The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1913-03-05
ON BOARD THE GOOD SHIP EARTH"
A,ncls No. 27--TAe Ra,lsCays Across the Decks
BY HERBERT QUICK.

Copyright. 1913. by Herbert Quickly
The measure OF civilization il In Its highways
people like the ancient Greeks whose lands were all
islands and peninsulas Of the Phoncians and Car
thagnians who dwelt coasts, to whom the ocean
was a universal highway. might climb to great
heights OF civilization In certain specialties; but
when people is spread great expanses of land
II must build highways like the canals of China
roads like those OF the Romans II must remain
semi-civzed and nomadic like the herds of Genghis
Khan and Tamerlane or the tribes Of Arabia.
Lord Bacon says: There are three things which
make nation great and prosperous-a fertile soil.
busy workshops and easy conveyance for and
commodities from place to another" This Is the
dctum Of the greatest mind perhaps which the world
has ever produced In favor OF what the Socialists call
economic determfntsm.
We have considered In these articles the matter Of
soil fertilization. Let Us now look at the question OF
easy" conveyance Of men and commodities from
place to another" We speak gliby Of the "annihila
ton Of distance" and 1.-The triumph Of mind over mat
ter IL Is perfectly clear that passengers and
crew OF the good ship Earth are dreadfully cramped
activities by the limitations which matter I'm
poses on mind in the matter or easy conveyance OF
men and commodities from one place to another. II
by taking thought the goods Of Europe and North
America could be magcay moved to the places where
they needed feed. shelter and clothe the
OF the world; II by magic carpet the products OF
farms stock and mines could be traps-
ferred cities and mills; II by sevenleague boots
the roting fruits and woods and precious growths OF
tropics could be removed TO the marts OF trade
by mind force people could really annihilate distance
and appear where their needs and desires might dc
tate: II by ocult power the mineral fertility Of the
earth could be redeposited in depleted soilsthen
there would be need In the world. In the absence
Of robbery theft.
The spread OF the people this huge planetary
Zeppelin those portions Of her surface which are
far from and navigable rivers under conditions
OF progress and civilization. Is q thing II has
been possible by the invention OF the steam
CINE and the railway Of iron or steel The camel. the
bullock cart the horsedrawn vehicles could serve
a sparse population and barbarc development, and
when supplemented by slavery could produce state
of affairs which presented many OF the outward as
poets Of cvilizatonbut 1t civilization which was
monopolized by the few and for which the masses
slaved and died in darkened agonies
Tho railway changed all that 1t carried COM
merce across continents and democratized the civza-
ton OF the nineteenth century For It harnessed to
hugo cars bigger than the ships Of the Greeks and
rolling on wheels set smooth metal tracks enor-
artics draught animals swifter than the horse
of Phoebus. and powerful than the Minotanr.
The railway has done more for democracy than has
any other material agency.
It has done enormous labors-and It must do more.
Most the civilized nations have the error OF
allowing these highways to be owned by some men
rather than by all through governments. and
nearly all Of them now have reduced these roads to
public ownership. Great Britain. Turkey and the
United States the only that still adhere to
the outworn notion that the ownership OF tho high
ways should be left in private hands
The needs Of the people In the future cannot be
parent from almost any Viewpoint: but, II for no