New-York tribune., 1902-03-15

of our civilization, based upon past achieve
nents and present conditions and tendencies
The forms OF narrative and romance which he
has hitherto employed are discarded for that of
simple and direct philosophizing This mode OF
treatment brings his work more directly within
the sphere of critical consideration. 1t also makes
more apparent the limitations Of his philosophy
and its failure to grasp all the essential features
of the case This is indeed hinted at in the title
Of the book which is not so much name or
description as an implied proposition. Mr..
Wells may speak OF the reaction of mechanical
and scientific progress upon human life and
thought but he has yet 70 demonstrate the
actuality or the certainty Of such reaction. Be-
yond doubt. if such reaction occurs, it may be
along the lines of his Anticipations So far
some Of the changes are concerned, to w.t.
those which pertain to what We may term the
mechanical side of human life, it may well be
that his anticipations will be realized with
tolerable accuracy. Thus 1t is altogether prob
able that there will in the near future be con-
siderable increase and improvement OF auto
mobile locomoton. which, together with other
means Of transit. will materially modify the
distribution Of population. Cities may become
diffused into huge urban districts" of a hun
dred miles or more in extent. The same circum-
stances. conjoined with further development Of
the telephone, may also produce change in
methods Of conducting business. Beyond that.
Mr.. Wells has a vision-most alluring, must
confess and by no means beyond the range Of
credible practicality-of the adoption Of me-
chanical devices for the performance of domestic
duties and thus the solution in large part, of
the harassng Servant girl problem" His
special roads for automobiles his moving side
walks his awning covered streets his auto
matte window washer and his flying ships in
war time-literally the airy navies graphing
in the central blue" espied in fancy by the
atrabilarious young man of Locksley HALLWAY
all come to pass within the lifetime Of men now
living. If so, they will be more wonderful.
and induce no greater change in human economy,
than other things which we have seen accom-
plished in time.
We may grant too the possibility Of other Of
Mr Wells's anticipations some gladly, some
with reluctance. His vision of the worlds COM
ing to an all but universal war. in which whole
nations will be engaged without distinction
between cOmbatants and non-combatants. is
unspeakably forbidding. and we cannot concede
that il would be a legitimate development of the
spirit and tendencies of these times. Doubtless
war on land and sea is becoming more and more
a matter of science and mechanics organized
and conducted by experts. But that very fact
should surely operate against any such univer-
sal orgy of destruction that which Mr. Wells
foresees We believe the tendencies of the age
are distinctly toward peace. and we believe the
increasingly scientific character Of warfare op-
crates powerfully in the same direction. From
the purely mechanical or physical point of view
If is TO be believed that wars and dangers Of
wars are diminishing. and will continue to
diminish, though they may never quite dis
appear. AS to lingual developments. it is more
easy to agree with Mr.. Wells though we must
take exception to his studied sneer at the Eng
lish language, or at the use of it. Faulty it may
and r1lhl is
Yet those. or many of them, who think and
write and translate and print and put forth"
do even now make it worth the worlds hav-
ing It is possible. and indeed not improbable.
as Mr.. Wells thinks that English, French and
German Will be the great, growing, aggregating
languages of the future which will more and
more prevail throughout the world and which
will more and more reduce others to subsidiary
use or to local rank Spanish. it is true, has
an enormous hold upon the world, and Italian
is still a growing tongue. while Chinese and
Russian and other semi-civized vehicles of
speech are likely to exist for ages. But the
present and seemingly ineXorable tendency is
toward the prevalence Of the three great tongues
Of Western Europe. which even now far out
rank in Importance all others in the world.
All these suggested changes or developments
have chiefly TO do with the mechanical functions
Of human life and they are presented by Mr..
He is a past master in the art of conceving
mechanical progress. But the limits of that art
mark his own limitations. When he seeks TO
go beyond them he may retain subjective con-
hdence but he no longer impresses the reader
with conviction. Mechanical progress is not
an anticipation; it is reality. But progressive
mechanical civilization is another and very
different thing Civilization is not machinery.
II is not the creature but the creator; not the
slave, but the master of machinery Its DOM
inant factors not only altogether superior to
machinery and all technical science, but
are. as We may well believe, incapable Of being
modified by these. That which We may COM
prehensiYely call human nature is not
chine-made, nor machine altered. SO far as the
utmost range Of historical research indicates,
IL is q substantially unchanging and unchange-
able thing. 1t is to-day in every essential par
ticular just about what it was in the days of
old Rameses' And cannot help thinking
that the radical fault in Mr.. Wels's "Antici-
patiOns' is in caValierly subOrdlnating this
immutable factor the influence of its
creatures.
The supposition that society will be and will
remain divided into two great classes, the one
composed OF stockholders IN all sorts of enter
prises and the other OF expert engineers, is
little more than fantastic. 1t presupposes a
stability OF Industrial and commercial affairs
such as the world is never likely to see. To the
END OF business time, we may well believe.
there viii be -'booms'' and ''panics." Men Will
grow rich, and men will become poor. And
these lnceSsanL fluctuations VIII be promoting
engineers TO be stockholders, and sending
and then even the richest stockholders back
20 the workshop There will also, despite all
mechanical progress, continue to be enor-
nous mass Of laborers, Of one kind another.
who neither capitalists expert engineers.
Mechanical development offers promise Of
ever getting on without such class And sta
tisLics hopelesSly discredit the theory, to which
Mr.. Wells seems TO incline, that through decay
of vitality this class Will disappear We can