The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-01-04

research have been made by private mu-
nifcence on a scale which, even few
years ago, would have seemed almost
fabulous; and, splendid as is the progress
which seems to be promised by such mag
nificent foundations as the Carnegie In
stitution and the great laboratories being
sOwn broadcast by our millionaires-
whether at Harvard, at Chicago, or on
the Pacific Coast-there cannot fail to be
in the mind of an old-fashioned person.
certain sense of unWelcome novelty in so
overwhelmingly pronounced a relation
between the pursuit of knowledge and the
accumulation of vast personal wealth.
But the lavish use of wealth for the
advancement of knowledge or for other
philanthropic purposes has been but
by-product of the movement of the time,
and the pursuit of wealth itself, by indi-
viduals and by nations has been the alb
sorbing subject of large part of popu-
lar thought. The magnificent operations
of capitalist syndicates have dazzled the
public imagination. What interest was
left over from this has been in great
measure spent upon the unexampled lux
ury, the prodigality of expenditure, which
has come with unprecedented rapidity
of wealth accumulation. Moreover, we
seem to be merely in the initial stages
of this condition of things. For aught
that can be seen today, the role of the
millionaire-or billionaire-is destined to
become greater and greater in the COM
ing day And, so far as nations are con-
cerned, the concentration of thought
upon material well-being seems to be-
come more pronounced from year to
year. Colonization, war, tariff, almost
everything that is made the subject of
national discussion, centres the public
thought on the question of strictly eco
nomic well-being
IT'S the day of the chattel,
Web to weave and corn to grind;
Things are in the saddle
And ride mankind.
1t was surely rather with the eye of the
seer than from actual observation of his
own time that Emerson many years ago,
saw this condition toward which the
world was drifting.
Let it not be supposed, however, that
this drift toward a pathological view of
the world is bound to go on unchecked.
The tremendous productiveness which
has prevailed, the Astounding prosperity
of the class that owns and controls the
great enterprises of the time, has gone
to the head and made the world drunk
with an almost new form of pride. Amer
leans, particularly, are entertained al
most daily by some new array of impos
ing figures to show how rapidly they
have been waxing fat,% and are encour
aged to puff out their cheeks over their
phenomenal richness. OF everything the
world gets tired sooner or later; OF this
unchecked eXultation in material pros
perity there will also be an end.
In the meanwhile, it is well to remem-
Der that what is most conspicuous in the
worlds eye, or most prominent in the
worlds talk, is after all but small frac-
ton OF all that the millions who consti-
tute the world are really concerned with.
Unselfish devotion to the good of the poor
and helpless never had more followers
than today. Alongside the glare and show
of extravagant luxury, there goes on the
quiet, modest, useful life of the millions
to whom all this is but as a passing wind
which they regard not. But it is never
! theless essential to the maintenance OF
the worlds ideals that there be at least
remnant who not only passivey and pri-
vately but strenuously ard for the be-
hoof OF their fellows, maintain the worth
and prerogative of things other than
wealth. 1t is for this reason that every
struggle over freedom Of thought and
! speech-such as those at Leland Stanford
University and at Brown University-are
of truly vital interest and Importance:
The world is too much with us; late and
soon,
Getting and spending, we lay and waste
our days.
Let us remember to prize and cherish
the prerogatives of those whose interests
and aspirations lie in sphere other than
that of wealth getting.