Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-08-18
THE WORLD IS AKIN
UNDERLYING PRINCIPLE is MU-
TUALiTY OF INTEREST.
Mutual Assistance and Sociability Among Man
kind-Evoluton Proceeds Along Lines Of
Least Resistance The Past Over.Estimated
This OId-WorId Growing Better all the
wi:iIe-But There Are Still Opportunities
for improvement.
PART III.

for Improvement
By BYRON MILLETT.
| PART IL.
Infanticide and cannibalism for ages
have been resorted to by savage tribes.
Doubtless those practices first original.
ed from mere necessity, in that the
population multiplied beyond the
means OF subsistence. Afterwards the
practice of cannibalism was continued
as religious superstition; many
tribes being imbued with the belief, ii
they devoured their enemies, their
courage was thus transferred to the
victors and TO their descendants. TAX.
ing superficial view Of the matter, i,
is hard to reconcile such facts with
the high status OF tribal morality, as
indicated in the former article. There
is much creditable historical data go.
ing to show that mankind became
flesh-eaters during the glacial period,
by reason of the scarcity of vegetable
food, using this term in its larger
sense as Including grains. fruits, nuts.
ETC., that thereafter, at certain epochs,
animal food became scarce in the cold
and damp climates, which caused the
natives to suffer from scurvy during
times Of scarcity, for want of fresh
bloody substances taken into the sys-
tenn. The natives in order to avoid
absolute starvation at such times were
obliged to feed upon disinterred hu.
man corpses in an advanced stage OF
putrefaction. Savages, in some in.
stances, in order to subsist, abandoned
the aged and infirm members of the
tribe or clan as we'll as a certain per-
centage OF the infant population to die
in the desert and forest. In many in.
stances, ingenious expedients were re-
sorted to in order to save the unfortu.
mates. Sometimes the aged, of their
own will and accord would 60 off to
die by themselves DIR. Ossler was
not needed therel, that the younger
and more robust members OF the tribe
might stand a better chance to survive
famine. In periods of drouth and
scarcity OF food it was not surprising
that the practice of cannibalism should
spread to warmer climates; that in
the northern latitudes, when popula.
ton decreased and animal and fish
food becoming more plentiful proper.
tiOn ately, this practice should grad
ually disappear. Missionaries also
have rendered valuable services in
different parts of the globe in bringing
about such desirable results.
Rousseau and writer's OF his school,
just prior to the French Revolution in
17S9, took the position that the ma
tural state OF man was an ideal one !;
that among men, in q state of nature,
governed by certain customs and un-
written laws, the rights of the individ-
ual were respected to much greater
extent than ever existed in the more
intellectual development of so-called
civilized nations; that the laws formu.
lated by and institutions engendered
within the bosoms OF such nations
oppressed the people, favored the ac-
cumulation of wealth into the hands
Of the few, by means of which the
masses were enslaved and became i'm
poverished. In turn such institutions
became potent factors in the demorali-
zation of the people, because rulers
and the privileged classes failed to oh.
serve the natural rights OF man. The
philosophy of the nineteenth century
however, shows that this doctrine of
natural rights to be misfit; that So
ciety being an organism, or a matter
OF growth, rights among men are
evolved, and are not instituted. Each
development in the social organism is
governed by different laws from those
of any Of its predecessors.
Man is prone to dscry the present,
and ascribe to the past perfection
that never existed. He sees and feels
the misery within the narrow compass
of his individual observation; the an
mails Of the past are softened in the
dim distance; the lamentations OF
past generations are no longer heard
across the waste of centuries. 1t is
true, historians have beeh diligent in
recording wars and conflicts of en-.
pires, nations and tribes, which has
led many intelligent men and women
to think that since man first appeared
on the earth, our planet for the most
part has been one continual scene OF
injustice and slaughter; that from
present indications like conditions will
thus continue for long time 10 come.
In the course of the worlds history
great nations and powerful empires
have arisen and fallen; millions OF
men have been slaughtered to crafty
the mad ambition of tyrants and rul.
ers. At certain recurring epochs in
particular quarters of the globe, re.
ligious fanaticism has overwhelmed
the children of men with devastation
and ruin; fields have been neglected,