New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1900-03-24


zation gives her people-the fea
of hell, the dread Of the future an,
biting anxiety for the present.
Also, insane asylums, hospitals
jails and saloons.
Pretty things.
There are no insane among tn,
uneivilized, nor are there many sick
and very, very few criminals.
The heathen in his blindnes!
knows enough to keep his wit.
about him, anyway.
Unless there's missionary
somewhere about.
Those missionaries
Good people, kind people, we'll
meaning people, no doubt-but
oh, what a lot of harm some we'll
meaning people can do!
Take Hawaii. Why, a few years
ago, in Hawaii-Paradise!
The air was sweet jasmine and
roses, and every man you met wore
a wreath and every woman was
girdled with a garland.
You could lay a sackful of broad
gold pieces on the threshold of
your hut, and no man disturb them.
They didn't want gold.
They had the sun, and the sea,
and the sweet breeze from the Pail.
When they were hungry they
caught scarlet fish in their brown
net or pulled the bread fruit from
the tree. They had no songs but
love songs, no griefs but natural
ones-quickly healed, as are all
natural wounds.
When man fell i'll, he journeyed
to the volcano, threw in a peace Of
fering to the goddess who dwelt
there in her eternal fire.
If he must die, he wrapped his
cloak of feathers about him, closed
his eyes and was done with the
world.
He was born in peace, and he
died in tranquility.
Now he's civilized. He's learned
how to steal, and to lie, and to
wear clothes, and to be afraid to
die. And he and his beautiful race
will soon be dream and forget
ting.
| met man from Japan the other
DAY.
"Japan," he said. "Oh, you
must hurry and get there before the
missionaries completely spoil it. 1t
used to be a long dream. In few
years it will be nightmare. The
Christian religion sits as ill upon
them as do Christian clothes. There
is not one harsh word in the Japan
ese language. You can't curse a
man if you speak Japanese. If you
offended a man past an apology, in
the halcyon days that are passing,
ne gathered his robes of state about
him and committed suicide in your
portico. To kill you would have
been too rude.
l don't care for Japan now. The
Christians have taught the Japan
ese how to swear"
The world is growing civilized.
Is it the happier, the wiser, the
better for it?
What do our modern improve
ments bring us but care and anxiety
and the bitterness of fierce compe-
tition!
What's the use of a telephone if
we have no new messages to speak
into it?
What good do all these luxuries,
all these fine things, to man who
is so worried that he hasn't the
heart to enjoy anything'
What's the use of a fine dinner
to a man who has lost his appetizer
The march of progress
Who wants to march when he
has no feet!
How much better off are you, as
far as happiness is concerned, living
in you fine house, with a mortgage
on the roof, than your grandfather
was in his little log cabin out in the
clearing with his dreams and his
hopes for company
Civilized!
It's so skin deep, this civilization
of ours.
Yes, barely skin deep.
A little shining veneer. Rub it
off, and You find the natural man.
The great virtues which lift hu-
manity above the british beasts are
not taught by civilization. Courage,
self-sacrifice, love and hope-none
Of these are specialties Of the
civilized races.
You can't civilize nature.
She will break out, modern i'm
provements or no modern improve
ments.
That's what makes the drunkards
We civilized peoples build tight
little box of conventionalities and
shut ourselves up in it.
We can't go out and have a time
with a thunderstorm. We'd get
our new shoes wet.
We have no time to stand out in
the sunshine and let the wind of
high heaven shake the folly and the
of modern life out Of US.
If you or | should do what we
really want to do this Spring morn
ing-go ont into the country, lay
our faces to the ground and listen
to the great heart of the world
beating down there beneath us
we'd be locked up as lunatics, or
the casual passer-by would ring up
the nearest patrol wagon.
So we stay in our little boxes.
We hate them.
We didn't want to 60 into them.
But they nailed us up when we
were little, and we think we can't