The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1908-11-26
Nv CHARLES FERGUSON.

The Zionist movement so diligently
promoted by Mr.. l. Zangwill Is priI
liant adventure OF the creative imas
ination. And like ali splendid ne"
things Il Is dangerous TO old things
Our shabby old ways OF building cities
by haphazard and the flow OF pnnu
forces are threatened and Imperfect
by this vision kef city built by In.
telligent design That men should
set out with deliberate will and pur-
pose TO redeem whole nis'o'ie
country 10 n new type OF civiiiza.iou
is a tremendous presumption Anu
the success OF the Zionists-e'eh =
halfway success-would disturb anu
subject 10 scrutiny and revision ever!
inveterate humdrum and consecra,eu
stupidity In the whole round woriu.
II the great capitalists OF the Jew,
ish race were really to unite TO puiid
"a city OF refuge for their peopie-
playing fair and doing their pona
fide best TO create in Palestine the
highest attainable conditions or ex-
istence-they would break the uni
,ersal spell OF plutocracy. For the
power Of Mammon rests upon noun
ing but the common disbelief In the
practicability OF ideals.
To suppose that things are inevi-
tably what they happen To be, that
ideals are dreams and the Will an
illusion. that the earth can be- sub
dued only by hunger. and cities putt
only by the fortuitous meeting Oh
aimless cyclists following the lines
OF appetite and the lure OF gold
this is the true cultus and gospel 81
the money power. On the other hand
there is nothing 50 subversive or the
reign OF the dollar as q successful
act OF constructive intelligence.
Every magnificent enterprise-Such
as boring q tunnel under the East
river or building a railroad TO Mexico
raises up more rebels against the
alhightiness OF the dollar than can be
kept down by the rake-off OF the pro-
motors. For men who live In an at
mosphere OF earth conquest will no.
forever submit TO work for their board
and clothes.
The one thing especially needed just
now, for the heartening OF the race.
is successful civilizing enterprise
that refuses TO stop at puttering de-
tails and the patchwork of reform:
that seizes the whole compass OF hu-
man interest In a single grasp or the
dedicates a definite
territorial space OF decent living. II
the Zionists can do this they VIII
turn the hinge of the new century.
And II the Zionists can't there are
others who can. There are single mil
lionaires among us who could do IL.
What they lack-if they lack a hng
for the purpose Is touch or IN"
intellectual audacity OF Cecil Rhodes
plus some common-sensc views on the
rudiments OF political economy.
The Utopias have failed because or
their sentimentality. They have ap-
pealed TO exceptional or exaggerated
emotions OF the human heart-not 70
| its everyday motives. Since the mid
de ages nobody has undertaken TO
build q free city as commerclai
proposition and on artistic and scien-
life principles, though, as a matter
| OF history. such undertakings have
always mad a considerable measure or
success. The free cities were the
light spots In the dark ages.
We have had wonderful Worlds
Fair cities. built OF lath and plaster
and calculated TO tumble down at the
end OF the show. 1t would be stupid
O. us not to understand that the right
use OF these fine fleeting models was
- announce the practicability of more
permanent and more hvaoie es'
| tablishments-real expositions 10 the
world of the best that art and science
can accomplish in our age. cities that
can pay their own freight. and that
may stand. fair as Damascus with Its
palm gardens andl flashing streams
when most that is pow called Ameri.
can shall have pasted to its day OF
judgment.
Nobody knows what are the bes:
sttainable conditions of civic exist
ence-how high our modern crganiza-
ton and our Titan tools can drive
wages or how low they can drive
nrices BECAUSE NO CITY HAS
EVER TRIED.
Nowhere on earth today is there a
territory cleared of the encumbrances