The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-07-13
tBy Fl. w, Houston.l

/ luilt me universe evolves lUFtbtiS u
revolution. The general law pervad
ing all evolution is this: The posi-,
tive life OF a certain stage generates
within itself the elements OF Its Owl
ncgii cE- At a contain pertod de-
terTi!ned by h pace of evolution
these negative elements come into
irreconcilable conflict with the old
positive conditions. THEN FOLLOWS
A PERIOD OF REVOLUTION, which
is cosmic, geological, meteorological.
biological, psyhic, ECONOMIC, OR
POLITICAL. as the case may be. By
this means the negative become the
positive elements of a new cycle OF
Z yolution."
This general law Of evolution per-
vades everything in the universe
from the smallest atom to the
cavalcade of the planets. It applies
as ~inexorably to human society and
all its institutions. The march Of
man from the brute to the status OIL
a civilized being. with all his fine
spun theories of government, NOR
ality and religion. can be explained
aiId understood only through this
law. Not only does it furnish the key
to the past. but 1t gives us the means
of intellisently f~orecasting the future.
Not only does it explain material
conditions. it accounts for mental at
titudes as we'll. We thus learn why
1t is that every society has it's con-
servatives and Its radicals. The old
positive ideas are coming into conflict
with the new negative ideas. The old
positive ideas fight to conserve their
lives, therefore they are conservative.
Tho nnu. nonotfra s1oo- R~IF f~-
recognition. therefore they are redi-
ca they seek to. overthrow the old
mental regime. Thus the revolution
airy truths of science have always had
to battle every inch of their progress.
forces of superstition have
yielded only after the most stubborn
resistance. From behind the barri-
cades of all the accumulated false
hoods of the ages they nave shot tn cir
poisoned arrows at the great pio-
neerS.
AS man in his physical develop
ment traces the various biological
stages through which the race has
ent status, so does the mental de-
mental stages through which the race
1900 IeS'N rs a'Alf bS Ni"N thS
intellectual history of mankind has
three periods. THE theological per-
covers the mental infancy of man;
the metaphysical begins when the hui
man mind merg from it's cruder
superstitions and philosophy assumes
command, and ends with the down.
fall Of philosophy before the onslau-
gifts of science. The positive" per-
is contemporary with the reign of
scientific method (Prof Lewis))".
These various stages of mental de-
velopment shade of into each other
imperceptibly. but the mind of every
n is in one or the other of these
stages. The stage of mental develop
ment of a given person determines
whether or not he is a radical.
This is all important to the So
cialist because it explains why he
has to contend with a of
mental inertia. AS human society
passed from a slave economy into the
system of fedualiSm, and
from the of feudaliSm into
the economy of capitalism. SO will the
system pass into the neX
stage of social evolution-the economy
of socialism. Each system had it's
own distinctive social economy, and
each contained h negative elements
of its own destruction. The present
generation has been reared under the
capitalist system, consequently the
vast majority have acquired and de-
veloped the capitalist mind. They
see nothing incongruous about an
economic system that permits a few
to OWL privately the earth on which
all must live. The fact that children
are starved and Stunted, while the in
dustrial lords feast ike Eluttons at
the banquet board. seems to be Or
dained of God. The bartering of
virginity for a crust seems to them
an essential part of natures scheme.
Penitentiaries and iails and asylums
seem as natural as the flowers that
bloom in the spring. To those OF
archaic mind who bow in reverence
to THE God of Things as they are,
all the suffering of the world is part
of the divine plan. This type of
mind has never passed the metaphy-
steal stage 1t has simply fossiliZed.
We may have progressed in the past,
but We shall not do so in the future.
And it is out of just such minds as
this that the unit of mental
inertia is reared.
The positive type of mind has reach
ed the scientific stage To it. human
society is an evolving thing. 1t re-
CARDS the c~aDitaliSt SyStem with all