| Show THE EEEE LANCE Incited perhaps by Booths scheme to ro deem darkest London or darkest Eng land a society has formed In New York to improve the world An audacious plan It is to be sure and impracticable perhaps per-haps and yet noting the long array ol prominent persons who form the organza tiOn wo hesitate to say it la wholly Quiz otic In addition to the leading clergymen of the various denominations hundreds of public spirited citizens like Chauncey M Depew Dr Albert Shaw and Abram Hewitt have joined in the movement Very properly too the beginning is to ba made in New York city itt From the prospectus wo learn something of the proposed plan of action Poverty iso is-o longer to bo treated simply with dons ions from the welldisposed rich It is to be attacked at its sources by heroic moth ods Concerted effort will be made for the suppression of open and acknowledged acknowl-edged evils In this connection it is recognized recog-nized that every evil tnat exists is a source of profit to some ono There are men wno grow rich on intemperance and others whose profits are obtained by overcrowding overcrowd-ing the wretched tenements they own The interests that thrive upon human suffering are united What io needed for their overthrow is the union ol all moral forces and agencicd And Dr Shaw adds The means are known to society whereby where-by these sores on civilization known as the slums can be renovated and made healthful and even desirable locations of residence All that is needed is that the wellmeaning men and women of all do nominations and shades of belief unite in demanding the same thing at the same time The press and the pulpit united in the interest of humanity against the special interests that profit by existing evils can overcome every obstacle In the way of a healthier and happier city t t tIt t-It would bo folly to comment on such a scheme The very magnitude of it shows the magnitude of the evil which under our advanced civilization has spread over the earth and which no ordinary means suffice to cope with It also shows that the religion reli-gion of the creeds is dot influential or powerful enough to hotter mankind Giving Giv-ing it all the credit it claims and it still remains a fact that notwithstanding Its utmost efforts it is not able to keep stop with the progress of poverty and vice A contemporary discussing this very project says While the movement is in Antagonism Antagon-ism to no religious creed yet for the accomplishment accom-plishment of the work in hand It will recognize the fact that sectarianism baa been a serious drawback and will seek to eliminate every cause or pretext for division divis-ion And it concludes thus It is sometimes some-times thought ana the thought is often expressed ex-pressed that religion is losing its power among men May it not rather ba that it is like the little leaven that leiven eth the whole lump Forms may pass away and creeds may be changed The old bottles may be discarded because they cannot contain the new wino But relig ion survives in purity and practical power when its spirit unites the Christian Jewish Jew-ish and ethical societies in selfsacrificing devotion to the wellbeing of society t t 1 t That diphtheria prevails in this city to an alarming extent thereof the daily death notices in the newspapers give ample and mournful notice A reporter of TUB HERALD sought to got authentic data of the number of cases now under treatment but in the absence of tho city physician ho failed From reliable information however how-ever he ascertained that a full half hundred hun-dred little patients are down with this and kindred maladies among which doctor claim to be scarlet lever Certainly Cer-tainly the death rate among children from these causes has never been greater than it is this month Nor does it satisfy the anxiety of parents to know that the disease is raging in other cities as well or ill and they demand all the protection and precaution possible to restrict it While all the people are alarmed the officials offi-cials alone seem to bo tranquil Why 15 this thusl Heroic measures are necessary Let us try them at any cost If life is worth living let us try to save itt it-t t tIt t-It is strange how backward medical science sci-ence is after all While surgery has advanced ad-vanced with rapid strides until now it performs veritable marvels medicine medi-cine has gained little since the days of Esculapius except In the use of units thetics and the treatment of skin diseases We are told that the average of human lifo is increasing but what is the cost in nervous tension And how much of it is duo to better living to improved sanitation and to a stricter compliance with the injunction in-junction of the Greek sage Know thyself thy-self I |
