The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-11-24

From different parts OF the western world come pronounce
uents against tobacco that may mean its death knell.
People may laugh contemptuously at these pronouneements,
as they did at similar ones against King Alcohol when they were
first heard, and even until the last minute there were those who
felicitated themselves in the belief that "there is going to be cakes
and ale no matter who is virtuous.'
King Alcohol was finally a%pprehended, brought to trial, con-
demned and executed and sent into oblivion, where My Lady
Nicotine may be sent to join him. Tobacco is a commercial com
modify in the production and handling Of which many millions
OF dollars are invested, Any attack on it will be resisted by
many individuals, but evolution, like nature, is cruel and careless
Of individuals, and concerns itself only with the race. If tobacco
is injurious to the race, its doom is sealed, Race consciousness
will put it out Of the way, Our progress is slow along evolutoNaI
lines, but il never stops. 1t is moving forward and onward
There is nothing static in ethics or morals. We proceed from
point to point, from the lower to the higher plane, and as III
climbing mountains, one advancement enables us to see higher
planes and submits farther on which we must reach. Humanity
has always been striving for what appeared at the tine to be
the u~nreachablc and unattainabe,
Progress has been made and the impossible has been &C.
~compiished in spite Of it all, or maybe because Of it all. We do
not know.
Nietzsehe was a great scientist before he turned philosopher,
and wrote what many people believe are insane books. IN one
OF these, Beyond Man" he suggests, without lucidly explain
ing il, a state OF society reached by moral and ethical evolution,
which would be more moral than the most moral ideal which the
human mind can eoneeive--a condition Of human existence above
morality.
All great religions teach that no human being has a pcrfcct'
" moral nature. Yet it is conceivable that a world might exist III
which the nature OF everyone is SO moral that the idea OF i'm
morality could not exist. In a society where no one was dishonest
the idea Of dishonesty could not exist,
In a society where everyone is perfectly chsste the idea OF
~unchastity cannot exist, Our ideas Of goodness and virtue ncccs-
sarny imply the existence OF the opposite qualities,
All our active morality implies IT it does not involve a
struggle against immortality. In a world thus perfected, toward
which all Of our ethical and moral teachers are trying to lead US,
happiness must be universal, and that such a social condition is
not only possible but inevitable is the belief Of such master minds
and eminent scientists as Sir John Lubbock and Herbert Spencer.
These eminent scientists were drawn to this conclusion by the
discoveries OF science,
4 a These discoveries were made. not by one man nor at one
time, but BY thousands Of men and centuries OF time. When
the great Hebrew writer exclaimed, Go to the ant, thou slug
gard, and Sonsider her ways" he may have known about the ant
what scientists OF the twentieth century are Just finding out
Because it has been scientifically demonstrated beyond all per-
adventure or cavil that a society az above indicated really exists
among a certain species OF ants. The amount of labor which 1t
required to discover these truths is amazing. There are five
thousand species Of ants, and each species is in q different state
OF ethical and moral progress, and, in the opinion OF Spencer, in
the higher orders, that progress is far in advance Of that reached
by mar. They have no envy or jealousy or malice, no selbshnesS
nothing which We call immoral, and each deyotcs his tine to the
benefit Of the particular species to which he belongs, which gives
his virtues . narrow and paroehial rather than a universal char
acter.
The good ladies among US who have been given the ballot
would do well to consider the ways of the ant, because in this
only approximately perfect society ON earth the female Of the
species is the most important factor. The male is small, weak
insignificant, and tolerated as a necessary evil; the female i
everything, and while il may have taken a million years or more
Tor the processes OF evolution to bring about the successive de
grees Of perfeeton-or improvement, to be more accuratc--ou
women, newly armed with political power, may find a shorte
way or at least assist evolution in reaching its goal. Among the
most advanced species OF ants there is one class OF females Sc
Nv apart as workers. Another class is set apart as soldiers, wht
protect the workers and assist them in the rougher sort Of work
These are Amazons, large, strong and masculine in appearance
Both OF these classes have voluntarily suppressed sex i'll them
selves and are seNless, They have not utterly destroyed sex, be
cause its functions can be recalled and aroused when neeeSsar
70 preserve the species,
The breeding females ave treated like expresses, Fo
them the workers build houses, tunnels, bridges and all con
veuiences; provide them with food and drink, and wait on then
L The workers and soldier sections have all the labor and troubl
1 Of rearing the young, which is not small, because the young ar
weak and puny, and must be moved from place to place frequent
II ~ to keep them warm. These also look after the animals or "
sects, five hundred and cighty.iour kinds OF which have bee
demonstrated and are used for various purposes. The fenal
ants have not only suppressed sex but they have overcome hungt
and thirst, and. while they are always Gathering food, they woul
not take an atom OF food or drink that was not necessary e
the preservation Of the species,
If our delightful female Of the spetcs will assist evolution
N and turn her batteries on sin and self<tness, sorrow and d
pravitv, she may render humanity a great service by hastenir
the day when it reaches the plane OF HIGHER lie or OF nereetio
What time has done for the ant it NAV do for humanity. al
ANYTHING that will speed up evolution on the lines of moral az
ethical progress is proper matter 10 engage the attention, II
worlds greatest scientists have told us what proeress the an
have made. There was a time when ants were quite as immor
AZ humans are today. TOBACCO may be suppressed, Good OF ev
4 car be no more difficult 10 suppress than was .seS among 4
fe~aie ants. and ~sefshnes amone all sexes of ants lndividu'
may protest. but individps & will find no place in the final aut