The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1912-09-06
THE PROBLEM OF THE AGES
SOLVED

extremes which divide the rich and
the poor, have been the desire and the
dream of philosophers. humanitari-
ans, savants and sages, as far back
in the twilight of history as we have
any written or spoken language.
Some seers fix the book OF Job as
ante-dating Genesis sixteen hundred
years, and they believe that the trou-
bles and Affections brought upon him,
although a servant of the Lord, grew
out of the discomfort that prevailed
among the people because of his great
riches as compared with the poverty
of the masses at that time. Having
been stripped of his possessions, his
estates and riches having been dis
solyed-like the Standard Oil trust
Of later times-yet quickly regaining
possession OF them. why, and to what
end, is one Of the mysteries that the
finite mind has not been able to
fathom
Why are these inequalities permit
ted and how are we to ecualize them
and prevent them have engaged the
best thought of the best minds almost
since the very beginning Of creation,
yet at this enlightened period OF the
world these inequalities are still tri-
umphant.
The wise and good men Of Egypt
and China. the oldest of the enlighr-
ened nations, grappled with this prob
lem long before the Christian era.
Comprising his creed into a sin
! gle sentence-"Do not unto others
what you would not have them do to
-Confucius believed that he had
solved the problem that would Danish
poverty and bring abundance and
happiness to all of the inhabitants Of
the earth.
Communistic communities, one aft
er another, were established by Jews
and Gentiles. the main object being
to wipe out the line of demarcation
separating the rich from the poor; but
after a more or less ftful existence,
all ended in confusion, tumult and dis
sentions.
Phaleas Of Calcedon expected grad
ually to remove the disparities OF pow
erty by enacring law that the rich
should give, but not receive, dover
in marriage
Platos ideal republic was to consist
of three classes: The educated, who
were to be the lawmakers and rulers
the common people, including agricul-
turists and other laborers; and the
soldiers The state was to assign 10
everyone his rank and sphere of ac-
tivity; the soil was to be the proper
ty of all and its products equally shar-
ed by all, and so on through the ages
wise men have racked their brains in
efforts to formulate plans that would
effectually destroy the inequalities of
riches and root out poverty and all of
the evils of which it is the mother.
But all efforts up to the present
moment have proven fruitless.
The first edition of Sir Thomas
Moore's Utopia appeared in 1916. It
was an imaginary commonwealth
] composed of happy and contented
people under a complete paternal gov
eminent
Campanella was the author of a
similar treatise His commonwealth
was composed of a vast hierarchy of
officials directing the duties of the
!, people Four hours were devoted to
labor. the women performing the
lighter tasks; the rest of the day was
devoted to the study of philosophy
and the sciences.
In our day we had the portrayal Of
! similar commonwealth in Bellamy' S
: Looking Backwards" The works of
st. Simon, Charles Fourier and Rob
ert Owen We're so pleasing and theo-
I
their followers in Europe and in this
country but, one after another, these
socialistic communities, after a brief,
hopeful promise. were rent with dis
sentions and withered away.
So eminent a man as Mr. Horace
Greeley was caught in the Fourier
community, but soon discovered its
futility and his mistake.
The most rational movement for
the abolition of poverty that has been
started in recent years was the sin
gle tax" propaganda of Mr. Henry
George.
His Progress and Poverty" arrest
ed the attention of the highest intel
lects and was translated into many
languages, but the "Anti-Poyerty So