The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-06-18

Bible says: BE We angry, and sin not
That must be a possibility, for the Bible
says again that God is angry with the
wicked
For the creation of the perfect city a
good deal must be made new, and a good
deal must be made over. The inventions
OF this century have made 1t possible to
perfect the life of a city, as never before
In the history of the world. In the four
tenth century there was one great
invention-the discovery of the ma
riner's compass; in the fifteenth
the art of printing; in the sixteenth CEN
fury there was no great invention, though
there We're many additions to the sum of
human knowledge by printing; and
the great Reformation began; in the sew
enteenth century there was one great in
vention-the telescope; in the eighteenth
century one-the steam engine; in the
nineteenth century we have the results. in
the applications Of steam to navigation and
railways; electricity has been discovered
in useful applications Ike the telegraph,
telephone, lighting; we have had friction
matches, gas for light; anesthetics and the
X-ray. These and other great inventions
and discoveries have had more influence
on the comfortable government of great
cities than we can imagine-unless we try
TO recall how dark, inconvenient unsafe
and painful were the conditions of life in
The beginning OF the century now clos
ing.
Who can venture to predict what the
next century will see, in the light of the
marvels of the present? We can think
sometimes what the redeemed earth, with
all conditions of life perfect, will become
There is a sentence here and there in the
Bible prophetic of the time, Nothing to
hurt,' etc. No complaining in the streets
There shall be no more curse I make
oil
there The Lord God giveth them light
There shall be no more death, neither sor-
row, nor crying, neither shall there be
any more pain, for the former things are
passed away. This is the great city that
came out of heaven from God. 1t is the
complete, redemption.
I'VE understand very well that the city
is about what the people in it are. The
highest civilization is not a thing of ma
terial conditions. We can have everything
very complete, perfect and clean, yet be
rotten to the core. The old Roman civili-
cation was both high and low. The re-
mains of the ancient empire reveal an
artistic sense that was high; the science
of government was well perfected. They
had learned that cleanliness was virtue
and their baths and water supplies were
so complete that after 1900 years we can
see that these were things Of first consid-
GRAFTON in their cities. yet the trail of the
sci pSil WIS over IL dr., dIQ tA6 real secret
of the decay of The Roman empire was in
the decay of public morals. The vices of
the ruder nations watch they conquered
infected the victorious legions. and in the
end they fell an easy prey 10 the torrent of
barbarism which flowed down over the
empire from the north.
There is no more falacious idea abroad
among men to-day than the notion that
mere Improvement in physical conditions
is going to be an advance in the civiiza-
ton ard prosperity. That much
must be allowed to the hon
est anti-expansionist. We may widen our
nations influence only to make it worth
less than before-as the river which
breaks over its banks is likely to be shall
low where it widens, and leave a deposit
of slime in fields once fertile. Goldsmith
expresses it exactly in his Deserted Viii
lage:
Ill fares the land, to hastning ills a
prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men de-
cay
1.-THE only possible justification we can
have for breaking over the ancient
boundaries established by the founders of
the republic lies in the claim that we are
going to extend the sphere of human
welfare. and that we are going to bring
in new and better conditions. We are to
see to it that cruelty and ignorance flee
away, whilst the reign of a true righteous
ness begins This claim we must make
good, or earn the contempt of later gen.
erations.