The times., 1901-03-17

/ orally be secured on subjects in which
/ the whole people are vitalIy interested
/ and TO whose importance they are awake
Art DemOrnIized ny Progress.
! Numerous observers Of the worlds af-
fairs have noted the fact that influences
/ which make for what we call civilization
! do not necessarily make for art. and that
/ in this respect the result of the introduce
/ tion Of progressive influences among
/ primitive or conservative peoples is apt to
/ he decentralization. The subject has been
/ discussed sometimes humorously, some
! times sentimentally, but seldom with any
! great seriousness. If, however. artistic
ideals mean anything ut all in the life OF
a people. and If progress is to be the
watchword of the future. the fact that
progress is inimicaI in most cases TO the
art which is the result of instinct and of
! tradition is an important and not very
! agreeable one to contemplate.
| The proofs that this is so are legion
| and may be discovered in almost any
quarter Of the globe in which one hap
! pens to be, by the simple process Of
intelligent observation. Artistic ideals de-
veloped in music, in architecture, in pot
terry. in weaving. in dress, in embroid-
cries in every form of art in which primi-
tive peoples can engage. have been de
bauched and demoralized by the intro
duction Of commercial civilization, until
such a result may be predicted with prac-
ticaI certainty wherever the conditions eX-
list Not only has the picturesqueness of
peasant life disappeared before the wave
of advancing progress, with the celerity
Of Kansas vegetables attacked by a
swarm of Iocusts. but the music, archi-
lecture. and artistic handiwork of the
peasant has become a nondescript thing
UNPLEASANT to contemplate. 1t is time
TO enquire why this is So and what, ii
anything. can be done to prevent it.
When anything is wrong. the first ne
cessity is to see that it is wrong; the
second. to understand the cause: the
third. 10 find the remedy. At present in
this case the great majority of the peo-
pie Of civilized countries have not even
taken the first step. They have an idea
/ that this sort of thing is not only nee
/ essary accompaniment of progress. but
! progress itself and that it would he a
! sort Of sacrilege to interfere with IT.
We have. therefore first to prove that
merciaIism is not desirable thing. that
the peasant is artistically worse off for
his contact with progressive influences.
Take, first. the question Of costume.
hundred years ago the peasants OF every
European country had their distinctive
costume which varied not only with diff
ferent races and nations. but with classes,
with provinces sometimes even with
towns. Each pcculiarity of bodice or
head-dress had a history. There are
hundred different fashions Of head-dress
TO be found among French peasant
women. each picturesque and charming.
and having a subtle but decided indi-
viduality of it's own. Each is peculiarly
suited 70 the type Of face which 1t frames
and while the young girl is the more
charming for her quaint and demure
headgear. the harsher features Of the
older women are to q painters eye even
more attractive. The colors of every
ueasant costume are chosen with a sense
Of beauty evolved unconsciously through
generations OF experiment. and producing
effects as exquisite as those of the plum
age Of birds. The brilliant colors worn
| in Italy are entirely different in combi-
nation and tone from those worn in
/ Sweden. Each suits the wearer, with a
! delicate. unmistakable fitness. More
over the peasant costumes are unques-
tiousbly more hygienic and convenient. in
I the majority Of cases. than any others
which could be devised to fit the condI-
tions.
! Commercial civilization begins by re-
ducine all this TO a dead level OF uni
forrnit,- a recent book of travels in
spain states that there is none Of the pic
/ turesoueness ia the provincial costumes
which one naturally expects 70 find in
that land Of romance The people might
/ be Fau River operatives for all the in
dividuality there is I'm their calicoes and
ginghams. The Italian peasant affects
! clothing as nearly fashionable in cut as
he can find and looks like a second-rate
/ imitation Of a gentleman The German
peasant girl puts on a costume as much
! like the Partisan gown Of her mistress as
she can make or buy, and looks tawdry
/ and salf-asscrtive. Both, in their original
costumes. would be picturesque and pos
/ sibly beautiful objects The change Ger
tainlv cducates their sense Of beauty in
+ the wrong way. if that is supposed to be
an evil. IT does not conduce to economy;
/ the peasant costume is the cheaper,
! though il may be made elaborate end
costly. II is caused by the desire 10 be,
J not beautiful. not becomingly clad. but
q seublance of something that one is not.
| There is what might be considered un-
! conscious dishonesty about an ambition
! Of this kind. There is nothing wrong in
! a PEASANTS wanting 90 be d well-cducated
and cultivated man, but there is some
/ thing not quite honest about his wanting
/ to look like one when he is really initcrato
! and unrenned In that way, there is a
moral as well as an artistic evil about
/ this thing.
| Exactly the same thing is happening in
other lines OF development. The most
! serious decentralization IN music which has
happened in the name of progress has
! taken place among the negroes Of
America If there is one talent which
may be said to be innate in the negro, II
/ is the talent for music; and This is the
! only race now dwelling in this country
which has thus far developed anything
| original in the musical line. The Jubilee
! Singers, and the more recent Tuskegee
and Hampton singers. have shown what
can be- done with voices thoroughly train
ed TO sing the old plantation airs. There
are no voices siSe these, when they sing
| their own music. or music of type some
1 what similar 10 theirs; and the instinct
! of the musician is to be found in some Of
| those who are perfectly unframed. IL IS