The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1910-06-10

typed form of life. and who like the
very uncertainty and excitement OF our
own unsettled and rapidly changing
conditions. viii call the latter progress
aud thus express their preference for
H. That which most of MS call pro-
Eress Mr. Ruskin and his followers
dislike exceedingly and call by a diff
fereut name. They dislike "A railroad
because II mars the landscape. and
they hold that II is more important
that the beauty of landscape be pre-
served than that We should be snabled
To get from a place where we do not
want to be To q place whore we have
no business to be even though we do
1t in the shortegt possible time. But
since most of Us want 10 got away as
fast as possible from the place where
We happen 10 be IL does not matter
much whore that place is-we there
fore think II more important that We
be enabled to do this than that land
acnpcs bo preserved Therefore we
call n railroad an agency OF progress.
But what iH accomplished Dy our be-
ing able To get from one place to
another AZ the rate OF mile min
ute, or any other rate2 Does not ev-
cry question relating To the nature OF
progress reduce itself 10 a matter Of
mere whim, of likes and dlsllkes2 Can
we do more than repeat the oracular
remark of Lincoln. We'll II they like
that sort of thing, why that IL the
sort cf thing that they VIII like"
Walter Bagehnt, IA his work entitled
'PhNfics ana Politics." cuts the Cor
dion knot of all such futile discussions
by adopting test which whether we
like IL or not. actually does determine
that question finally and permanently
lie puts the matter bluutly. almost
brutally, u may sacm at first. as fol
lows
Let us consider In what village
Of English culDnists is superior To a
tribe Of Australian natives who roam
about them lHdispulably Ia one, and
that a main, souse, they are superior
They can beat the Australians in war
when they like They can take from
them anything they like, and XII any
of them they choose. As rule, In
all the outlying and uncontested dis
tricts OF the world the aboriginal ma
tive lies at the mercy Of the intrudinr
European"
Mr. Bagehot would have been In,
last - glorify mere fighting power II
there were nothing back Of Il. II /,
rather that upon which this superior
fighting power Is based which consti,
tutes the superiority of tine civilized
over the uueivilizcd nation. II Is The
greater knowledge IF the forces OF ma
+ ture and the greater control oyer then
which gives the civilized man his
dominant position not only in war. bu
in industry as well By means of hii
control over the forces Of nature h.
can not only devise and construct mor'
powerful engines Of destruction viii
which 10 conquer his enemies, but h'
can also devise and construct mor'
efficient means of production witt
which 10 sustain himself The Yerl
density Of the population made pos
sible by the higher productive powe
Of the civilized man Is another facto
which combines with his superlo
weapons ef destruction to Increase hi
military protency After the Englisl
colonists in America had once gainel
firm footing and established perman
ent habitatiOns, there never was
time when the aborigines could mas
so many men at a given point as tn
colonists could The superior densit
OF their population, and their abiit
to concentrate larger number o
fighting men at any point on tn
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