The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-12-25

lneless the rate of mortality woul,
have diminished to one half of wha
it was then, that the postoffice woult
Drlng more into the exchequer thar
the excise and customs had brough
in together under Charles the Second
that stage coaches would run from
London to York in twenty-four hours
that men would begin the habit O
sailing without wind, and would b.
beginning to ride without horses, ou
ancestors would have given as mucl
credit to the prediction as they Civ,
to Gulliver's Travels"
If it were possible for Mr.. Macaula,
to peer into the present he woul,
stand aghast at the marvellous revel
alton. He would see that the wild
est dreams of the most optimistic o
his day have been more than surpass
ed.
See how what some were sayin.
then some are still saying now
Speaking of the predictions that were
more than fulfilled he says:
"Our ancestors would have
perceived that it was not altogether
absurd, if they had considered thai
the country was then raising every
rryIi oh hou -
chased the fee-simple of the reve
nue. of the Plantagenets, ten times
what supported the government OF
Elizabeth, three times what, in the
time of Oliver Cromwell, had been
thought intolerably oppressive"
How true this sentence is:
ITO almost all men the state OF
things under which they have been
used to live, seems to be the neces>
sary state of things. We have heard
it said that five per cent. is the
natural interest of money Eve here
think per cent. is the natural
interest,) that twelve is the natur-
al number of jury, that forty shil-
lings is the natural qualification of
a country voter. Hence it is that,
though in every age everybody
knows that up to his own time pro-
gressive improvement has been TAX
ing place, nobody seems to reckon
on any improvement during the next
generation.
1--WE can not absolutely prove that
those are in error who tell us that
society has reached a turning point,
that we have seen our best days.
But so said all who came before us,
and with just as much apparent
reason.
"a million year will beggar us"
said the patriots of 1640. 1.-TWO mil
lions a year will grind the country to
powder" was the cry in 1860; six
millions a year, and a debt of fifty
exclaimed Swift "the allies
have been the ruin of u.s." "a hun
dred and forty millions of debit" said
Junius; well may we say that we owe
Lord Chatham more than we shall
ever pay, if we owe him such load
as this 1.-TWO hundred and forty
of debt" cried all the states
men of 1888 in chorus; what abili-
ties, or what economy on the part
of a minister can save a country so
>
"We know" said Mr.. Macaulay,
that if, since 1888, no fresh debt
had been incurred, the increased re-
sources of thecountry would have en-
abled us to defray the debt at which
Pitt, Fox, and Burke stood aghast,
nay to defray it over and over again,
and that with much lighter taxation
than what we have actually borne"
Then Mr.. Macaulay questionally ex-
claims:
ION what principle is it that, when
we see nothing but improvement be-
hind us, we are to expect nothing
but deterioration before us?"
Then he advises us to govern as
little as possible and leave capital
to find its most lucrative course and
not handicap it with vicious laws, be-
cause, nine times out of ten, they
fall heaviest on the very ones they
are intended to benefit
He gives us a wonderful chapter.
WHITE HOUSE BABIES HAVE