the
Women's Civic league, who explained
that the school teachers, members Of the
city government and the business men
felt the need Of instruction along the line
of lectures to be delivered and the abil-
ity of the speaker on the subjects would
make the series not only interesting but
instructive.
" Rev. Smith in his opening remarks
wanted it understood that he did not
appear as a reformer and the purpose of
his lectures was to make people think
about the question of municipal affairs.
He said in part:
Man is a social being and this DIS
tinguishes him from other animals.
Mans social nature IS his birthmark.
The rank of any people is to be meas
ured by their social capacity. The So
cial interests Of any group. of people
is summed up in a comparatively few
people. Civilization begins with the
horde, and; as it advances the people
become more orderly and then become a.
tribe. Out of the tribe comes the ma
ton. The nation begins with power
centralized. AS society grows 4he
people begin to differentiate Division
OF labor makes men more social. So
long as homes are Independent the peo-
pie have little to do with each other The
greater the capacity the people have for
in RI tn
the higher the civilization In a very
short time the entire globe will be con-
trolled by two or three great nations.
Society highly organized is the object
of human history. Anarchy is the. re-
versal of human history. AS man rises
things for which he struggles change.
The fundamental forces are to live, to
love to have and to know.
These four desires are the forces
which have driven the world onward.
Reflective forces of society are very
modern. We do more than we think
A high form Of social organization de-
ponds on the density Of the population.
Every nation has It's individuality. lust
as every individual has. The social spir-
it manifests itself in the manner in
which we live. Public opinion as ex-
pressed in the press and periodicals is a
manifestation of social spirit Invention
is essential to human progress. The
same sort of people under the same sort
of conditions can do the same sort of
things, but every community must at
last be original and work out it's own
problems. The social problem is the
reconciliation of the individual and the
community. The world progresses by It's
great people. The people who have
borne the burdens are the aristocrats-
not the man with the hoe. The social
problem would not be solved, be ause it
is one thing today and another thing to-
morrow There Is no such thing as an
ideal best. Institutions must grow out
of the people. Slavery laid the founda-
ton of greatest liberty. Polygamy was
primitive blessing and an advance in
civilization of thousand years. n all
ages men have been compelled to make
such institutions as they could live un-
der. The outcome of all is that the
radical Is not often right, but he is the
only hope of the race, as the conserva-
tive is always wrong
The subject for the lecture next Friday
evening is 1.-THE Making of Cities.'