The daily sentinel., 1909-01-16
SAMPLE OF OUR CIVILIZATION.

| Except We be converted and be-
come as little children, ye shall not
enter the kingdom of heaven" says
| Christianity.
| Civilization says: EXCEPT ye be-
come as thieves. ye shall not be fed. -
Quite a contrast.
Did you happen to notice. amid all
the prosperity. the upward rush of
stocks in Wall street and the alleged
| boom of happiness among workers
| did you notice the case of Samuel
Miller?
Sometimes careful analysis of one
| little drop in the ocean of humanity
will tell us more about real condi-
| tious than gorgeous ocean-wide sur
veys from the top of No. &c Broad
way.
Samuel Miller is 81 years old. He
is in Jail now-for the first time.
Mr.. Miller worked at his trade as
| a carpenter as long as he could. But
age and white hair-extremely re-
spectacle and interesting things in
hemselves-rather interfere with
getting a job in these days. The em-
| ployer wants quick. active. hardy
| men. He isn't interested in the good
work that the old man may have
| done in the past 67 years. and white
| hair, plus hard times, kept Mr.. Mil
| Ter hungry and idle for long time.
| Finally he found that he had, as sole
possessions. a rather shabby suit of
| clothes and razor.
Mr. Miller, as he confessed to the
police. had some thought of settling
| effectively the great social and eco
nomic problem" so far as it affected
him. by cutting his throat with the
razor In that way he could have
solved the problem untidily but final
| ly.
But he happened to pass by jew
: eler's window, and just beyond he
perceived a pile of cobblestones.
| In this world you can nearly al
ways get a stone, however hard 1t
may be to get bread.
Mr.. Miller, seeing the jewelers.
| window and the cobblestones and a
convenient policeman. decided to
postpone using the razor. Having
| tried the charity of the outside world
| and the freedom and happiness of n
| glorious republic, he made up his
| mind to try the inside of a prison.
| So he took up a stone, broke the
, jewelers. window, was arrested and
now he is in prison. lodged, fed and
! clothed at your-the public's-ex-
| pense.
| What lesson is there in this story
\ of the old man. the razor and the
cobblestone? None at all. 1t isn't
lesson, it's only picture. 1t is
! picture of what we are pleased to call
civilization. 1t is n picture showing
how far We have travelled along the
| road to real civilization.
When we read the histories OF
primitive people we are shocked, es-
| pecially by their treatment of the
old,
| Near the north pole, when a man
got old. they built little ice-house.
They put a little food in it; they put
the old man inside: then they blocked
| the door with big cake of ice. put
little water on il to freeze it tight
and went away.
Subsequent events did not concern
them. The old man, of course, h"1
more food than he could use y
was sure to die of suffocation : 2- g.
thinking much about food
That is rather sad.
Other primitive peon'0 f'' orse.
When their relatives - fr" d to
work or fight the enc ihr" He'd
them and ate them. I;e '"'" ip-
and appalling.
But. what about our own sweet
scented civilization? If it is hor-
rible picture to see an old Esquimau
gentleman pushed in through a hole
in an ice hut and then shut in with
cake of ice. what about this Mr.
Miller in the year of Christianity
1908, and in our Dragging era of
marvellous prosperity?
What have we got to say to him,
as he goes back and forth in his
work in prison? What can we say
to the future, to the really civilized
beings, that will question us about
this phase of our high moral devel-
opment?
A man has worked faithfully. hon
estly. taking care OF his responsible
ties. doing his duty as a citizen and
having no crime charged up against
him except the white hairs on his
head and the years of hard work
tat have enfeebled him.
He walks te streets; he does not
hold out his hand. If he did hold it
out. il would remain empty.
Civilization. prosperity and all our
magnificent republican institutions
say to him: You are an honest man
so you can't have anything. Become
a thief and we shall feed and clothe
you
This particular old man did not
become thief. He did what was
necessary to make him appear n
thief, and now civilization" feeds
him. A pretty picture of American
civilization, American prosperity and
morality!-New York Evening Jour
nal.