The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-08-28

/ not i4II IdlIy anu M I0I''f
10 speak or magazines. W.llch are Iaf
above the particular sheets winch YOU
describe. However guilty some OF our
newspapers may be Of publishing sen
satioua! news and Of panderlng 70 low
taste IL Is eninently unfalr to dlSTt~
gard the vast good which they do, OF
10 underestimate the influence "hlcfi
they exert in behalf of social prog
ress and governmental reform. Ihey
can attention to the misconduct OF
officials, 70 abuses that need q RENE
dy and to conditions which can be
improved. No great wrong can long
resist the attacks Of a free press, ana
China sorely needs the newspaper
aye, more. China Is beginning 10 eX-
pertinent with the newspaper. and II
Is bound 10 exert q powerful iniu-
cncc upon the China Of the future
Commerce as Il Check on War.
The Indictment against
as opposed to a peaceful policy of $50
lation is well met. while il is true"
saws Mr.. Bryan. that wars have been
Waged for IL IS also true
taat commerce has prevented more
wars than it has caused. recurring
to the savage. you Will not deny that
among the rowing tribes which have
no at all there Is constant
warfare. Not a certain percentage or
the a~ble-bodied men, but all of them,
are warriors. Commerce is not the
only force that has been responsible
for the gradual knitting Of the world
together, but it mas been Il potent one.
The business portion OF q country eX-
erts a strong influence upon its policy
and business men are p"fe-eInlnentlY
disposed to peace-so much 50 III
| fact, that they have often been ac-
cused of putting their inter-
ests above their patriotism. In pro-
portion as nations rad with each
! other they are slow to engage in q
war for bnSinaCS Is a sort of hostage
which each nation gives to each
other"
Wall street can find little suggestion
Of the One-time Boy Orator of the
Platte in such u~tteranceS as these,
| and certainly they do bespeak a wiser
personality han that which carried the
Chicago convention by storm in 1896.
AS for nOnintercOurSe between ma
tons as an ideal social economy, Mr..
Bryan soon reduces that argument to
powder
"People," he continues, need to
know each other, and this is as true
Of groups as of individuals. AS no
one liVeth unto himself or dieth unto
HIMSELF so no nation can entirely sep
arate itself from the rest of the world
nor should it desire to 10 SO. Wisdom
has no pent-uD nabitatiOn. Truth is
m~any-sided and no one individual or
one nation has made 4 complete sur
Vey of it. AS individuals grow in
breadth of mind. depth of thought
and clearness Of vision by a compar-
ison of views, 50 nations are enlarged,
strengthened and developed by inter
course. 1t is out of combat W
opposing DOCTRINES, conflicting opinions
and differing ideals that the best
energies. purified as by fire.
WalIing Out the world.
The chapter closes with some excel
lent logic and a passage Of no small
literary charm. According to Mr..
Bryan, n nation can afford to adopt
a policy which is not defensible upon
principles of general application. If
one great nation can justify itself in a
and religious isolation. why is not that
the policy for all? And if such should
be the policy of all nations. how shall
we know that the present national
boundaries are the proper ones? Is
this the policy for Belgium and Hol-
land and Switzerland as we'll as the
policy for 4 great nation like China?
If it is only good for large nations,
'nOW large should q nation be before
it can properly wall out the rest of the
the world? And if the policy is good
for a small nation as Well as for a
large one. why should not China be
dissolved into Il number of smaller
nations and these be further subdi-
Vided into communities? II it is we'll
for individuals to become acquainted
and to be drawn together by ties of
sympathy, at what point shall a bar
rier be raised and on it inscribed. Thus
far shalt thou go and no farther?
What the world needs more than
anything else is sympdthy-sympathy
etWee man and man, sympathy be-
tween class and class. sympathy be-
tween community and community,
sympathy between nation and nation:
and commerce, faulty in vision, full
Of frailties, permeated With selfishness
and prone to error-commerce still
possesses enough of saving salt to make
it a nulifying force. With all its
Weaknesses, it has strength enough to
form a part of the web of human
brotherhood"
Civilization Defined.
Incidental to the chapter on labor
saving machinery and its advantages
as contrasted with Chinese methods.
occurs a definition Of civilization that
seems worth quoting. 1T is the har-
monlouS development of the human
race, physically, mentally and moral
ly-not the development of all along
one line or the development of a few
along all lines. but the full and we'll
rounded development Of all in body,
MIND and heart. II this is the legit-
innate aim OF life and of life's activi-
ty, We can Judge all proposed policies.
whether they be economic, political.
. social or religious, by the effect which
lhey nave in aiding or retarding this
development"
Some sound economics follow, proof.
perhaps, that Mr.. Bryan has been
readlng his Adam Smith, Ricardo and
John Stuart Mill to no little advan-
tage. The fact that labor-saving ma
chimes not only do not deprive men of
the means of livelihood, but that they
actually provide a greater outlet for
industry by constantly opening wider
1lelds OF activity is adroitly alluded to
ana c~onclusiVely proved. And then
MI. Bryan becomes, il would seem,
sincerely patriotic. There is no
"spread-eagleism" in this passage in
which the recent progress Of events in
America is also reflected:
You complain that the spirit has
Deen lost in an unSeemly scramble for
wealth. In this l am constrained to
belleVe you grievously err. | would
deny 1t If asserted of any Of the gu
fopean nations, but ] most earnestly
p in regard to my own country.
At no time during a century have
moral forces been more potent than
they are in America TODAY: at no time