| OCR Text |
Show THE IDEAL AXD THE BEAL. A BIXOBT time since we beard a friend speak in a commendatory way of a magazine entitled the Txenlidh Century, published in New York. The gentleman referred re-ferred to appeared, In a general way, to endorse the logic and philosophy phi-losophy of the periodical In question. ques-tion. Tills Incident caused us to procure a couple of numbers and thus be able to judge of the character charac-ter of Uio thought conveyed In them. The result was a disappointment, disappoint-ment, the views expressed In them being anarchical. It is not without Interest, however, how-ever, to observe the popular trend of thought, especially wherein it Indicates a significant yearning alter a unlversO condition with which to supplant the existing forms of government. The mean-derlngs mean-derlngs of thinkers in that Hnef remind re-mind one of people groping In the dark to And the light. They are certain that somewhsro the sun shines Ic splendor, but they cannot reach the opening which will enable en-able tbem to bask in it. The bent of tbe Ticcntidh Century can be to soma extent estimated by somo comments of JU editor upon a communication from a correspondent correspon-dent In the Far West, who wrote to the magazine as follows: 'Tho West has had experience of Anarchy, and that experience is fairly conclusive that while U may be, as I believe, the ultimate goal or society. It Is at present decidedly prematnre. Anarcny became so unbearable in California, Colorado and Montana that the citizens of various localities organized or-ganized vigilance committees, and tbe practically unanimous verdict is that these committees were great blessings In spite of all that has been said against them. A year ago this town liad no government to speak of, and It was rendered hideous nightly by I gangs of drunken men. playfully fir- ing their revolvers when they pleased, and Insulting any woman that dared to venture in the streets. It then became be-came incorporated and a polios officer was elected, and it Is now one of tbe quietest towns In the North wast. Whatever my theoretical preference for Anarchism, I cannot shut my eyes to such facts.' The editor's views are conveyed in tho following remit kf: "What is here referred to was not Anarchism. It was rowdyism. Anarchism An-archism has never existed, nor can it exist until public opinion Is strong enongh to bring about freedom from those statute laws that violate what should be the rights of all people to .the use of vacant land, and entire commercial and social liberty. With such liberty.won by thought, a policeman police-man would be as useless as a knight's armor now is. -Anarchism cannot be premature, because it cannot exist until people are ready for b. Hut in order to be ready for it we need not all become angels; we need not become be-come unselfish. We only need to be fairly just and enough more sclflah than we now are to grant others what should be their rights, for the purposq of Increases our own happiness. Anarchism does not mean disorder. It means order. But there never can be order until there is liberty. There never can be order while there are legal monopolies." If "anarchism docs not meau disorder," dis-order," but "means order," its votaries should give some other title to their Ideal condition of man, that there may bo no conflict bstween them and the lexicographers, lexicograph-ers, whodefluethe word to convey a state of "confusion; absence of government" If the editor's ex-iJatiltion ex-iJatiltion of the svstem If a mndl. lion not regulated by law can bo so designated be taken as correct, tho title is appropriate, Including its meaning as expressed Dy Webster. It involves freedom from the htatuto laws in relation to acquirement by the people of the vacant lands. In another article the Magazine editor denounces the government for Interfering Inter-fering with thu-eoplein theireaorts, to secure 'possession of tbe tracts in Oklahoma district. Xow, suppose there hid been no -such interference on the part of the government, wliat would have b-ca the result in Xo Man's Zand? It Is no stretch to state that the aim jjt Inevitable consequeuce would have been that the roujh and dtsperate element would have secured the entire trart, to the exclusion ex-clusion of the nwre peiceable aud respectable c!alnut3. rteslstancu on the part of tho Utter would have been met with violence, and horrible scenes of carnage would have been enacted. Where would have been tbe freedom in such a situation? It will be a earry dsy for the country when the regulation of law, even when not administered with exact Justice, la supplemented by the tyranny ty-ranny of mibs, which Is worse than thatbfmiaarchiai despots. The Idea that a high quality of popular goodness would not be necessary under a condition not regulated by statutory law, Is fallacious fal-lacious on its face. That In such a situation an Increase of selfishness would conduce to the existence of peace Is not any more reasonable. That men would be, more regardful of the rigbu of their fellows on the sclfiih basis that that course would conduce to their own happtnes, is singularly absurd. To prove this it is only necetory to point to the fact that mankind are gradually drifting away from a belief In the immortally immor-tally of.tUa soal. Tills, life is to unbelievers iu the future life, all there is. If they are not unusually good and unusually unselfish they will seek, unscrupulously to seize upon whatever ministers to their gratlflcatioa during the nurtal span. Even some or those who profess belief be-lief In an afterlife arj not free from such sordid rursult3,bern3 evidently willing to gratify the de-Ires of the presentattherlakoriMlnj possible future blist. Sjcu grajplng after the happiness of mortal existence necessarily, neces-sarily, without the presence of tbe acaie of goodness, involves encroachment en-croachment upon tho rights and wtU being of other which would run riot in the absence of legal rrstricilon. A satisfactory condition on tbe earth, under which the rights of all will be recognized and preserved, calls for three indiipensible elements: ele-ments: (1) a perfect coJe of principles, princi-ples, tbe observance of which will preserve the rights and libsrties of all alike. (2 A universal comprehension compre-hension of the system In detail. (S) A commensurate dbpo-itlon on the part of all to conform to the governing govern-ing principles. Such a system would require, for its establishment, (I) ar advanced degree of Intelligence. (2) The acmeofunselflih goodnos;, of which Christ Is the type. Unless Divine Providence, In order to cauae this creation to wheel into line with Uio moral universe of God, shall Inaugurate a process of elimination, that the fittest may survive, the ideal social state Is Indeed In-deed distant, as morality, Its chief and basic constituent, is being left far in the rear by tbe march of intelligence. The wider the lepa-ration lepa-ration the more remote the goal. The chief function of the work of God some may prefer to call it that of the philanthropist Is to labor to bring about, In the conduct of mankind, a niarrl.yjo between be-tween morals and" Intellectuality. When that point shall be reached, the ideal will become the real. |
