The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1921-04-24
WHY SHOULD THE SPIRIT
OF MORTAL BE PROUDp

out Of the unrest Of Inc time. and born. no doubt, Of the prevailing
" the usual volume Of scientific inquiry into the origin Of man, hi.
evolution and his ancestry; as well as into his future state and pros
poets. The findings at both ends Of the string IN gloomy. We are
told frequently that the man Of the immediate future, three or four
centuries hencei viii have a four-foot body and two-foot legs; that
his head will be bigger than lis shoulder measurements and that his
wife viii be an cgress In stature, facial contour anc general DISPOSE
ton due TO woman's present tendency to swift mental and physical
development aud effort for mastery Some scientists assert that we
win all be apes. and add TO their gloomy forecast the word again. Z"
The historical aspect Of the picture IL hardly less comforting
than the forecast. The matter Of ancestry does not disclose much Of
comfort TO those who. bidding the future be blamed. point proudly TO
the family portraits, tree and traditions
Edwin Grant Conkln has written q profound work upon "The
Direction Of Human Evolution just polished by scribners, in
which he sayr Of this matter q anrestrys
Even allowing for numerous intermarriaees Of rda-
tves Il 3 highly probable that all people of English or
French or German stock nv descended from common an
cessors Of a thousand years ago.
"A book has been published recently in which several
Of our presidents heads Of universities. and captains Of in
dusfry and finance are shown to be descended from Charlie
magne. This distinction ia one which they share with prob
ably more than half the citizens of this republic. Einhart,
the contemporary ~biogrspher Of charemagne. says that ne
had nine wives, besides many concubnes. and although he
was fond Of his children he never knew how many he had.
Fit were possible to trace our senesiOsss far enough into
the past and through all their ramifcntiOns it would be found
that all Of US are literally descendants Of royalty, Ot Alfred
and Charlemagne and William the conqueror, and Of any
and every other person Of one thousand or more years ago
who left many desccndants-indudin nonentiths and worse;
NC hunt up our noble ancestors and forget the Others"
Mr.. Conliin. however, softens the dose a trae in his treatment
Of the predictions Of those scientists who assert that mans evolu.
ton is about TO be thrown violently into reverse and back itself
heiIbent into oblivion. lie says;
1T is possible, but not probable, that the entire human
species may become extinct in advance Of other higher ami
mails; but even IL this should happen, from what other source
could a superior animal srsef No other animal approaches
man in intellectual capacity, upon which depend the rational
organization of society and the conquest Of all nature.
However imperfect, irrational, and antisocisl mankind
may be- however much we may laugh or weep over his simisn
characteristics and a, times sympsthne wi" Mark Twains
comments on 1.-THE damned human race. - we may feel conf
dent that IN the long ages of future evolution no other greatly
superior animal will appear upon this planet. II a superior
species Is TO appear Il must come from human stock
We do not know whether Nj. Conkhns book mas reached the
Albuquerque public library. When IL does, by all means read IL. II
leads one 70 inquire, although In somewhat cheerful spirit;
why should the spirit Of mortal be proudf"