Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-12-31

the most Outcry are almost always
those who should find the best reasons
for contentment proves unquestionably
that happiness Is not allied to the num-
Der of our needs and the zeal we put
into their cultivation. 1t is for every
ones interest to let this truth sink deep
not by decisive action succeed in limit
ing his needs, he risks descent. insen-
sible and beyond retreat, along the de-
clivity of desire.
He who lives to eat. drink, sleep,
dress, take hts walk-in short. pamper
himself all that he can-be il the court
Ter basking i'm the sun. the. drunken
laborer. the commoner serving his bel
ly. the woman absorbed in her toilets.
the profiigate of low estate or high, or
simply the ordinary pleasure lover, n
good fellow" but too obedient to ma
terial needs-that man or woman is on
the downward way of desire, and the
descent is fatal. Those who follow it
obey the same laws as n body on an
inclined plane. Dupes of an illusion
forever repeated. they think. Just a
few steps more, the last. toward the
we will halt" But the velocity they
gain sweeps them on. and the farther
they go the less able they are To resist
It,
Here Is the secret OF the unrest. the
madness. of many Of our contempOra-
ries. Having condemned their will to
the service OF their appetites. they suf-
fer the penalty. They are delivered up
to violent passions which devour their
flesh. crush their bones. suck their
blood and cannot be stated. This IL net
n lofty moral denuncidt!on. l hare been
listening to what life says, and have
recorded as l heard them some Of the
truths that resound in every square
Eas drunkenness. inventive as it Is
of new drinks, found the means of
qucnchiny thirst? Not 1T all. 1t might
rather he called the art of making
thirst inextinguishable. Frank liDer-
image. does IL dcaden the sting of the
senses: No: IL cnycnoms il. converts
natural desire into morbid obseSsion
and makes IL TIE dominant passion.
Let your needs rEie you, pa nlper them.
you Will see them multiply Ike Insects
In the sun. The more You give them
the more they demand. lie Is sense
less who seeks for hIppiness in mate
rial prosperity alone. As well under
take to- ill the cdsk of the Danaides.
To those who have millions, millions
are wanting: To those who have thou
sands, thousands. Others lack TWEEN
ty franc piece or Il hundred sous When
they have chicken in the pot they
ask for a goose; when they have the
goose they wish II Were Il turkey. and
SO on We shall never learn how fatal
this tendency is. There are too many
humble people who wish to initiate the
great. too many poor workingmcn who
ape the We'll to do middle classes, too
many shopgiris who play at being la
dies, too many clerks who act the club
man or sportsman, and among those in
easy circumstances and the rich are
too many people who forget that what
they possess could serve a better pur
pose than procuring pleasure for them
selves, only to find in the end that one
never has enough Our needs. in place
Of the servants that they should be,
have become a turbulent and seditious
crowd, q legion OF tyrants in miniature.
A man enslaved To his needs may best
be compared to u bear with ring In
It's nose, that is led about and made to
dance at will. Tie likeness Is not fiat
tering, but you will grant that II Is
true Ii is In the train Of their own
needs that so snany of those men are
dragged along who rant for liberty.
progress and 1 don't know what else
They cannot take step without ask
ing thepseIyes u It might not irritate