The Irish standard., 1906-04-07

to the nation and the world at large by
| the spread of matcrialism and social
ism, and the corresponding decrease in
true religious feeling. charity and pub
Supreme Court Justice Morgan J..
O'Ericn in Carnegie Hall. New York.
says the Catholic Union ana Times.
Justice O'Bricn called his address
The Civilization of the Twentieth
Century" 1t was delivered To a large
audicnrc, gathered at the meeting in
Hospitals for lncur;>blc Cancer. found
cd hy Mrs. Rose Hawthorne Ltthrop,
now Mother Ainlonsa.
Former Judge Alton Is. Parker pre-
sided and his Grace Archbishop Farley
was on the platform. From Justice
| OI:ricn's address the following cx-
ccrpts are taken:
| The grave problems which bcsct our
city life have not escaped the notice of
| those who have given thought to the
subject, and by more than one it has
been asserted that it is more difficult
I and arduous to- discharge the duties
of the mayor uf one of our murlic-
| ipalitics than it is to discharge the
| duties of the Chief Executive of our
nation. We have made giant strides
| in every direction, hut We must not
shut our eyes to the blOtS on and
mchaccs to our civilization.
The tendency OF Il too rapid material
growth Is to produce materialism; and
il has been concluded by those who
have observed the rapid growth of tho
modern city. with its enormous pro-
duction Of wealth; with It's destruction
OF human life: with its ovcrcrowding
OF the poor and laboring classes into
illy-equipped and insufficient rooms in
tenement houses. that the tendency OF
the modern city is materialistic and on
that account Il menace to itself.
This massing of large numbers Of the
crease with the century. will tend to
strengthen the force OF Socialism and
rnatcrialism, the result necessarily
from the enormous wealth OF the few
and the poverty of the many. and thus
upon Il larger field and under ne" un-
tried conditions, will be fought out
the battle between religion and NOR
nlity on one side and Socialism and
mttcrialism on the other. and upon
the outcome will depend the defeat or
the realization Of the aspirations and
hope of true democracy.
II would, OF course, be impossible to
tukc up each city ana point out how,
amidst tho wealth and splendor Of ma
tcrial growth, there are cnnl1cring sores
which, If spread. would result in cor
rupting the body polite.
The New York Times in an editorial
more than n year ago said: "rherc
has been extended an invitation to
every crook and criminal, to all dive
keepers, gamblers and blackguards tho
world over, to converge upon New
York and ply their vocation. There is
Il vast horde of citizens who are openly
in sympathy with vice and law break
ing and who actually desire Il corrupt
police system in order that the laws
may be suspended and the profits OF
vice and illegitimate callings brought
within their reach"
We're there not another side to this
picture it might well make us think
with th, poet that God made the
country, but man made the city" The
city, however. is the great center Of
human activity wherein VIC find the
alternating forces Of good and evil; and
while the latter, because more brazen
and apt to be forced on our attention,
just as we find in the newspapers for
the most part record OF evil and
disasters rather than q chronicle Of
the virtues and the happier experiences
Of mankind, it cannot be concluded
that the men and forces that made for
civic honor and public and private
virtue are not to be found in the
greater proportion.
Te offset the bad and evil tendencies