Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1901-01-04
q - CANTON. SOUTH DAKOTA. FRlDAy JANUARY 1901.

1iURNlke the LEAF Of THE. NEW y
CENTURY.
+ ThesT twentieth Century! .s5
The ase whose dawning has been the
hone 81 sesrs and the inspira ation of
poets Is here. The nineteenth century,
but yesterday the type Of modernity,
is about to take III place on the long
roll Of the eras that were. History. not
the daily newspaper. will deal With =.
Ss III. 1
Il has been . great and gforious cen
tury 81 comparison with those that
wen. before. although poor enough By
the side Of what We hope e see in the
age that is beginning: In this one one
hundred years men have made greater
progress in material civilization than
in all the two thousand years preced-
ing. Up to the beginning Of the mines
.teenth century men had been engaged
~ -ttr,antvl pe,ner.tionsin Id simply max
ing up lost ground. They were trying.
to get back to the point whore the
Romans had stood In the time Of Christ,
and in most respects they had not sue
ceeded. They had certain inventions
printing, the steam engine and the
.rcr,a,na !, - mss--which. contained the potency
q y i Rrieat !, advance, but the advance
had not vet been made. The Roman
een,,tleiniasn of the year a. D: Il was !
MOI, more q civilized man III the comforts,
,,,, ro,,n,,v,,eniancsa eleeanciees and :decencies
of life than tie, English OF American
/ xentleman of the wear 1901. His house
Sad 5imnrovem1ents that were generally
introduced into modern houses until
within the past ihirtvs years. his roads
were ,to those 81 our recent ancestors al
Riveraide Drive il 10 ! Missouri mud
track. and his public baths have not
,,aann < .nn,nrnached II our time even yet:s
The nineteenth, century has raised
the general level 81 civilization for the
arst time above tie Greek and Roman
standard and nut us il I position which
- can make new and incompatible
advance. The inventions that were
in their infancy . hundred years ago
are full. grown nov. and are trsnsform-
ing the world . ! blast furnace trans
forms I mass 81 ore. What the Roman
did fby the toll Of his slaves and Whist
the free man Of . hundred years ago
l.borously tried to do with his own
oyerworked muscles. We do BY the tire:
lea forces Of steam and electricity.
The nineteenth century viii always
De memorable q the century that abol-
ished distance In the transmission
Of thought and reduced IL BY nine
tenths in the transportation Of men
and goods. For some purposes the
world has shrunk to : point, and for Ill
purposes II has been compressed TO one.
tenth its former size. That alone
would be enough 10. make the depart
ing century the most noteworthy Of all
the ages that have yet appeared on the
roll Of history. It means that the most
formidable OF all the old obstacles to
the unity Of the race have disappeared.
IL mankind were ready to unite II
would be : simpler and essier matter
to administer the government of tho
whole world than It was 70 govern the
British Empire when the niueteenth
century began.
We have already made progress 10.
ward such . worldwide government.
The Universal Postal Union st,peryiaea
the ,,oatal relat lions Of the entire Rlobe.
except some barbarous tribes. The
International Bureru Of TeleRraphic
Administrations. the International
Bnrean 81; Weights and Measures. The
In.ernational Union for the Protection
Of Industrial, Literary. and Artistic Pro.