The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1915-02-27

$50 aau thV06ht huln 0AiN
talked little or not at all. AN
aitruistic act Is an act performed
Tor the welfare OF others. II is
unselfish, as opposed to an act
performed for self, which Is
selfish"
He nodde his head. ooh, yes,
J remember II now. l ran across
1t in Spencer"
Spencer" cried. "Have you
read him?"
Not very much" was his con-
fession. II understood quite a
good deal of First Principles,
but his Biology took the wind
out of my sails. and his 'Psy-
chology' left me buting around
In the doldrums for many day.
honestly could not understand
what he was driving at. / put Il
down to mental deficiency on my
part, but since then | have de-
cided that IL was for want of prep
aration. | had no proper basis.
Only Spencer and myself know
how hard hammered. But I did
get something out of his Data of
Ethics. There's where ran
across 'altruism.' and I remember
now how IL was used
| wondered what this man
could have got from such a work
Spencer ! remembered enough to
know that altruism was impera-
tive to his ideal of highest con-
duct. Wolf Larsen, evidently,
had sifted the great philosophers
teachings, rejecting and selecting
according to his needs and de-
sires.
What else did you run
across?" | asked.
His brows drew in slightly with
the mental effort of suitably
phrasing thoughts which he had
never before put into speech.
felt citation of spirit. ! was CROP
ling into his soul-stuff as he made
a practice OF cropping In the soul
STUFF OF Others. was exploring
virgin territory. A strange, ter
ribly strange. region WAS unroll-
ing itself before my eyes.
In as few words as possible, ="
he began, Spencer puts It some
thing like this: First, q man
must act for his own benefit-to
do this Is to be moral and good
Next, he must act for the benefit
OF his children. And third, he
must act for the benefit of his
race"
And the highest, finest, right
conduct" ] interjected, SIS that
act which benefits at the same
time the man, his children, and
his race"
Il wouldn't stand for that" he
replied. Couldn't see the neces-
sity for 1t, nor the common sense.
] cut out the race and the chill
dren. | would sacrifice nothing
for them. It's Just so much slush
and sentiment, and you must see
IL yourself, at least for one who
does not believe in eternal life.
With immortality before me,
altruism would be a paying bust
ness proposition. | might elevate
my soul to all kinds of attitudes.
But with nothing eternal before
me but death, given for a brief
spell this yeasty crawling and
squirming which is called life,
why, it would be immoral for me
to perform any act that was
sacrifice. Any sacrifice that makes
me lose one crawl or squirm is
foolish, and not only foolish, for
II is a wrong against myself and
wicked thing. l must not lose
one crawl or squirm II / am to get
the most out of the ferment. Nor
will the eternal movelessness that
is coming to me be made easier
or harder by the sacrifices or self
ishness of the time when / was
yeasty and acrawl."
Then you are an individualist,
a materialist, and, logically, a
hedonist."
Big words" he smiled. "But
what is a hedonist?"
He nodded agreement when Il
Hdu given thc uSlinitiOu.
And you are Also" ! contin-
ued, "a man one could not trust
in the least thing where il was
possible for a selfish interest to
intervene?"
Now you're beginning to un-
derstand," he said, Frightening.
You are man utterly without
what the world calls morals?"
That's it,"
"A man of whom to be always
afraid"
That's the way to put it."
LAS one is afraid of a snake, or
a tiger, or a shark"
Now you know me-" he said.
"And you know me as | am gem
orally known. Other men call me
Wolf"
=, You are sort of monster" /
added audaciously, "a Caliban
who has pondered Setebos, and
who acts as you act, in idle mo-
ments, by within and fancy"
!, His brow clouded at the allu-
sion. He did not understand,
and l quickly learned that he did
not know the poem.
I'm just reading Browning
he confessed, "and It's pretty