diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:16:23 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:16:23 -0700 |
| commit | aad530267eddcf6f10c4775871249b52028dbab7 (patch) | |
| tree | b020ff10480db1e11074b29426f3c923fec67cb1 /25304-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '25304-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 25304-h/25304-h.htm | 7108 |
1 files changed, 7108 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/25304-h/25304-h.htm b/25304-h/25304-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba30e24 --- /dev/null +++ b/25304-h/25304-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7108 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Shadow on the Dial and Other Essays, by Ambrose Bierce + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Shadow On The Dial, and Other Essays, by +Ambrose Bierce + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Shadow On The Dial, and Other Essays + 1909 + +Author: Ambrose Bierce + +Editor: S.O. Howes + +Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25304] +Last Updated: January 9, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHADOW ON THE DIAL *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE SHADOW ON THE DIAL <br />AND OTHER ESSAYS + </h1> + <h2> + By Ambrose Bierce + </h2> + <h3> + Edited by S. O. HOWES + </h3> + <h4> + Copyright 1909 + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> A NOTE BY THE AUTHOR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> THE SHADOW ON THE DIAL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> I. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> II. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> III. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> IV. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> V. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> CIVILIZATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> I. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> II. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> THE GAME OF POLITICS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> I. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> II. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> III. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> IV. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> V. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> VI. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> VII. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> VIII. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> IX + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> SOME FEATURES OF THE LAW </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> I. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> II. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> III. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> IV. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> V. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> ARBITRATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> INDUSTRIAL DISCONTENT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> I. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> II. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> III. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> CRIME AND ITS CORRECTIVES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> I. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> II. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> III. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> THE DEATH PENALTY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> I. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> II. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> III. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> RELIGION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> I. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> II. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> III. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> IV. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> V. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0047"> VI. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0048"> VII. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0049"> IMMORTALITY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0050"> OPPORTUNITY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0051"> CHARITY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0052"> EMANCIPATED WOMAN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0053"> THE OPPOSING SEX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0054"> THE AMERICAN SYCOPHANT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0055"> A DISSERTATION ON DOGS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0056"> THE ANCESTRAL BOND </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0057"> THE RIGHT TO WORK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0058"> THE RIGHT TO TAKE ONESELF OFF </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A NOTE BY THE AUTHOR + </h2> + <p> + IT WAS expected that this book would be included in my "Collected Works" + now in course of publication, but unforeseen delay in the date of + publication has made this impossible. The selection of its contents was + not made by me, but the choice has my approval and the publication my + authority. + </p> + <p> + AMBROSE BIERCE. + </p> + <p> + Washington, D. C. March 14. 1909. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + THE note of prophecy! It sounds sharp and clear in many a vibrant line, in + many a sonorous sentence of the essays herein collected for the first + time. Written for various Californian journals and periodicals and + extending over a period of more than a quarter of a century, these + opinions and reflections express the refined judgment of one who has seen, + not as through a glass darkly, the trend of events. And having seen the + portentous effigy that we are making of the Liberty our fathers created, + he has written of it in English that is the despair of those who, thinking + less clearly, escape not the pitfalls of diffuseness and obscurity. For + Mr. Bierce, as did Flaubert, holds that the right word is necessary for + the conveyance of the right thought and his sense of word values rarely + betrays him into error. But with an odd—I might almost say perverse—indifference + to his own reputation, he has allowed these writings to lie fallow in the + old files of papers, while others, possessing the knack of publicity, + years later tilled the soil with some degree of success. President Hadley, + of Yale University, before the Candlelight Club of Denver, January 8, + 1900, advanced, as novel and original, ostracism as an effective + punishment of social highwaymen. This address attracted widespread + attention, and though Professor Hadley's remedy has not been generally + adopted it is regarded as his own. Mr. Bierce wrote in "The Examiner," + January 20, 1895, as follows: "We are plundered because we have no + particular aversion to plunderers." + </p> + <p> + The 'predatory rich' (to use Mr. Stead's felicitous term) put their hands + into our pockets because they know that, virtually, none of us will refuse + to take their hands in our own afterwards, in friendly salutation. If + notorious rascality entailed social outlawry the only rascals would be + those properly—and proudly—belonging to the 'criminal class.' + </p> + <p> + Again, Edwin Markham has attracted to himself no little attention by + advocating the application of the Golden Rule in temporal affairs as a + cure for evils arising from industrial discontent In this he, too, has + been anticipated. Mr. Bierce, writing in "The Examiner," March 25, 1894, + said: "When a people would avert want and strife, or having them, would + restore plenty and peace, this noble commandment offers the only means—all + other plans for safety and relief are as vain as dreams, and as empty as + the crooning of fools. And, behold, here it is: 'All things whatsoever ye + would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.'" + </p> + <p> + Rev. Charles M. Sheldon created a nine days' wonder, or rather a seven, by + conducting for a week a newspaper as he conceived Christ would have done. + Some years previously, June 28, 1896, to be exact, the author of these + essays wrote: "That is my ultimate and determining test of right—'What, + under the circumstances, would Christ have done?'—the Christ of the + New Testament, not the Christ of the commentators, theologians, priests + and parsons." + </p> + <p> + I am sure that Mr. Bierce does not begrudge any of these gentlemen the + acclaim they have received by enunciating his ideas, and I mention the + instances here merely to forestall the filing of any other claim to + priority. + </p> + <p> + The essays cover a wide range of subjects, embracing among other things + government, dreams, writers of dialect, and dogs, and always the author's + point of view is fresh, original and non-Philistine. Whether one cares to + agree with him or not, one will find vast entertainment in his wit that + illuminates with lightning flashes all he touches. Other qualities I + forbear allusion to, having already encroached too much upon the time of + the reader. + </p> + <p> + S. O. HOWES. <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE SHADOW ON THE DIAL + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + THERE is a deal of confusion and uncertainty in the use of the words + "Socialist," "Anarchist," and "Nihilist." Even the '1st himself commonly + knows with as little accuracy what he is as the rest of us know why he is. + The Socialist believes that most human affairs should be regulated and + managed by the State—the Government—that is to say, the + majority. Our own system has many Socialistic features and the trend of + republican government is all that way. The Anarchist is the kind of + lunatic who believes that all crime is the effect of laws forbidding it—as + the pig that breaks into the kitchen garden is created by the dog that + chews its ear! The Anarchist favors abolition of all law and frequently + belongs to an organization that secures his allegiance by solemn oaths and + dreadful penalties. "Nihilism" is a name given by Turgenieff to the + general body of Russian discontent which finds expression in antagonizing + authority and killing authorities. Constructive politics would seem, as + yet, to be a cut above the Nihilist's intelligence; he is essentially a + destructionary. He is so diligently engaged in unweeding the soil that he + has not given a thought to what he will grow there. Nihilism may be + described as a policy of assassination tempered by reflections upon + Siberia. American sympathy with it is the offspring of an unholy union + between the tongue of a liar and the ear of a dupe. + </p> + <p> + Upon examination it will be seen that political dissent, when it takes any + form more coherent than the mere brute dissatisfaction of a mind that does + not know what it wants to want, finds expression in one of but two ways—in + Socialism or in Anarchism. Whatever methods one may think will best + substitute for a system gradually evolved from our needs and our natures a + system existing only in the minds of dreamers, one is bound to choose + between these two dreams. Yet such is the intellectual delinquency of many + who most strenuously denounce the system that we have that we not + infrequently find the same man advocating in one breath, Socialism, in the + next, Anarchism. Indeed, few of these sons of darkness know that even as + coherent dreams the two are incompatible. With Anarchy triumphant the + Socialist would be a thousand years further from realization of his hope + than he is today. Set up Socialism on a Monday and on Tuesday the country + would be <i>en fête</i>, gaily hunting down Anarchists. There would be + little difficulty in trailing them, for they have not so much sense as a + deer, which, running down the wind, sends its tell-tale fragrance on + before. + </p> + <p> + Socialism and Anarchism are the two extremes of political thought; they + are parts of the same dung, in the sense that the terminal points of a + road are parts of the same road. Between them, about midway, lies the + system that we have the happiness to endure. It is a "blend" of Socialism + and Anarchism in about equal parts: all that is not one is the other. + Everything serving the common interest, or looking to the welfare of the + whole people, is socialistic in the strictest sense of the word as + understood by the Socialist Whatever tends to private advantage or + advances an individual or class interest at the expense of a public one, + is anarchistic. Cooperation is Socialism; competition is Anarchism. + Competition carried to its logical conclusion (which only cooperation + prevents or can prevent) would leave no law in force no property possible + no life secure. + </p> + <p> + Of course the words "cooperation" and "competition" are not here used in a + merely industrial and commercial sense; they are intended to cover the + whole field of human activity. Two voices singing a duet—that is + cooperation—Socialism. Two voices singing each a different tune and + trying to drown each other—that is competition—Anarchism: each + is a law unto itself—that is to say, it is lawless. Everything that + ought to be done the Socialist hopes to do by associated endeavor, as an + army wins battles; Anarchism is socialistic in its means only: by + cooperation it tries to render cooperation impossible—combines to + kill combination. Its method says to its purpose: "Thou fool!" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + Everything foretells the doom of authority. The killing of kings is no new + industry; it is as ancient as the race. Always and everywhere persons in + high place have been the assassin's prey. We have ourselves lost three + Presidents by murder, and will doubtless lose many another before the book + of American history is closed. If anything is new in this activity of the + regicide it is found in the choice of victims. The contemporary "avenger" + slays, not the merely great, but the good and the inoffensive—an + American President who had struck the chains from millions of slaves; a + Russian Czar who against the will and work of his own powerful nobles had + freed their serfs; a French President from whom the French people had + received nothing but good; a powerless Austrian Empress, whose weight of + sorrows touched the world to tears; a blameless Italian King beloved of + his people; such is a part of the recent record of the regicide whose + every entry is a tale of infamy unrelieved by one circumstance of justice, + decency or good intention. + </p> + <p> + And the great Brazilian liberator died in exile. + </p> + <p> + This recent uniformity of malevolence in the choice of victims is not + without significance. It points unmistakably to two facts: first, that the + selections are made, not by the assassins themselves, but by some central + control inaccessible to individual preference and unaffected by the + fortunes of its instruments; second, that there is a constant purpose to + manifest an antagonism, not to any individual ruler, but to rulers; not to + any system of government, but to Government. It is a war, not upon those + in authority, but upon Authority. The issue is defined, the alignment + made, the battle set: Chaos against Order, Anarchy against Law. + </p> + <p> + M. Vaillant, the French gentleman who lacked a "good opinion of the law," + but was singularly rich in the faith that by means of gunpowder and flying + nails humanity could be brought into a nearer relation with reason, + righteousness and the will of God, is said to have been nearly devoid of a + nose. Of this affliction M. Vaillant made but slight account, as was + natural, seeing that but for a brief season did he need even so much of + nose as remained to him. Yet before its effacement by premature disruption + of his own petard it must have had a certain value to him—he would + not wantonly have renounced it; and had he foreseen its extinction by the + bomb the iron views of that controversial device would probably have been + denied expression. Albeit (so say the scientists) doomed to eventual + elimination from the scheme of being, and to the Anarchist even now + something of an accusing conscience, the nose is indubitably an excellent + thing in man. + </p> + <p> + This brings us to consideration of the human nose as a measure of human + happiness—not the size of it, but its numbers; its frequent or + infrequent occurrence upon the human face. We have grown so accustomed to + the presence of this feature that we take it as a matter of course; its + absence is one of the most notable phenomena of our observation—"an + occasion long to be remembered," as the society reporter hath it Yet + "abundant testimony showeth" that but two or three centuries ago noseless + men and women were so common all over Europe as to provoke but little + comment when seen and (in their disagreeable way) heard They abounded in + all the various walks of life: there were honored burgomasters without + noses, wealthy merchants, great scholars, artists, teachers. Amongst the + humbler classes nasal destitution was almost as frequent as pecuniary—in + the humblest of all the most common of all. Writing in the thirteenth + century, Salsius mentions the retainers and servants of certain Suabian + noblemen as having hardly a whole ear among them—for until a + comparatively recent period man's tenure of his ears was even more + precarious than that of his nose. In 1436, when a Bavarian woman, Agnes + Bemaurian, wife of Duke Albert the Pious, was dropped off the bridge at + Prague, she persisted in rising to the surface and trying to escape; so + the executioner gave himself the trouble to put a long pole into her hair + and hold her under. A contemporary account of the matter hints that her + disorderly behavior at so solemn a moment was due to the pain caused by + removal of her nose; but as her execution was by order of her own father + it seems more probable that "the extreme penalty of the law" was not + imposed. Without a doubt, though, possession of a nose was an uncommon + (and rather barren) distinction in those days among "persons designated to + assist the executioner," as the condemned were civilly called. Nor, as + already said, was it any too common among persons not as yet consecrated + to that service: "Few," says Salsius, "have two noses, and many have + none." + </p> + <p> + Man's firmer grasp upon his nose in this our day and generation is not + altogether due to invention of the handkerchief. The genesis and + development of his right to his own nose have been accompanied with a + corresponding advance in the possessory rights all along the line of his + belongings—his ears, his fingers and toes, his skin, his bones, his + wife and her young, his clothes and his labor—everything that is + (and that once was not) his. In Europe and America today these things can + not be taken away from even the humblest and poorest without somebody + wanting to "know the reason why." In every decade the nation that is most + powerful upon the seas incurs voluntarily a vast expense of blood and + treasure in suppressing a slave trade which in no way is injurious to her + interests, nor to the interests of any but the slaves. + </p> + <p> + So "Freedom broadens slowly down," and today even the lowliest incapable + of all Nature's aborted has a nose that he dares to call his own and bite + off at his own sweet will. Unfortunately, with an unthinkable fatuity we + permit him to be told that but for the very agencies that have put him in + possession he could successfully assert a God-given and world-old right to + the noses of others. At present the honest fellow is mainly engaged in + refreshing himself upon his own nose, consuming that comestible with + avidity and precision; but the Vaillants, Ravechols, Mosts and Willeys are + pointing his appetite to other snouts than his, and inspiring him with + rhinophagic ambition. Meantime the rest of us are using those imperiled + organs to snore with. + </p> + <p> + 'Tis a fine, resonant and melodious snore, but it is not going to last: + there is to be a rude awakening. We shall one day get our eyes open to the + fact that scoundrels like Vaillant are neither few nor distant. We shall + learn that our blind dependence upon the magic of words is a fatuous + error; that the fortuitous arrangement of consonants and vowels which we + worship as Liberty is of slight efficacy in disarming the lunatic + brandishing a bomb. Liberty, indeed! The murderous wretch loves it a deal + better than we, and wants more of it. Liberty! one almost sickens of the + word, so quick and glib it is on every lip—so destitute of meaning. + </p> + <p> + There is no such thing as abstract liberty; it is not even thinkable. If + you ask me, "Do you favor liberty?" I reply, "Liberty for whom to do what? + Just now I distinctly favor the liberty of the law to cut off the noses of + anarchists caught red-handed or red-tongued. If they go in for mutilation + let them feel what it is like. If they are not satisfied with the way that + things have been going on since the wife of Duke Albert the Pious was held + under water with a pole, and since the servitors of the Suabian nobleman + cherished their vestigial ears, it is to be presumed that they favor + reversion to that happy state. There is grave objection, but if we must we + will. Let us begin (with moderation) by reverting <i>them</i>." + </p> + <p> + I favor mutilation for anarchists convicted of killing or inciting to kill—mutilation + followed by death. For those who merely deny the right and expediency of + law, plain mutilation—which might advantageously take the form of + removal of the tongue. + </p> + <p> + Why not? Where is the injustice? Surely he who denies men's right to make + laws will not invoke the laws that they have wickedly made! That were to + say that they must not protect themselves, yet are bound to protect him. + What! if I beat him will he call the useless and mischievous constabulary? + If I draw out his tongue shall he (in the sign-language) demand it back, + and failing of restitution (for surely I should cut it clean away) shall + he have the law on me—the naughty law, instrument of the oppressor? + Why? that "goes neare to be fonny!" + </p> + <p> + Two human beings can not live together in peace without laws—laws + innumerable. Everything that either, in consideration of the other's wish + or welfare, abstains from is inhibited by law, tacit or expressed. If + there were in all the world none but they—if neither had come with + any sense of obligation toward the other, both clean from creation, with + nothing but brains to direct their conduct—every hour would evolve + an understanding, that is to say, a law; every act would suggest one. They + would have to agree not to kill nor harm each other. They must arrange + their work and all their activities to secure the best advantage. These + arrangements, agreements, understandings—what are they but laws? To + live without law is to live alone. Every family is a miniature State with + a complicate system of laws, a supreme authority and subordinate + authorities down to the latest babe. And as he who is loudest in demanding + liberty for himself is sternest in denying it to others, you may + confidently go to the Maison Vaillant, or the Mosthaus, for a flawless + example of the iron hand. + </p> + <p> + Laws of the State are as faulty and as faultily administered as those of + the Family. Most of them have to be speedily and repeatedly "amended," + many repealed, and of those permitted to stand, the greater number fall + into disuse and are forgotten. Those who have to be entrusted with the + duty of administering them have all the limitations of intelligence and + defects of character by which the rest of us also are distinguished from + the angels. In the wise governor, the just judge, the honest sheriff or + the patient constable we have as rare a phenomenon as the faultless + father. The good God has not given us a special kind of men upon whom to + devolve the duty of seeing to the observance of the understandings that we + call laws. Like all else that men do, this work is badly done. The best + that we can hope for through all the failures, the injustice, the + disheartening damage to individual rights and interests, is a fairly good + general result, enabling us to walk abroad among our fellows unafraid, to + meet even the tribesmen from another valley without too imminent peril of + braining and evisceration. Of that small security the Anarchist would + deprive us. But without that nothing is of value and we shall be willing + to renounce all. Let us begin by depriving ourselves of the Anarchist. + </p> + <p> + Our system of civilization being the natural outgrowth of our wretched + moral and intellectual natures, is open to criticism and subject to + revision. Our laws, being of human origin, are faulty and their + application is disappointing. Dissent, dissatisfaction, deprecation, + proposals for a better system fortified with better laws more + intelligently administered—these are permissible and should be + welcome. The Socialist (when he is not carried away by zeal to pool issues + with the Anarchist) has that in him which it does us good to hear. He may + be wrong b all else, yet right in showing us wherein we ourselves are + wrong. Anyhow, his mission is amendment, and so long as his paths are + peace he has the right to walk therein, exhorting as he goes. The French + Communist who does not preach Petroleum and It rectified is to be regarded + with more than amusement, more than compassion. There is room for him and + his fad; there are hospitable ears for his boast that Jesus Christ would + have been a Communist if there had been Communes. They really did not + "know everything down in Judee." But for the Anarchist, whose aim is not + amendment, but destruction—not welfare to the race, but mischief to + a part of it—not happiness for the future, but revenge for the past—for + that animal there should be no close season, for that savage, no + reservation. Society has not the right to grant life to one who denies the + right to live. The protagonist of reversion to the regime of lacking noses + should lack a nose. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult to say if the bomb-thrower, actual or potential, is + greater as scoundrel or fool. Suppose his aim is to compel concession by + terror. Can not the brute observe at each of his exploits a tightening of + "the reins of power?" Through the necessity of guarding against him the + mildest governments are becoming despotic, the most despotic more + despotic. Does he suppose that "the rulers of the earth" are silly enough + to make concessions that will not insure their safety? Can <i>he</i> give + them security? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + Of all the wild asses that roam the plain, the wildest wild ass that roams + the plain is indubitably the one that lifts his voice and heel against + that socialism known as "public ownership of public utilities," on the + ground of "principle." There may be honest, and in some degree + intelligent, opposition on the ground of expediency. Many persons whom it + is a pleasure to respect believe that a Government railway, for example, + would be less efficiently managed than the same railway in private hands, + and that political dangers lurk in the proposal so enormously to increase + the number of Federal employes as Government ownership of railways would + entail. They think, in other words, that the policy is inexpedient. It is + a duty to reason with them, which, as a rule, one can do without being + insulted. But the chap who greets the proposal with a howl of derision as + "Socialism!" is not a respectable opponent. Eyes he has, but he sees not; + ears—oh! very abundant ears—but he hears not the still, small + voice of history nor the still smaller voice of common sense. + </p> + <p> + Obviously to those who, having eyes, do see, public ownership of anything + is a step in the direction of Socialism, for perfect Socialism means + public ownership of everything. But "principle" has nothing to do with it + The principle of public ownership is already accepted and established. It + has no visible opponents except in the camp of the Anarchists, and fewer + of them are visible there than soap and water would reveal. Antagonists of + the <i>principle</i> of Socialism lost their fight when the first human + government held the dedicatory exercises of a Cave of Legislation. Since + then the only question about the matter has been how far the <i>extension</i> + of Socialism is expedient Some would draw the limiting line at one place, + some at another; but only a fool thinks there can be government without + it, or good government without a great deal of it (The fact that we have + always had a great deal of it yet never had good government affirms + nothing that it is worth while to consider.) The word-worn example of our + Postal Department is only one of a thousand instances of pure Socialism. + If it did not exist how bitter an opposition a proposal to establish it + would evoke from Adversaries of the Red Rag! The Government builds and + operates bridges with general assent; but as the late General Walker + pointed out, it might under some circumstances be more economical, or + better otherwise, to build and operate a ferry boat, which is a floating + bridge. But that would be opposed as rank Socialism. + </p> + <p> + The truth is that the men and women of principle are a pretty dangerous + class, generally speaking—and they are generally speaking. It is + they that hamper us in every war. It is they who, preventing concentration + and regulation of un-abolishable evils, promote their distribution and + liberty. Moral principles are pretty good things—for the young and + those not well grounded in goodness. If one have an impediment in his + thought, or is otherwise unequal to emergencies as they arise, it is + safest to be provided beforehand with something to refer to in order that + a right decision may be made without taking thought. But "spirits of a + purer fire" prefer to decide each question as it comes up, and to act upon + the merits of the case, unbound and unpledged. With a quick intelligence, + a capable conscience and a habit of doing right automatically one has + little need to burden one's mind and memory with a set of solemn + principles formulated by owlish philosophers who do not happen to know + that what is right is merely what, in the long run and with regard to the + greater number of cases, is expedient Principle is not always an + infallible guide. For illustration, it is not always expedient—that + is, for the good of all concerned—to tell the truth, to be entirely + just or merciful, to pay a debt. I can conceive a case in which it would + be right to assassinate one's neighbor. Suppose him to be a desperate + scoundrel of a chemist who has devised a means of setting the atmosphere + afire. The man who should go through life on an inflexible line of + principle would border his path with a havoc of human happiness. + </p> + <p> + What one may think perfect one may not always think desirable. By + "perfect" one may mean merely complete, and the word was so used in my + reference to Socialism. I am not myself an advocate of "perfect + Socialism," but as to Government ownership of railways, there is doubtless + a good deal to be said on both sides. One argument in its favor appears + decisive; under a system subject to popular control the law of gravitation + would be shorn of its preeminence as a means of removing personal property + from the baggage car, and so far as it is applicable to that work might + even be repealed. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. + </h2> + <p> + When M. Casimir-Perier resigned the French Presidency there were those who + regarded the act as weak, cowardly, undutiful and otherwise censurable. It + seems to me the act, not of a feeble man, but of a strong one—not + that of a coward, but that of a gentleman. Indeed, I hardly know where to + look in history for an act more entirely gratifying to my sense of "the + fitness of things" than this dignified notification to mankind that in + consenting to serve one's country one does not relinquish the right to + decent treatment—to immunity from factious opposition and abuse—to + at least as much civil consideration as is due from the Church to the + Devil. + </p> + <p> + M. Casimir-Perier did not seek the Presidency of the French Republic; it + was thrust upon him against his protestations by an apparently almost + unanimous mandate of the French people in an emergency which it was + thought that he was the best man to meet. That he met it with modesty and + courage was testified without dissent. That he afterward did anything to + forfeit the confidence and respect that he then inspired is not true, and + nobody believes it true. Yet in his letter of resignation he said, and + said truly: + </p> + <p> + "For the last six months a campaign of slander and insult has been going + on against the army, magistrates. Parliament and hierarchical Chief of + State, and this license to disseminate social hatred continues to be + called 'the liberty of thought.'" + </p> + <p> + And with a dignity to which it seems strange that any one could be + insensible, he added: + </p> + <p> + "The respect and ambition which I entertain for my country will not allow + me to acknowledge that the servants of the country, and he who represents + it in the presence of foreign nations, may be insulted every day." + </p> + <p> + These are noble words. Have we any warrant for demanding or expecting that + men of clean life and character will devote themselves to the good of + ingrates who pay, and ingrates who permit them to pay, in flung mud? It is + hardly credible that among even those persons most infatuated by + contemplation of their own merit as pointed out by their thrifty + sycophants "the liberty of thought" has been carried to that extreme. The + right of the State to demand the sacrifice of the citizen's life is a + doctrine as old as the patriotism that concedes it, but the right to + require him to forego his good name—that is something new under the + sun. From nothing but the dunghill of modern democracy could so noxious a + plant have sprung. + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps in laying down my functions," said M. Casimir-Perier, "I shall + have marked out a path of duty to those who are solicitous for the + dignity, power and good name of France in the world." + </p> + <p> + We may be permitted to hope that the lesson is wider than France and more + lasting than the French Republic. It is time that not only France but all + other countries with "popular institutions" should learn that if they wish + to command the services of men of honor they must accord them honorable + treatment; the rule now is for the party to which they belong to give them + a half-hearted support while suffering all other parties to slander and + insult them. The action of the President of the French Republic in these + disgusting circumstances is exceptional and unusual only in respect of his + courage in expressly resenting his wrong. Everywhere the unreasonable + complaint is heard that good men will not "go into politics;" everywhere + the ignorant and malignant masses and their no less malignant and hardly + less ignorant leaders and spokesmen, having sown the wind of reasonless + obstruction and partisan vilification, are reaping the whirlwind of + misrule. So far as concerns the public service, gentlemen are mostly on a + strike against introduction of the mud-machine. This high-minded political + workman, Casimir-Perier, never showed to so noble advantage as in + gathering up his tools and walking out. + </p> + <p> + It may be, and a million times has been, urged that abstention from + activity in public affairs by men of brains and character leaves the + business of government in the hands of the incapable and the vicious. In + whose hands, pray, in a republic does it logically belong? What does the + theory of "representative government" affirm? What is the lesson of every + netherward extension of the suffrage? What do we mean by permitting it to + "broaden slowly down" to lower and lower intelligences and moralities?—what + but that stupidity and vice, equally with virtue and wisdom, are entitled + to a voice in political affairs, a finger in the public pie? + </p> + <p> + A person that is fit to vote is fit to be voted for. He who is competent + for the high and difficult function of choosing an officer of the State is + competent to serve the State as an officer. To deny him the right is + illogical and unjust. Participation in Government can not be at the same + time a privilege and a duty, and he who claims it as a privilege must not + speak of another's renunciation (whereby himself is more highly + privileged) as "shirking." With every retirement from politics increased + power passes to those who remain. Shall they protest? Shall they, also, + who have retired? Who else is to protest? The complaint of "incivism" + would be more rational if there were some one by whom it could reasonably + be made. + </p> + <p> + My advice to slandered officials has ever been: "Resign." The public + officials of this favored country, Heaven be thanked, are infrequently + slandered: they are, as a rule, so bad that calumniation is a compliment. + Our best men, with here and there an exception, have been driven out of + public life, or made afraid to enter it. Even our spasmodic efforts at + reform fail ludicrously for lack of leaders unaffiliated with "the thing + to be reformed." Unless attracted by the salary, why should a gentleman + "aspire" to the Presidency of the United States? During his canvass (and + he is expected to "run," not merely to "stand") he will have from his own + party a support that should make him blush, and from all the others an + opposition that will stick at nothing to accomplish his satisfactory + defamation. After his election his partition and allotment of the loaves + and fishes will estrange an important and thenceforth implacable faction + of his following without appeasing the animosity of any one else; and + during his entire service his sky will be dark with a flight of dead cats. + At the finish of his term the utmost that he can expect in the way of + reward not expressible in terms of the national currency is that not much + more than one-half of his countrymen will believe him a scoundrel to the + end of their days. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + The kind of government that we have seems to me one of the worst kinds + extant A government that does not protect life is a flat failure, no + matter what else it may do. Life being almost universally regarded as the + most precious possession, its security is the first and highest essential—not + the life of him who takes life, but the life which is exposed defenceless + to his hateful hand. In no country in the world, civilized or savage, is + life so insecure as in this. In no country in the world is murder held in + so light reprobation. In no battle of modern times have so many lives been + taken as are lost annually in the United States through public + indifference to the crime of homicide—through disregard of law, + through bad government. If American self-government, with its ten thousand + homicides a year, is good government, there is no such thing as bad. + Self-government! What monstrous nonsense! Who governs himself needs no + government, has no governor, is not governed. If government has any + meaning it means the restraint of the many by the few—the + subordination of numbers to brains. It means the determined denial to the + masses of the right to cut their own throats. It means the grasp and + control of all the social forces and material enginery—a vigilant + censorship of the press, a firm hand upon the church, keen supervision of + public meetings and public amusements, command of the railroads, telegraph + and all means of communication. It means, in short, the ability to make + use of all the beneficent influences of enlightenment for the good of the + people, and to array all the powers of civilization against civilization's + natural enemies—the people. Government like this has a thousand + defects, but it has one merit: it is government. + </p> + <p> + Despotism? Yes. It is the despotisms of the world that have been the + conservators of civilization. It is the despot who, most powerful for + mischief, is alone powerful for good. It is conceded that government is + necessary—even by the "fierce democracies" that madly renounce it. + But in so far as government is not despotic it is not government. In + Europe for the last one hundred years, the tendency of all government has + been liberalization. The history of European politics during that period + is a history of renunciation by the rulers and assumption by the ruled. + Sovereign after sovereign has surrendered prerogative after prerogative; + the nobility privilege after privilege. Mark the result: society + honeycombed with treason; property menaced with partition; assassination + studied as a science and practiced as an art; everywhere powerful secret + organizations sworn to demolish the social fabric that the slow centuries + have but just erected and unmindful that themselves will perish in the + wreck. No heart in Europe can beat tranquilly under clean linen. Such is + the gratitude, such is the wisdom, such the virtue of "The Masses." In + 1863 Alexander II of Russia freed 25,000,000 serfs. In 1879 they had + killed him and all joined the conspirators. + </p> + <p> + That ancient and various device, "a republican form of government," + appears to be too good for all the peoples of the earth excepting one. It + is partly successful in Switzerland; in France and America, where the + majority is composed of persons having dark understandings and criminal + instincts, it has broken down. In our case, as in every case, the momentum + of successful revolution carried us too far. We rebelled against tyranny + and having overthrown it, overthrew also the governmental form in which it + had happened to be manifest. In their anger and their triumph our good old + gran'thers acted somewhat in the spirit of the Irishman who cudgeled the + dead snake until nothing was left of it, in order to make it "sinsible of + its desthroction." They meant it all, too, the honest souls! For a long + time after the setting up of the republic the republic meant active hatred + to kings, nobles, aristocracies. It was held, and rightly held, that a + nobleman could not breathe in America—that he left his title and his + privileges on the ship that brought him over. Do we observe anything of + that in this generation? On the landing of a foreign king, prince or + nobleman—even a miserable "knight"—do we not execute + sycophantic genuflexions? Are not our newspapers full of flamboyant + descriptions and qualming adulation? Nay, does not our President himself—successor + to Washington and Jefferson!—greet and entertain the "nation's + guest"? Is not every American young woman crazy to mate with a male of + title? Does all this represent no retrogression?—is it not the + backward movement of the shadow on the dial? Doubtless the republican idea + has struck strong roots into the soil of the two Americas, but he who + rightly considers the tendencies of events, the causes that bring them + about and the consequences that flow from them, will not be hot to affirm + the perpetuity of republican institutions in the Western Hemisphere. + Between their inception and their present stage of development there is + scarcely the beat of a pendulum; and already, by corruption and + lawlessness, the people of both continents, with all their diversities of + race and character, have shown themselves about equally unfit. To become a + nation of scoundrels all that any people needs is opportunity, and what we + are pleased to call by the impossible name of "self-government" supplies + it. + </p> + <p> + The capital defect of republican government is inability to repress + internal forces tending to disintegration. It does not take long for a + "self-governed" people to learn that it is not really governed—that + an agreement enforcible by nobody but the parties to it is not binding. We + are learning this very rapidly: we set aside our laws whenever we please. + The sovereign power—the tribunal of ultimate jurisdiction—is a + mob. If the mob is large enough (it need not be very large), even if + composed of vicious tramps, it may do as it will. It may destroy property + and life. It may without proof of guilt inflict upon individuals torments + unthinkable by fire and flaying, mutilations that are nameless. It may + call men, women and children from their beds and beat them to death with + cudgels. In the light of day it may assail the very strongholds of law in + the heart of a populous city, and assassinate prisoners of whose guilt it + knows nothing. And these things—observe, O victims of kings—are + habitually done. One would as well be at the mercy of one's sovereign as + of one's neighbor. + </p> + <p> + For generations we have been charming ourselves with the magic of words. + When menaced by some exceptionally monstrous form of the tyranny of + numbers we have closed our eyes and murmured, "Liberty." When armed + Anarchists threaten to quench the fires of civilization in a sea of blood + we prate of the protective power of "free speech." If, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Girt about by friends or foes, + A man may speak the thing he will," +</pre> + <p> + we fondly fancy that the thing he will speak is harmless—that + immunity disarms his tongue of its poison, his thought of its infection. + With a fatuity that would be incredible without the testimony of + observation, we hold that an Anarchist free to go about making proselytes, + free to purchase arms, free to drill and parade and encourage his dupes + with a demonstration of their numbers and power, is less mischievous than + an Anarchist with a shut mouth, a weaponless hand and under surveillance + of the police. The Anarchist himself is persuaded of the superiority of + our plan of dealing with him; he likes it and comes over in quantity, + inpesting the political atmosphere with the "sweltered venom" engendered + by centuries of oppression—comes over here, where he is not + oppressed, and sets up as oppressor. His preferred field of malefaction is + the country that is most nearly anarchical. He comes here, partly to + better himself under our milder institutions, partly to secure immunity + while conspiring to destroy them. There is thunder in Europe, but if the + storm ever break it is in America that the lightning will fall, for here + is a great vortex into which the decivilizing agencies are pouring without + obstruction. Here gather the eagles to the feast, for the quarry is + defenceless. Here is no power in government, no government. Here an enemy + of order is thought to be least dangerous when suffered to preach and arm + in peace. And here is nothing between him and his task of supervision—no + pampered soldiery to repress his rising, no iron authority to lay him by + the heels. The militia is fraternal, the magistracy elective. Europe may + hold out a little longer. The Great Powers may make what stage-play they + will, but they are not maintaining their incalculable armaments for + aggression upon one another, for protection from one another, nor for fun. + These vast forces are purely constabular—creatures and creators of + discontent—phenomena of decivilization. Eventually they will + fraternize with Disorder or become themselves Praetorian Guards more + dangerous than the perils that have called them into existence. + </p> + <p> + It is easy to forecast the first stages of the End's approach: Rioting. + Disaffection of constabulary and troops. Subversion of the Government A + policy of decapitation. Upthrust of the serviceable Anarchist. His prompt + effacement by his victorious ally and natural enemy, the Socialist. Free + minting and printing of money—to every citizen a shoulder-load of + the latter, to the printers a ton each. Divided counsels. Pandemonium. The + man on horseback. Gusts of grape. ———? + </p> + <p> + Formerly the bearer of evil tidings was only slain; he is now ignored. The + gods kept their secrets by telling them to Cassandra, whom no one would + believe. I do not expect to be heeded. The crust of a volcano is electric + the fumes are narcotic; the combined sensation is delightful no end. I + have looked at the dial of civilization; I tell you the shadow is going + back. That is of small importance to men of leisure, with wine-dipped + wreaths upon their heads. They do not care to know. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CIVILIZATION + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + THE question "Does civilization civilize?" is a fine example of <i>petitio + principii</i>. and decides itself in the affirmative; for civilization + must needs do that from the doing of which it has its name. But it is not + necessary to suppose that he who propounds is either unconscious of his + lapse in logic or desirous of digging a pitfall for the feet of those who + discuss; I take it he simply wishes to put the matter in an impressive + way, and relies upon a certain degree of intelligence in the + interpretation. + </p> + <p> + Concerning uncivilized peoples we know but little except what we are told + by travelers—who, speaking generally, can know very little but the + fact of uncivilization as shown in externals and irrelevances, and are + moreover, greatly given to lying. From the savages we hear very little. + Judging them in all things by our own standards, in default of a knowledge + of theirs, we necessarily condemn, disparage and belittle. One thing that + civilization certainly has not done is to make us intelligent enough to + understand that the opposite of a virtue is not necessarily a vice. + Because we do not like the taste of one another it does not follow that + the cannibal is a person of depraved appetite. Because, as a rule, we have + but one wife and several mistresses each it is not certain that polygamy + is everywhere—nor, for that matter, anywhere—either wrong or + inexpedient. Our habit of wearing clothes does not prove that conscience + of the body, the sense of shame, is charged with a divine mandate; for + like the conscience of the spirit it is the creature of what it seems to + create: it comes to the habit of wearing clothes. And for those who hold + that the purpose of civilization is morality it may be said that peoples + which are the most nearly naked are, in our sense, the most nearly moral. + Because the brutality of the civilized slave owners and dealers created a + conquering sentiment against slavery it is not intelligent to assume that + slavery is a maleficent thing amongst Oriental peoples (for example) where + the slave is not oppressed. + </p> + <p> + Some of these same Orientals whom we are pleased to term half-civilized + have no regard for truth. "Takest thou me for a Christian dog," said one + of them, "that I should be the slave of my word?" So far as I can perceive + the "Christian dog" is no more the slave of his word than the True + Believer, and I think the savage—allowing for the fact that his + inveracity has dominion over fewer things—as great a liar as either + of them. For my part, I do not know what, in all circumstances, is right + or wrong; but I know, if right, it is at least stupid to judge an + uncivilized people by the standards of morality and intelligence set up by + civilized ones. An infinitesimal proportion of civilized men do not, and + there is much to be said for civilization if they are the product of it. + </p> + <p> + Life in civilized countries is so complex that men there have more ways to + be good than savages have, and more to be bad; more to be happy, and more + to be miserable. And in each way to be good or bad, their generally + superior knowledge—their knowledge of more things—enables them + to commit greater excesses than the savage could widi the same + opportunity. The civilized philanthropist wreaks upon his fellow creatures + a ranker philanthropy, the civilized scoundrel a sturdier rascality. And—splendid + triumph of enlightenment!—the two characters are, in civilisation, + commonly combined in one person. + </p> + <p> + I know of no savage custom or habit of thought which has not its mate in + civilized countries. For every mischievous or absurd practice of the + natural man I can name you a dozen of the unnatural which are essentially + the same. And nearly every custom of our barbarian ancestors in historic + times survives in some form today. We make ourselves look formidable in + battle—for that matter, we fight. Our women paint their faces. We + feel it obligatory to dress more or less alike, inventing the most + ingenious reasons for it and actually despising and persecuting those who + do not care to conform. Within the memory of living persons bearded men + were stoned in the streets; and a clergyman in New York who wore his beard + as Christ wore his, was put into jail and variously persecuted till he + died. We bury our dead instead of burning them, yet every cemetery is set + thick with urns. As there are no ashes for the urns we do not trouble + ourselves to make them hollow, and we say their use is "emblematic." When, + following the bent of our ancestral instincts, we go on, age after age, in + the performance of some senseless act which once had a use and meaning we + excuse ourselves by calling it symbolism. Our "symbols" are merely + survivals. We have theology and patriotism. We have all the savage's + superstition. We propitiate and ingratiate by means of gifts. We shake + hands. All these and hundreds of others of our practices are distinctly, + in their nature and by their origin, savage. + </p> + <p> + Civilization does not, I think, make the race any better. It makes men + know more: and if knowledge makes them happy it is useful and desirable. + The one purpose of every sane human being is to be happy. No one can have + any other motive than that. There is no such thing as unselfishness. We + perform the most "generous" and "self-sacrificing" acts because we should + be unhappy if we did not. We move on lines of least reluctance. Whatever + tends to increase the beggarly sum of human happiness is worth having; + nothing else has any value. + </p> + <p> + The cant of civilization fatigues. Civilization is a fine and beautiful + structure. It is as picturesque as a Gothic cathedral. But it is built + upon the bones and cemented with the blood of those whose part in all its + pomp is that and nothing more. It cannot be reared in the generous + tropics, for there the people will not contribute their blood and bones. + The proposition that the average American workingman or European peasant + is "better off" than the South Sea Islander, lolling under a palm and + drunk with over-eating, will not bear a moment's examination. + </p> + <p> + It is we scholars and gentlemen that are better off. + </p> + <p> + It is admitted that the South Sea Islander in a state of nature is + overmuch addicted to the practice of eating human flesh; but concerning + that I submit: first, that he likes it; second, that those who supply it + are mostly dead. It is upon his enemies that he feeds, and these he would + kill anyhow, as we do ours. In civilized, enlightened and Christian + countries, where cannibalism has not yet established itself, wars are as + frequent and destructive as among the maneaters. The untitled savage knows + at least why he goes killing, whereas the private soldier is commonly in + black ignorance of the apparent cause of quarrel—of the actual + cause, always. Their shares in the fruits of victory are about equal: the + Chief takes all the dead, the General all the glory. Moreover it costs + more human life to supply a Christian gentleman with food than it does a + cannibal—with food alone: "board;" if you could figure out the + number of lives that his lodging, clothing, amusements and accomplishment + cost the sum would startle. Happily <i>he</i> does not pay it. Considering + human lives as having value, cannibalism is undoubtedly the more + economical system. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + Transplanted institutions grow but slowly; and civilization can not be put + into a ship and carried across an ocean. The history of this country is a + sequence of illustrations of these truths. It was settled by civilized men + and women from civilized countries, yet after two and a half centuries + with unbroken communication with the mother systems, it is still + imperfectly civilized. In learning and letters, in art and the science of + government, America is but a faint and stammering echo of England. + </p> + <p> + For nearly all that is good in our American civilization we are indebted + to England; the errors and mischiefs are of our own creation. We have + originated little, because there is little to originate, but we have + unconsciously reproduced many of the discredited and abandoned systems of + former ages and other countries—receiving them at second hand, but + making them ours by the sheer strength and immobility of the national + belief in their newness. Newness! Why, it is not possible to make an + experiment in government, in art, in literature, in sociology, or in + morals, that has not been made over, and over, and over again. Fools talk + of clear and simple remedies for this and that evil afflicting the + commonwealth. If a proposed remedy is obvious and easily intelligible, it + is condemned in the naming, for it is morally certain to have been tried a + thousand times in the history of the world, and had it been effective men + ere now would have forgotten, from mere disuse, how to produce the evil it + cured. + </p> + <p> + There are clear and simple remedies for nothing. In medicine there has + been discovered but a single specific; in politics not one. The interests, + moral and natural, of a community in our highly differentiated + civilization are so complex, intricate, delicate and interdependent, that + you can not touch one without affecting all. It is a familiar truth that + no law was ever passed that did not have unforeseen results; but of these + results, by far the greater number are never recognized as of its + creation. The best that can be said of any "measure" is, that the sum of + its perceptible benefits seems so to exceed the sum of its perceptible + evils as to constitute a balance of advantage. Yet the magnificent + innocence of the statesman or philosopher to whose understanding "the + whole matter lies in a nutshell"—who thinks he can formulate a + practical political or social policy within the four corners of an epigram—who + fears nothing because he knows nothing—is constantly to the fore + with a simple specific for ills whose causes are complex, constant and + inscrutable. To the understanding of this creature a difficulty well + ignored is half overcome; so he buttons up his eyes and assails the + problems of life with the divine confidence of a blind pig traversing a + labyrinth. + </p> + <p> + The glories of England are our glories. She can achieve nothing that our + fathers did not help to make possible to her. The learning, the power, the + refinement of a great nation, are not the growth of a century, but of many + centuries; each generation builds upon the work of the preceding. For + untold ages our ancestors wrought to rear that "revered pile," the + civilization of England. And shall we now try to belittle the mighty + structure because other though kindred hands are laying the top courses + while we have elected to found a new tower in another land? The American + eulogist of civilization who is not proud of his heritage in England's + glory is unworthy to enjoy his lesser heritage in the lesser glory of his + own country. + </p> + <p> + The English are undoubtedly our intellectual superiors; and as the virtues + are solely the product of education—a rogue being only a dunce + considered from another point of view—they are our moral superiors + likewise. Why should they not be? It is a land not of log and pine-board + schoolhouses grudgingly erected and containing schools supported by such + niggardly tax levies as a sparse and hard-handed population will consent + to pay, but of ancient institutions splendidly endowed by the State and by + centuries of private benefaction. As a means of dispensing formulated + ignorance our boasted public school system is not without merit; it + spreads it out sufficiently thin to give everyone enough to make him a + more competent fool than he would have been without it; but to compare it + with that which is not the creature of legislation acting with malice + aforethought, but the unnoted outgrowth of ages, is to be ridiculous. It + is like comparing the laid-out town of a western prairie, its right-angled + streets, prim cottages, "built on the installment plan," and its wooden + a-b-c shops, with the grand old town of Oxford, topped with the clustered + domes and towers of its twenty-odd great colleges; the very names of many + of whose founders have perished from human record as have all the + chronicles of the times in which they lived. + </p> + <p> + It is not alone that we have had to "subdue the wilderness;" our + educational conditions are otherwise adverse. Our political system is + unfavorable. Our fortunes, accumulated in one generation, are dispersed in + the next. If it takes three generations to make a gentleman one will not + make a thinker. Instruction is acquired, but capacity for instruction is + transmitted. The brain that is to contain a trained intellect is not the + result of a haphazard marriage between a clown and a wench, nor does it + get its tractable tissues from a hard-headed farmer and a soft-headed + milliner. If you confess the importance of race and pedigree in a race + horse and a bird dog how dare you deny it in a man? + </p> + <p> + I do not claim that the political and social system that creates an + aristocracy of leisure, and consequently of intellect, is the best + possible kind of human organization; I perceive its disadvantages clearly + enough. But I do not hold that a system under which all important public + trusts, political and professional, civil and military, ecclesiastical and + secular, are held by educated men—that is, men of trained faculties + and disciplined judgment—is not an altogether faulty system. + </p> + <p> + It is only in our own country that an exacting literary taste is believed + to disqualify a man for purveying to the literary needs of a taste less + exacting—a proposition obviously absurd, for an exacting taste is + nothing but the intelligent discrimination of a judgment instructed by + comparison and observation. There is, in fact, no pursuit or occupation, + from that of a man who blows up a balloon to that of the man who bores out + the stove pipes, in which he that has talent and education is not a better + worker than he that has either, and he than he that has neither. It is a + universal human weakness to disparage the knowledge that we do not + ourselves possess, but it is only my own beloved country that can justly + boast herself the last refuge and asylum of the impotents and incapables + who deny the advantage of all knowledge whatsoever. It was an American + Senator (Logan) who declared that he had devoted a couple of weeks to the + study of finance, and found the accepted authorities all wrong. It was + another American Senator (Morton) who, confronted with certain ugly facts + in the history of another country, proposed "to brush away all facts, and + argue the question on considerations of plain common sense." + </p> + <p> + Republican institutions have this disadvantage: by incessant changes in + the <i>personnel</i> of government—to say nothing of the manner of + men that ignorant constituencies elect; and all constituencies are + ignorant—we attain to no fixed principles and standards. There is no + such thing here as a science of politics, because it is not to any one's + interest to make politics the study of his life. Nothing is settled; no + truth finds general acceptance. What we do one year we undo the next, and + do over again the year following. Our energy is wasted in, and our + prosperity suffers from, experiments endlessly repeated. + </p> + <p> + One of the disadvantages of our social system, which is the child of our + political, is the tyranny of public opinion, forbidding the utterance of + wholesome but unpalatable truth. In a republic we are so accustomed to the + rule of majorities that it seldom occurs to us to examine their title to + dominion; and as the ideas of might and right are, by our innate sense of + justice, linked together, we come to consider public opinion infallible + and almost sacred. Now, majorities rule, not because they are right, but + because they are able to rule. In event of collision they would conquer, + so it is expedient for minorities to submit beforehand to save trouble. In + fact, majorities, embracing, as they do the most ignorant, seldom think + rightly; public opinion, being the opinion of mediocrity, is commonly a + mistake and a mischief. But it is to nobody's interest—it is against + the interest of most—to dispute with it. Public writer and public + speaker alike find their account in confirming "the plain people" in their + brainless errors and brutish prejudices—in glutting their omnivorous + vanity and inflaming their implacable racial and national hatreds. + </p> + <p> + I have long held the opinion that patriotism is one of the most abominable + vices affecting the human understanding. Every patriot in this world + believes his country better than any other country. Now, they cannot all + be the best; indeed, only one can be the best, and it follows that the + patriots of all the others have suffered themselves to be misled by a mere + sentiment into blind unreason. In its active manifestation—it is + fond of shooting—patriotism would be well enough if it were simply + defensive; but it is also aggressive, and the same feeling that prompts us + to strike for our altars and our fires impels us likewise to go over the + border to quench the fires and overturn the altars of our neighbors. It is + all very pretty and spirited, what the poets tell us about Thermopylae, + but there was as much patriotism at one end of that pass as there was at + the other. Patriotism deliberately and with folly aforethought + subordinates the interests of a whole to the interests of a part. Worse + still, the fraction so favored is determined by an accident of birth or + residence. Patriotism is like a dog which, having entered at random one of + a row of kennels, suffers more in combats with the dogs in the other + kennels than it would have done by sleeping in the open air. The hoodlum + who cuts the tail from a Chinamen's nowl, and would cut the nowl from the + body if he dared, is simply a patriot with a logical mind, having the + courage of his opinions. Patriotism is fierce as a fever, pitiless as the + grave, blind as a stone and irrational as a headless hen. + </p> + <p> + There are two ways of clarifying liquids—ebullition and + precipitation; one forces the impurities to the surface as scum, the other + sends them to the bottom as dregs. The former is the more offensive, and + that seems to be our way; but neither is useful if the impurities are + merely separated but not removed. We are told with tiresome iteration that + our social and political systems are clarifying; but when is the skimmer + to appear? If the purpose of free institutions is good government where is + the good government?—when may it be expected to begin?—how is + it to come about? Systems of government have no sanctity; they are + practical means to a simple end—the public welfare; worthy of no + respect if they fail of its accomplishment. The tree is known by its + fruit. Ours, is bearing crab-apples. + </p> + <p> + If the body politic is constitutionally diseased, as I verily believe; if + the disorder inheres in the system; there is no remedy. The fever must + burn itself out, and then Nature will do the rest. One does not prescribe + what time alone can administer. We have put our criminal class in power; + do we suppose they will efface themselves? Will they restore to <i>us</i> + the power of governing <i>them</i>? They must have their way and go their + length. The natural and immemorial sequence is: tyranny, insurrection, + combat. In combat everything that wears a sword has a chance—even + the right. History does not forbid us to hope. But it forbids us to rely + upon numbers; they will be against us. If history teaches anything worth + learning it teaches that the majority of mankind is neither good nor wise. + Where government is founded upon the public conscience and the public + intelligence the stability of States is a dream. Nor have we any warrant + for the Tennysonian faith that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Freedom broadens slowly down + From precedent to precedent." +</pre> + <p> + In that moment of time that is covered by historical records we have + abundant evidence that each generation has believed itself wiser and + better than any of its predecessors; that each people has believed itself + to have the secret of national perpetuity. In support of this universal + delusion there is nothing to be said; the desolate places of the earth cry + out against it. Vestiges of obliterated civilizations cover the earth; no + savage but has camped upon the sites of proud and populous cities; no + desert but has heard the statesman's boast of national stability. Our + nation, our laws, our history—all shall go down to everlasting + oblivion with the others, and by the same road. But I submit that we are + traveling it with needless haste. + </p> + <p> + But it is all right and righteous. It can be spared—this Jonah's + gourd civilization of ours. We have hardly the rudiments of a true + civilization; compared with the splendors of which we catch dim glimpses + in the fading past, ours are as an illumination of tallow candles. We know + no more than the ancients; we only know other things, but nothing in which + is an assurance of perpetuity, and little that is truly wisdom. Our + vaunted <i>elixir vito</i> is the art of printing with moveable types. + What good will those do when posterity, struck by the inevitable + intellectual blight, shall have ceased to read what is printed? Our + libraries will become its stables, our books its fuel. + </p> + <p> + Ours is a civilization that might be heard from afar in space as a + scolding and a riot; a civilization in which the race has so + differentiated as to have no longer a community of interest and feeling; + which shows as a ripe result of the principles underlying it a reasonless + and rascally feud between rich and poor; in which one is offered a choice + (if one have the means to take it) between American plutocracy and + European militocracy, with an imminent chance of renouncing either for a + stultocratic republic with a headsman in the presidential chair and every + laundress in exile. + </p> + <p> + I have not a "solution" to the "labor problem." I have only a story. Many + and many years ago lived a man who was so good and wise that none in all + the world was so good and wise as he. He was one of those few whose + goodness and wisdom are such that after some time has passed their + fellowmen begin to think them gods and treasure their words as divine law; + and by millions they are worshiped through centuries of time. Amongst the + utterances of this man was one command—not a new nor perfect one—which + has seemed to his adorers so preeminently wise that they have given it a + name by which it is known over half the world. One of the sovereign + virtues of this famous law is its simplicity, which is such that all + hearing must understand; and obedience is so easy that any nation refusing + is unfit to exist except in the turbulence and adversity that will surely + come to it. When a people would avert want and strife, or having them, + would restore plenty and peace, this noble commandment offers the only + means—all other plans for safety or relief are as vain as dreams, + and as empty as the crooning of fools. And behold, here it is: "All things + whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." + </p> + <p> + What! you unappeasable rich, coining the sweat and blood of your workmen + into drachmas, understanding the law of supply and demand as mandatory and + justifying your cruel greed by the senseless dictum that "business is + business;" you lazy workman, railing at the capitalist by whose desertion, + when you have frightened away his capital, you starve—rioting and + shedding blood and torturing and poisoning by way of answer to exaction + and by way of exaction; you foul anarchists, applauding with indelicate + palms when one of your coward kind hurls a bomb amongst powerless and + helpless women and children; you imbecile politicians with a plague of + remedial legislation for the irremediable; you writers and thinkers unread + in history, with as many "solutions to the labor problem" as there are + dunces among you who can not coherently define it—do you really + think yourself wiser than Jesus of Nazareth? Do you seriously suppose + yourselves competent to amend his plan for dealing with all the evils + besetting states and souls? Have you the effrontery to believe that those + who spurn his Golden Rule you can bind to obedience of an act entitled an + act to amend an act? Bah! you fatigue the spirit. Go get ye to your + scoundrel lockouts, your villain strikes, your blacklisting, your + boycotting, your speech-ing, marching and maundering; but if ye do not to + others as ye would that they do to you it shall occur, and that right + soon, that ye be drowned in your own blood and your pickpocket + civilization quenched as a star that falls into the sea. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE GAME OF POLITICS + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + IF ONE were to declare himself a Democrat or a Republican and the claim + should be contested he would find it a difficult one to prove. The missing + link in his chain of evidence would be the major premise in the syllogism + necessary to the establishment of his political status—a definition + of "Democrat" or "Republican." Most of the statesmen in public and private + life who are poll-parroting these words, do so with entire unconsciousness + of their meaning, or rather without knowledge that they have lost whatever + of meaning they once had. The words are mere "survivals," marking dead + issues and covering allegiances of the loosest and most shallow character. + On any question of importance each party is divided against itself and + dares not formulate a preference. There is no question before the country + upon which one may not think and vote as he likes without affecting his + standing in the political communion of saints of which he professes + himself a member. "Party lines" are as terribly confused as the parallels + of latitude and longitude after a twisting earthquake, or those aimless + lines representing the competing railroad on a map published by a company + operating "the only direct route." It is not probable that this state of + things can last; if there is to be "government by party"—and we + should be sad to think that so inestimable a boon were soon to return to + Him who gave it—men must begin to let their angry passions rise and + take rides. "Ill fares the land to hastening ills a prey," where the + people are too wise to dispute and too good to fight. Let us have the good + old political currency of bloody noses and cracked crowns; let the yawp of + the demagogue be heard in the land; let ears be pestered with the spargent + cheers of the masses. Give us a whoop-up that shall rouse us like a + rattling peal of thunder. Will nobody be our Moses—there should be + two Moseses—to lead us through this detestable wilderness of + political stagnation? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + Nowhere "on God's green earth"—it is fitting, that this paper + contain a bit of bosh—nowhere is so much insufferable stuff talked + in a given period of time as in an American political convention. It is + there that all those objectionable elements of the national character + which evoke the laughter of Europe and are the despair of our friends find + freest expression, unhampered by fear of any censorship more exacting than + that of "the opposing party"—which takes no account of intellectual + delinquencies, but only of moral. The "organs" of the "opposing party" + will not take the trouble to point out—even to observe—that + the "debasing sentiments" and "criminal views" uttered in speech and + platform are expressed in sickening syntax and offensive rhetoric. + Doubtless an American politician, statesman, what you will, could go into + a political convention and signify his views with simple, unpretentious + common sense, but doubtless he never does. + </p> + <p> + Every community is cursed with a number of "orators"—men regarded as + "eloquent"—"silver tongued" men—fellows who to the common + American knack at brandishing the tongue add an exceptional felicity of + platitude, a captivating mastery of dog's-eared sentiment, a copious and + obedient vocabulary of eulogium, an iron insensibility to the ridiculous + and an infinite affinity to fools. These afflicting Chrysostoms are always + lying in wait for an "occasion" It matters not what it is: a "reception" + to some great man from abroad, a popular ceremony like the laying of a + corner-stone, the opening of a fair, the dedication of a public building, + an anniversary banquet of an ancient and honorable order (they all belong + to ancient and honorable orders) or a club dinner—they all belong to + clubs and pay dues. But it is in the political convention that they come + out particularly strong. By some imperious tradition having the force of + written law it is decreed that in these absurd bodies of our fellow + citizens no word of sense shall be uttered from the platform; whatever is + uttered in set speeches shall be addressed to the meanest capacity present + As a chain can be no stronger than its weakest link, so nothing said by + the speakers at a political convention must be above the intellectual + reach of the most pernicious idiot having a seat and a vote. I don't know + why it is so. It seems to be thought that if he is not suitably + entertained he will not attend, as a delegate, the next convention. + </p> + <p> + Here are the opening sentences of the speech in which a man was once + nominated for Governor: + </p> + <p> + "Two years ago the Republican party in State and Nation marched to + imperial triumph. On every hilltop and mountain peak our beacons blazed + and we awakened the echoes of every valley with songs of our rejoicings." + </p> + <p> + And so forth. Now, if I were asked to recast those sentences so that they + should conform to the simple truth and be inoffensive to good taste I + should say something like this: + </p> + <p> + "Two years ago the Republican party won a general election." + </p> + <p> + If there is any thing in this inflated rigmarole that is not adequately + expressed in my amended statement, what is it? As to eloquence it will + hardly be argued that nonsense, falsehood and metaphors which were old + when Rome was young are essential to that. The first man (in early Greece) + who spoke of awakening an echo did a felicitous thing. Was it felicitous + in the second? Is it felicitous now? As to that military metaphor—the + "marching" and so forth—its inventor was as great an ass as any one + of the incalculable multitude of his plagiarists. On this matter hear the + late Richard Grant White: + </p> + <p> + "Is it not time that we had done with the nauseous talk about campaigns, + and standard-bearers, and glorious victories (imperial triumphs) and all + the bloated army-bumming bombast which is so rife for the six months + preceding an election? To read almost any one of our political papers + during a canvass is enough to make one sick and sorry.... An election has + no manner of likeness to a campaign, or a battle. It is not even a contest + in which the stronger or more dexterous party is the winner; it is a mere + counting, in which the bare fact that one party is the more numerous puts + it in power if it will only come up and be counted; to insure which a + certain time is spent by each party in reviling and belittling the + candidates of its opponents and lauding its own; and this is the canvass, + at the likening of which to a campaign every honest soldier might + reasonably take offense." + </p> + <p> + But, after all, White was only "one o' them dam litery fellers," and I + dare say the original proponent of the military metaphor, away off there + in "the dark backward and abysm of time," knew a lot more about practical + politics than White ever did. And it is practical politics to be an ass. + </p> + <p> + In withdrawing his own name from before a convention, a California + politician once made a purely military speech of which a single sample + passage is all that I shall allow myself the happiness to quote: + </p> + <p> + "I come before you today as a Republican of the Republican banner county + of this great State of ours. From snowy Shasta on the north to sunny Diego + on the south; from the west, where the waves of the Pacific look upon our + shores, to where the barriers of the great Sierras stand clad in eternal + snow, there is no more loyal county to the Republican party in this State + than the county from which I hail. [Applause, naturally.] Its loyalty to + the party has been tested on many fields of battle [Anglice, in many + elections] and it has never wavered in the contest Wherever the fate of + battle was trembling in the balance [Homer, and since Homer, Tom, Dick and + Harry] Alameda county stepped into the breach and rescued the Republican + party from defeat." + </p> + <p> + Translated into English this military mouthing would read somewhat like + this: + </p> + <p> + "I live in Alameda county, where the Republicans have uniformly outvoted + the Democrats." + </p> + <p> + The orators at the Democratic convention a week earlier were no better and + no different. Their rhetorical stock-in-trade was the same old shop-worn + figures of speech in which their predecessors have dealt for ages, and in + which their successors will traffic to the end of—well, to the end + of that imitative quality in the national character, which, by its + superior intensity, serves to distinguish us from the apes that perish. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + "What we most need, to secure honest elections," says a well-meaning + reformer, "is the Clifford or the Myers voting machine." Why, truly, here + is a hopeful spirit—a rare and radiant intelligence suffused with + the conviction that men can be made honest by machinery—that human + character is a matter of gearing, ratchets and dials! One would give + something to know how it feels to be like that. A mind so constituted must + be as happy in its hope as a hen incubating a nest-ful of porcelain + door-knobs. It lives in rapturous contemplation of a world of its own + creation—a world where public morality and political good order are + to be had by purchase at the machine-shop. In that delectable world + religion is superfluous; the true high priest is the mechanical engineer; + the minor clergy are the village blacksmiths. It is rather a pity that so + fine and fair a sphere should prosper only in the attenuated ether of an + idiot's understanding. + </p> + <p> + Voting-machines are doubtless well enough; they save labor and enable the + statesmen of the street to know the result within a few minutes of the + closing of the polls—whereby many are spared to their country who + would otherwise incur fatal disorders by exposure to the night air while + assisting in awaiting the returns. But a voting-machine that human + ingenuity can not pervert, human ingenuity can not invent. + </p> + <p> + That is true, too, of laws. Your statesman of a mental stature somewhat + overtopping that of the machine-person puts his faith in law. Providence + has designed to permit him to be persuaded of the efficacy of statutes—good, + stringent, carefully drawn statutes definitively repealing all the laws of + nature in conflict with any of their provisions. So the poor devil (I am + writing of Mr. Legion) turns for relief from law to law, ever on the stool + of repentance, yet ever unfouling the anchor of hope. By no power cm earth + can his indurated understanding be penetrated by the truth that his woful + state is due, not to any laws of his own, nor to any lack of them, but to + his rascally refusal to obey the Golden Rule. How long is it since we were + all clamoring for the Australian ballot law, which was to make a new + Heaven and a new earth? We have the Australian ballot law and the same old + earth smelling to the same old Heaven. Writhe upon the triangle as we may, + groan out what new laws we will, the pitiless thong will fall upon our + bleeding backs as long as we deserve it. If our sins, which are scarlet, + are to be washed as white as wool it must be in the tears of a genuine + contrition: our crocodile deliverances will profit us nothing. We must + stop chasing dollars, stop lying, stop cheating, stop ignoring art, + literature and all the refining agencies and instrumentalities of + civilization. We must subdue our detestable habit of shaking hands with + prosperous rascals and fawning upon the merely rich. It is not permitted + to our employers to plead in justification of low wages the law of supply + and demand that is giving them high profits. It is not permitted to + discontented employees to break the bones of contented ones and destroy + the foundations of social order. It is infamous to look upon public office + with the lust of possession; it is disgraceful to solicit political + preferment, to strive and compete for "honors" that are sullied and + tarnished by the touch of the reaching hand. Until we amend our personal + characters we shall amend our laws in vain. Though Paul plant and Apollos + water, the field of reform will grow nothing but the figless thistle and + the grapeless thorn. The State is an aggregation of individuals. Its + public character is the expression of their personal ones. By no political + prestidigitation can it be made better and wiser than the sum of their + goodness and wisdom. To expect that men who do not honorably and + intelligently conduct their private affairs will honorably and + intelligently conduct the affairs of the community is to be a fool. We are + told that out of nothing God made the Heavens and the earth; but out of + nothing God never did and man never can, make a public sense of honor and + a public conscience. Miracles are now performed but one day of the year—the + twenty-ninth of February; and on leap year God is forbidden to perform + them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. + </h2> + <p> + Ye who hold that the power of eloquence is a thing of the past and the + orator an anachronism; who believe that the trend of political events and + the results of parliamentary action are determined by committees in cold + consultation and the machinations of programmes in holes and corners, + consider the ascension of Bryan and be wise. A week before the convention + of 1896 William J. Bryan had never heard of himself; upon his natural + obscurity was superposed the opacity of a Congressional service that + effaced him from the memory of even his faithful dog, and made him immune + to dunning. Today he is pinnacled upon the summit of the tallest political + distinction, gasping in the thin atmosphere of his unfamiliar environment + and fitly astonished at the mischance. To the dizzy elevation of his + candidacy he was hoisted out of the shadow by his own tongue, the longest + and liveliest in Christendom. Had he held it—which he could not have + done with both hands—there had been no Bryan. His creation was the + unstudied act of his own larynx; it said, "Let there be Bryan," and there + was Bryan. Even in these degenerate days there is a hope for the orators + when one can make himself a Presidential peril by merely waving the red + flag in the cave of the winds and tormenting the circumjacence with a + brandish of abundant hands. + </p> + <p> + To be quite honest, I do not entirely believe that Orator Bryan's tongue + had anything to do with it. I have long been convinced that personal + persuasion is a matter of animal magnetism—what in its more obvious + manifestation we now call hypnotism. At the back of the words and the + postures, and independent of them, is that secret, mysterious power, + addressing, not the ear, not the eye, nor, through them, the + understanding, but through its matching quality in the auditor, + captivating the will and enslaving it That is how persuasion is effected; + the spoken words merely supply a pretext for surrender. They enable us to + yield without loss of our self-esteem, in the delusion that we are + conceding to reason what is really extorted by charm. The words are + necessary, too, to point out what the orator wishes us to think, if we are + not already apprised of it. When the nature of his power is better + understood and frankly recognized, he can spare himself the toil of + talking. The parliamentary debate of the future will probably be conducted + in silence, and with only such gestures as go by the name of "passes." The + chairman will state the question before the House and the side, + affirmative or negative, to be taken by the honorable member entitled to + the floor. That gentleman will rise, train his compelling orbs upon the + miscreants in opposition, execute a few passes and exhaust his alloted + time in looking at them. He will then yield to an honorable member of + dissenting views. The preponderance in magnetic power and hypnotic skill + will be manifest in the voting. The advantages of the method are as plain + as the nose on an elephant's face. The "arena" will no longer "ring" with + anybody's "rousing speech," to the irritating abridgment of the + inalienable right to pursuit of sleep. Honorable members will lack + provocation to hurl allegations and cuspidors. Pitchforking statesmen and + tosspot reformers will be unable to play at pitch-and-toss with + reputations not submitted for the performance. In short, the congenial + asperities of debate will be so mitigated that the honorable member from + Hades will retire permanently from the hauls of legislation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + "Public opinion," says Buckle, "being the voice of the average man, is the + voice of mediocrity." Is it therefore so very wise and infallible a guide + as to be accepted without other credentials than its name and fame? Ought + we to follow its light and leading with no better assurance of the + character of its authority than a count of noses of those following it + already, and with no inquiry as to whether it has not on many former + occasions let them and their several sets of predecessors into bogs of + error and over precipices to "eternal mock?" Surely "the average man," as + every one knows him, is not very wise, not very learned, not very good; + how is it that his views, of so intricate and difficult matters as those + of which public opinion makes pronouncement through him are entitled to + such respect? It seems to me that the average man, as I know him, is very + much a fool, and something of a rogue as well. He has only a smattering of + education, knows virtually nothing of political history, nor history of + any kind, is incapable of logical, that is to say clear, thinking, is + subject to the suasion of base and silly prejudices, and selfish beyond + expression. That such a person's opinions should be so obviously better + than my own that I should accept them instead, and assist in enacting them + into laws, appears to me most improbable. I may "bow to the will of the + people" as gracefully as a defeated candidate, and for the same reason, + namely, that I can not help myself; but to admit that I was wrong in my + belief and flatter the power that subdues me—no, that I will not do. + And if nobody would do so the average man would not be so very cock-sure + of his infallibility and might sometimes consent to be counseled by his + betters. + </p> + <p> + In any matter of which the public has imperfect knowledge, public opinion + is as likely to be erroneous as is the opinion of an individual equally + uninformed. To hold otherwise is to hold that wisdom can be got by + combining many ignorances. A man who knows nothing of algebra can not be + assisted in the solution of an algebraic problem by calling in a neighbor + who knows no more than himself, and the solution approved by the unanimous + vote of ten million such men would count for nothing against that of a + competent mathematician. To be entirely consistent, gentlemen enamored of + public opinion should insist that the text books of our common schools + should be the creation of a mass meeting, and all disagreements arising in + the course of the work settled by a majority vote. That is how all + difficulties incident to the popular translation of the Hebrew Scriptures + were composed. It should be admitted, however that most of those voting + knew a little Hebrew, though not much. A problem in mathematics is a very + simple thing compared with many of those upon which the people are called + to pronounce by resolution and ballot—for example, a question of + finance. + </p> + <p> + "The voice of the people is the voice of God"—the saying is so + respectably old that it comes to us in the Latin. He is a strange, an + unearthly politician who has not a score of times publicly and solemnly + signified his faith in it But does anyone really believe it? Let us see. + In the period between 1859 and 1885, the Democratic party was defeated six + times in succession. The voice of the people pronounced it in error and + unfit to govern. Yet after each overthrow it came back into the field + gravely reaffirming its faith in the principles that God had condemned. + Then God twice reversed Himself, and the Republicans "never turned a + hair," but set about beating Him with as firm a confidence of success + (justified by the event) as they had known in the years of their + prosperity. Doubtless in every instance of a political party's defeat + there are defections, but doubtless not all are due to the voice that + spoke out of the great white light that fell about Saul of Tarsus. By the + way, it is worth observing that that clever gentleman was under no + illusion regarding the origin of the voice that wrought his celebrated + "flop"; he did not confound it with the <i>vox populi</i> The people of + his time and place had no objection to the persecution that he was + conducting, and could persecute a trifle themselves upon occasion. + </p> + <p> + Majorities rule, when they do rule, not because they ought, but because + they can. We vote in order to learn without fighting which party is the + stronger; it is less disagreeable to learn it that way than the other way. + Sometimes the party that is numerically the weaker is by possession of the + Government actually the stronger, and could maintain itself in power by an + appeal to arms, but the habit of submitting when outvoted is hard to + break. Moreover, we all recognize in a subconscious way, the + reasonableness of the habit as a practical method of getting on; and there + is always the confident hope of success in the next canvass. That one's + cause will succeed because it ought to succeed is perhaps the most general + and invincible folly affecting the human judgment Observation can not + shake it, nor experience destroy. Though you bray a partisan in the mortar + of adversity till he numbers the strokes of the pestle by the hairs of his + head, yet will not this fool notion depart from him. He is always going to + win the next time, however frequently and disastrously he has lost before. + And he can always give you the most cogent reasons for the faith that is + in him. His chief reliance is on the "fatal mistakes" made since the last + election by the other party. There never was a year in which the party in + power and the party out of power did not make bad mistakes—mistakes + which, unlike eggs and fish, seem always worst when freshest. If idiotic + errors of policy were always fatal, no party would ever win an election + and there would be a hope of better government under the benign sway of + the domestic cow. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + Each political party accuses the "opposing candidate" of refusing to + answer certain questions which somebody has chosen to ask him. I think + myself it is discreditable for a candidate to answer any questions at all, + to make speeches, declare his policy, or to do anything whatever to get + himself elected. If a political party choose to nominate a man so obscure + that his character and his views on all public questions are not known or + inferable he ought to have the dignity to refuse to expound them. As to + the strife for office being a pursuit worthy of a noble ambition, I do not + think so; nor shall I believe that many do think so until the term "office + seeker" carries a less opprobrious meaning and the dictum that "the office + should seek the man, not the man the office," has a narrower currency + among all manner of persons. That by acts and words generally felt to be + discreditable a man may evoke great popular enthusiasm is not at all + surprising. The late Mr. Barnum was not the first nor the last to observe + that the people love to be humbugged. They love an impostor and a scamp, + and the best service that you can do for a candidate for high political + preferment is to prove him a little better than a thief, but not quite so + good as a thug. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + The view is often taken that a representative is the same thing as a + delegate; that he is to have, and can honestly entertain, no opinion that + is at variance with the whims and the caprices of his constituents. This + is the very <i>reductio ad absurdum</i> of representative government. That + it is the dominant theory of the future there can be little doubt, for it + is of a piece with the progress downward which is the invariable and + unbroken tendency of republican institutions. It fits in well with manhood + suffrage, rotation in office, unrestricted patronage, assessment of + subordinates, an elective judiciary and the rest of it. This theory of + representative institutions is the last and lowest stage in our pleasant + performance of "shooting Niagara." When it shall have universal + recognition and assent we shall have been fairly engulfed in the + whirlpool, and the buzzard of anarchy may hopefully whet his beak for the + national carcass. My view of the matter—which has the further merit + of being the view held by those who founded this Government—is that + a man holding office from and for the people is in conscience and honor + bound to do what seems to his judgment best for the general welfare, + respectfully regardless of any and all other considerations. This is + especially true of legislators, to whom such specific "instructions" as + constituents sometimes send are an impertinence and an insult. Pushed to + its logical conclusion, the "delegate" idea would remove all necessity of + electing men of brains and judgment; one man properly connected with his + constituents by telegraph would make as good a legislator as another. + Indeed, as a matter of economy, one representative should act for many + constituencies, receiving his instructions how to vote from mass meetings + in each. This, besides being logical, would have the added advantage of + widening and hardening the power of the local "bosses," who, by properly + managing the showing of hands could have the same beneficent influence in + national affairs that they now enjoy in municipal. The plan would be a + pretty good one if there were not so many other ways for the Nation to go + to the Devil that it appears needless. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. + </h2> + <p> + With a wiser wisdom than was given to them, our forefathers in making the + Constitution would not have provided that each House of Congress "shall be + the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own + members." They would have foreseen that a ruling majority of Congress + could not safely be trusted to exercise this power justly in the public + interest, but would abuse it in the interest of party. A man's right to + sit in a legislative body should be determined, not by that body, which + has neither the impartiality, the knowledge of evidence nor the time to + determine it rightly, but by the courts of law. That is how it is done in + England, where Parliament voluntarily surrendered the right to say by whom + the constituencies shall be represented, and there is no disposition to + resume it. As the vices hunt in packs, so, too, virtues are gregarious; if + our Congress had the righteousness to decide contested elections justly it + would have also the self-denial not to wish to decide them at all. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX + </h2> + <p> + The purpose of the legislative custom of "eulogizing" dead members of + Congress is not apparent unless it is to add a terror to death and make + honorable and self-respecting members rather bear the ills they have than + escape through the gates of death to others that they know a good deal + about. If a member of that kind, who has had the bad luck to "go before," + could be consulted he would indubitably say that he was sorry to be dead; + and that is not a natural frame of mind in one who is exempt from the + necessity of himself "delivering a eulogy." + </p> + <p> + It may be urged that the Congressional "eulogy" expresses in a general way + the eulogist's notion of what he would like to have somebody say of + himself when he is by death elected to the Lower House. If so, then Heaven + help him to a better taste. Meanwhile it is a patriotic duty to prevent + him from indulging at the public expense the taste that he has. There have + been a few men in Congress who could speak of the character and services + of a departed member with truth and even eloquence. One such was Senator + Vest. Of many others, the most charitable thing that one can + conscientiously say is that one would a little rather hear a "eulogy" by + them than on them. Considering that there are many kinds of brains and + only one kind of no brains, their diversity of gifts is remarkable, but + one characteristic they have in common: they are all poets. Their efforts + in the way of eulogium illustrate and illuminate Pascal's obscure saying + that poetry is a particular sadness. If not sad themselves, they are at + least the cause of sadness in others, for no sooner do they take to their + legs to remind us that life is fleeting, and to make us glad that it is, + than they burst into bloom as poets all! Some one has said that in the + contemplation of death there is something that belittles. Perhaps that + explains the transformation. Anyhow the Congressional eulogist takes to + verse as naturally as a moth to a candle, and with about the same result + to his reputation for sense. + </p> + <p> + The poetry is commonly not his own; what it violates every law of sense, + fitness, metre, rhyme and taste it is. But nine times in ten it is some + dog's-eared, shop-worn quotation from one of the "standard" bards, usually + Shakspere. There are familiar passages from that poet which have been so + often heard in "the halls of legislation" that they have acquired an + infamy which unfits them for publication in a decent family newspaper; and + Shakspere himself, reposing in Elysium on his bed of asphodel and moly, + omits them when reading his complete works to the shades of Kit Marlowe + and Ben Jonson, for their sins. + </p> + <p> + This whole business ought to be "cut out" It is not only a waste of time + and a sore trial to the patience of the country; it is absolutely immoral. + It is not true that a member of Congress who, while living was a most + ordinary mortal, becomes by the accident of death a hero, a saint, "an + example to American youth." Nobody believes these abominable "eulogies," + and nobody should be permitted to utter them in the time and place + designated for another purpose. A "tribute" that is exacted by custom and + has not the fire and light of spontaneity is without sincerity or sense. A + simple resolution of regret and respect is all that the occasion requires + and would not inhibit any further utterance that friends and admirers of + the deceased might be moved to make elsewhere. If any bereaved gentlemen, + feeling his heart getting into his head, wishes to tickle his ear with his + tongue by way of standardizing his emotion let him hire a hall and do so. + But he should not make the Capitol a "Place of Wailing" and the + Congressional Record a book of bathos. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SOME FEATURES OF THE LAW + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + THERE is a difference between religion and the amazing circumstructure + which, under the name of theology, the priesthoods have builded round + about it, which for centuries they made the world believe was the true + temple, and which, after incalculable mischiefs wrought, immeasurable + blood spilled in its extension and consolidation, is only now beginning to + crumble at the touch of reason. There is the same difference between the + laws and the law—the naked statutes (bad enough, God knows) and the + incomputable additions made to them by lawyers. This immense body of + superingenious writings it is that we all are responsible to in person and + property. It is unquestionable authority for setting aside any statute + that any legislative body ever passed or can pass. In it are dictates of + recognized validity for turning topsy-turvy every principle of justice and + reversing every decree of reason. There is no fallacy so monstrous, no + deduction so hideously unrelated to common sense, as not to receive, + somewhere in the myriad pages of this awful compilation, a support that + any judge in the land would be proud to recognize with a decision if ably + persuaded. I do not say that the lawyers are altogether responsible for + the existence of this mass of disastrous rubbish, nor for its domination + of the laws. They only create and thrust it down our throats; we are + guilty of contributory negligence in not biting the spoon. + </p> + <p> + As long as there exists the right of appeal there is a chance of + acquittal. Otherwise the right of appeal would be a sham and an insult + more intolerable, even, than that of the man convicted of murder to say + why he should not receive the sentence which nothing he may say will + avert. So long as acquittal may ensue guilt is not established. Why, than + are men sentenced before they are proved guilty? Why are they punished in + the middle of proceedings against them? A lawyer can reply to these + questions in a thousand ingenious ways; there is but one answer. It is + because we are a barbarous race, submitting to laws made by lawyers for + lawyers. Let the "legal fraternity" reflect that a lawyer is one whose + profession it is to circumvent the law; that it is a part of his business + to mislead and befog the court of which he is an officer; that it is + considered right and reasonable for him to live by a division of the + spoils of crime and misdemeanor; that the utmost atonement he ever makes + for acquitting a man whom he knows to be guilty is to convict a man whom + he knows to be innocent. I have looked into this thing a bit and it is my + judgment that all the methods of our courts, and the traditions of bench + and bar exist and are perpetuated, altered and improved, for the one + purpose of enabling the lawyers as a class to exact the greatest amount of + money from the rest of mankind. The laws are mostly made by lawyers, and + so made as to encourage and compel litigation. By lawyers they are + interpreted and by lawyers enforced for their own profit and advantage. + The whole intricate and interminable machinery of precedent, rulings, + decisions, objections, writs of error, motions for new trials, appeals, + reversals, affirmations and the rest of it, is a transparent and + iniquitous systems of "cinching." What remedy would I propose? None. There + is none to propose. The lawyers have "got us" and they mean to keep us. + But if thoughtless children of the frontier sometimes rise to tar and + feather the legal pelt may God's grace go with them and amen. I do not + believe there is a lawyer in Heaven, but by a bath of tar and a coating of + hen's-down they can be made to resemble angels more nearly than by any + other process. + </p> + <p> + The matchless villainy of making men suffer for crimes of which they may + eventually be acquitted is consistent with our entire system of laws—a + system so complicated and contradictory that a judge simply does as he + pleases, subject only to the custom of giving for his action reasons that + at his option may or may not be derived from the statute. He may sternly + affirm that he sits there to interpret the law as he finds it, not to make + it accord with his personal notions of right and justice. Or he may + declare that it could never have been the Legislature's intention to do + wrong, and so, shielded by the useful phrase <i>contra bonos mores</i>, + pronounce that illegal which he chooses to consider inexpedient. Or he may + be guided by either of any two inconsistent precedents, as best suits his + purpose. Or he may throw aside both statute and precedent, disregard good + morals, and justify the judgment that he wishes to deliver by what other + lawyers have written in books, and still others, without anybody's + authority, have chosen to accept as a part of the law. I have in mind + judges whom I have observed to do all these things in a single term of + court, and could mention one who has done them all in a single decision, + and that not a very long one. The amazing feature of the matter is that + all these methods are lawful—made so, not by legislative enactment, + but by the judges. Language can not be used with sufficient lucidity and + positiveness to land them. + </p> + <p> + The legal purpose of a preliminary examination is not the discovery of a + criminal; it is the ascertaining of the probable guilt or innocence of the + person already charged. To permit that person's counsel to insult and + madden the various assisting witnesses in the hope of making them seem to + incriminate themselves instead of him by statements that may afterward be + used to confuse a jury—that is perversion of law to defeat justice. + The outrageous character of the practice is seen to better advantage what + contrasted with the tender consideration enjoyed by the person actually + accused and presumably guilty—the presumption of his innocence being + as futile a fiction as that a sheep's tail is a leg when called so. + Actually, the prisoner in a criminal trial is the only person supposed to + have a knowledge of the facts who is not compelled to testify! And this + amazing exemption is given him by way of immunity from the snares and + pitfalls with which the paths of all witnesses are wantonly beset! To a + visiting Lunarian it would seem strange indeed that in a Terrestrial court + of justice it is not deemed desirable for an accused person to incriminate + himself, and that it <i>is</i> deemed desirable for a subpoena to be more + dreaded than a warrant. + </p> + <p> + When a child, a wife, a servant, a student—any one under personal + authority or bound by obligation of honor—is accused or suspected an + explanation is demanded, and refusal to testify is held, and rightly held, + a confession of guilt To question the accused—rigorously and sharply + to examine him on all matters relating to the offense, and even trap him + if he seem to be lying—that is Nature's method of criminal + procedure; why in our public trials do we forego its advantages? It may + annoy; a person arrested for crime must expect annoyance. It can not make + an innocent man incriminate himself, not even a witness, but it can make a + rogue do so, and therein lies its value. Any pressure short of physical + torture or the threat of it, that can be put upon a rogue to make him + assist in his own undoing is just and therefore expedient. + </p> + <p> + This ancient and efficient safeguard to rascality, the right of a witness + to refuse to testify when his testimony would tend to convict him of + crime, has been strengthened by a decision of the United States Supreme + Court. That will probably add another century or two to its mischievous + existence, and possibly prove the first act in such an extension of it + that eventually a witness can not be compelled to testify at all. In fact + it is difficult to see how he can be compelled to now if he has the + hardihood to exercise his constitutional right without shame and with an + intelligent consciousness of its limitless application. + </p> + <p> + The case in which the Supreme Court made the decision was one in which a + witness refused to say whether he had received from a defendant railway + company a rate on grain shipments lower than the rate open to all + shippers. The trial was in the United States District Court for the + Northern District of Illinois, and Judge Gresham chucked the scoundrel + into jail. He naturally applied to the Supreme Court for relief, and that + high tribunal gave joy to every known or secret malefactor in the country + by deciding—according to law, no doubt—that witnesses in a + criminal case can not be compelled to testify to anything that "<i>might + tend</i> to criminate them <i>in any way</i>, or subject them to <i>possible</i> + prosecution." The italics are my own and seem to me to indicate, about as + clearly as extended comment could, the absolutely boundless nature of the + immunity that the decision confirms or confers. It is to be hoped that + some public-spirited gentleman called to the stand in some celebrated case + may point the country's attention to the state of the law by refusing to + tell his name, age or occupation, or answer any question whatever. And it + would be a fitting <i>finale</i> to the farce if he would threaten the too + curious attorney with an action for damages for compelling a disclosure of + character. + </p> + <p> + Most lawyers have made so profound a study of human nature as to think + that if they have shown a man to be of loose life with regard to women + they have shown him to be one that would tell needless lies to a jury—a + conviction unsupported by the familiar facts of life and character. + Different men have different vices, and addiction to one kind of + "upsetting sin" does not imply addiction to an unrelated kind. Doubtless a + rake is a liar in so far as is needful to concealment, but it does not + follow that he will commit perjury to save a horsethief from the + penitentiary or send a good man to the gallows. As to lying, generally, he + is not conspicuously worse than the mere lover, male or female; for lovers + have been liars from the beginning of time. They deceive when it is + necessary and when it is not. Schopenhauer says that it is because of a + sense of guilt—they contemplate the commission of a crime and, like + other criminals, cover their tracks. I am not prepared to say if that is + the true explanation, but to the fact to be explained I am ready to + testify with lifted arms. Yet no cross-examining attorney tries to break + the credibility of a witness by showing that he is in love. + </p> + <p> + An habitual liar, if disinterested, makes about as good a witness as + anybody. There is really no such thing as "the lust of lying:" falsehoods + are told for advantage—commonly a shadowy and illusory advantage, + but one distinctly enough had in mind. Discerning no opportunity to + promote his interest, tickle his vanity or feed a grudge, the habitual + liar will tell the truth. If lawyers would study human nature with half + the assiduity that they give to resolution of hairs into their + longitudinal elements they would be better fitted for service of the devil + than they have now the usefulness to be. + </p> + <p> + I have always asserted the right and expediency of cross-examining + attorneys in court with a view to testing their credibility. An attorney's + relation to the trial is closer and more important than that of a witness. + He has more to say and more opportunities to deceive the jury, not only by + naked lying, but by both <i>suppressio veri</i> and <i>suggestio falsi</i>. + Why is it not important to ascertain his credibility; and if an inquiry + into his private life and public reputation will assist, as himself avers, + why should he not be put upon the grill and compelled to sweat out the + desired incrimination? I should think it might give good results, for + example, to compel him to answer a few questions touching, not his private + life, but his professional. Somewhat like this: + </p> + <p> + "Did you ever defend a client, knowing him to be guilty?" + </p> + <p> + "What was your motive in doing so?" + </p> + <p> + "But in addition to your love of fair play had you not also the hope and + assurance of a fee?" + </p> + <p> + "In defending your guilty client did you declare your belief in his + innocence?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I understand, but necessary as it may have been (in that it helped + to defeat justice and earn your fee) was not your declaration a lie?" + </p> + <p> + "Do you believe it right to lie for the purpose of circumventing justice?—yes + or no?" + </p> + <p> + "Do you believe it right to lie for personal gain—yes or no?" + </p> + <p> + "Then why did you do both?" + </p> + <p> + "A man who lies to beat the laws and fill his purse is—what?" + </p> + <p> + "In defending a murderer did you ever misrepresent the character, acts, + motives and intentions of the man that he murdered—never mind the + purpose and effect of such misrepresentation—yes or no?" + </p> + <p> + "That is what we call slander of the dead, is it not?" + </p> + <p> + "What is the most accurate name you can think of for one who slanders the + dead to defeat justice and promote his own fortune?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I know—such practices are allowed by the 'ethics' of your + profession, but can you point to any evidence that they are allowed by + Jesus Christ?" + </p> + <p> + "If in former trials you have obstructed justice by slander of the dead, + by falsely affirming the innocence of the guilty, by cheating in argument, + by deceiving the court whom you are sworn to serve and assist, and have + done all this for personal gain, do you expect, and is it reasonable for + you to expect, the jury in this case to believe you?" + </p> + <p> + "One moment more, please. Did you ever accept an annual, or other fee + conditioned on your not taking any action against a corporation?" + </p> + <p> + "While in receipt of such refrainer—I beg you pardon, retainer—did + you ever prosecute a blackmailer?" + </p> + <p> + It will be seen that in testing the credibility of a lawyer it is needless + to go into his private life and his character as a man and a citizen: his + professional practices are an ample field in which to search for offenses + against man and God. Indeed, it is sufficient simply to ask him: "What is + your view of 'the ethics of your profession' as a suitable standard of + conduct for a pirate of the Spanish Main?" + </p> + <p> + The moral sense of the laymen is dimly conscious of something wrong in the + ethics of the noble profession; the lawyers affirming, rightly enough, a + public necessity for them and their mercenary services, permit their + thrift to construe it vaguely as personal justification. But nobody has + blown away from the matter its brumous encompassment and let in the light + upon it It is very simple. + </p> + <p> + Is it honorable for a lawyer to try to clear a man that he knows deserves + conviction? That is not the entire question by much. Is it honorable to + pretend to believe what you do not believe? Is it honorable to lie? I + submit that these questions are not answered affirmatively by showing the + disadvantage to the public and to civilization of a lawyer refusing to + serve a known offender. The popular interest, like any other good cause, + can be and commonly is, served by foul means. Justice itself may be + promoted by acts essentially unjust. In serving a sordid ambition a + powerful scoundrel may by acts in themselves wicked augment the prosperity + of a whole nation. I have not the right to deceive and lie in order to + advantage my fellowmen, any more than I have the right to steal or murder + to advantage them, nor have my fellowmen the power to grant me that + indulgence. + </p> + <p> + The question of a lawyer's right to clear a known criminal (with the + several questions involved) is not answered affirmatively by showing that + the law forbids him to decline a case for reasons personal to himself—not + even if we admit the statute's moral authority. Preservation of conscience + and character is a civic duty, as well as a personal; one's fellow-men + have a distinct interest in it. That, I admit, is an argument rather in + the manner of an attorney; clearly enough the intent of this statute is to + compel an attorney to cheat and lie for any rascal that wants him to. In + that sense it may be regarded as a law softening the rigor of all laws; it + does not mitigate punishments, but mitigates the chance of incurring them. + The infamy of it lies in forbidding an attorney to be a gentleman. Like + all laws it falls something short of its intent: many attorneys, even some + who defend that law, are as honorable as is consistent with the practice + of deceit to serve crime. + </p> + <p> + It will not do to say that an attorney in defending a client is not + compelled to cheat and lie. What kind of defense could be made by any one + who did not profess belief in the innocence of his client?—did not + affirm it in the most serious and impressive way?—did not lie? How + would it profit the defense to be conducted by one who would not meet the + prosecution's grave asseverations of belief in the prisoner's guilt by + equally grave assurances of faith in his innocence? And in point of fact, + when was counsel for the defense ever known to forego the advantage of + that solemn falsehood? If I am asked what would become of accused persons + if they had to prove their innocence to the lawyers before making a + defense in court, I reply that I do not know; and in my turn I ask: What + would become of Humpty Dumpty if all the king's horses and all the king's + men were an isosceles triangle? + </p> + <p> + It all amounts to this, that lawyers want clients and are not particular + about the kind of clients that they get All this is very ugly work, and a + public interest that can not be served without it would better be + unserved. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I grant, in short, 'tis better all around + That ambidextrous consciences abound + In courts of law to do the dirty work + That self-respecting scavengers would shirk. + What then? Who serves however clean a plan + By doing dirty work, he is a dirty man. +</pre> + <p> + But in point of fact I do not "grant" any such thing. It is not for the + public interest that a rogue have the same freedom of defense as an honest + man; it should be a good deal harder for him. His troubles should begin, + not when he seeks acquital, but when he seeks counsel. It would be better + for the community if he could not obtain the services of a reputable + attorney, or any attorney at all. A defense that can not be made without + his attorney's actual knowledge of his guilt should be impossible to him. + Nor should he be permitted to remain off the witness stand lest he + incriminate himself. It ought to be the aim of the court to let him + incriminate himself—to make him do so if his testimony will. In our + courts that natural method would serve the ends of justice greatly better + than the one that we have. Testimony of the guilty would assist in + conviction; that of the innocent would not. + </p> + <p> + As to the general question of a judge's right to inflict arbitrary + punishment for words that he may be pleased to hold disrespectful to + himself or another judge, I do not myself believe that any such right + exists; the practice seems to be merely a survival—a heritage from + the dark days of irresponsible power, when the scope of judicial authority + had no other bounds than fear of the royal gout or indigestion. If in + these modern days the same right is to exist it may be necessary to revive + the old checks upon it by restoring the throne. In freeing us from the + monarchial chain, the coalition of European Powers commonly known in + American history as "the valor of our forefathers" stripped us starker + than they knew. + </p> + <p> + Suppose an attorney should find his client's interests imperiled by a + prejudiced or corrupt judge—what is he to do? If he may not make + representations to that effect, supporting them with evidence, where + evidence is possible and by inference where it is not, what means of + protection shall he venture to adopt? If it be urged in objection that + judges are never prejudiced nor corrupt I confess that I shall have no + answer: the proposition will deprive me of breath. + </p> + <p> + If contempt is not a crime it should not be punished; if a crime it should + be punished as other crimes are punished—by indictment or + information, trial by jury if a jury is demanded, with all the safeguards + that secure an accused person against judicial blunders and judicial bias. + The necessity for these safeguards is even greater in cases of contempt + than in others—particularly if the prosecuting witness is to sit in + judgment on his own grievance. That should, of course, not be permitted: + the trial should take place before another judge. + </p> + <p> + Why should twelve able-bodied jurymen, with their oaths to guide them and + the law to back, submit to the dictation of one small judge armed with + nothing better than an insolent assumption of authority? A judge has not + the moral right to order a jury to acquit, the utmost that he can rightly + do is to point out what state of the law or facts may seem to him + unfavorable to conviction. If the jurors, holding a different view, + persist in conviction the accused will have grounds, doubtless, for a new + trial. But under no circumstances is a judge justified in requiring a + responsible human being to disregard the solemn obligation of an oath. + </p> + <p> + The public ear is dowered with rather more than just enough of clotted + nonsense about "attacks upon the dignity of the Bench," "bringing the + judiciary into disrepute" and the rueful rest of it. I crave leave to + remind the solicitudinarians sounding these loud alarums on their several + larynges that by persons of understanding men are respected, not for what + they do, but for what they are, and that one public functionary will stand + as high in their esteem as another if as high in character. The dignity of + a wise and righteous judge needs not the artificial safeguarding which is + a heritage of the old days when if dissent found a tongue the public + executioner cut it out. The Bench will be sufficiently respected when it + is no longer a place where dullards dream and rogues rob—when its <i>personnel</i> + is no longer chosen in the back-rooms of tipple-shops, forced upon yawning + conventions and confirmed by the votes of men who neither know what the + candidates are nor what they should be. With the gang that we have and + under our system must continue to have, respect is out of the question and + ought to be. They are entitled to just as much of its forms and + observances as are needful to maintenance of order in their courts and + fortification of their lawful power—no more. As to their silence + under criticism, that is as they please. No body but themselves is holding + their tongues. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + A law under which the unsuccessful respondent in a divorce proceeding may + be forbidden to marry again during the life of the successful complainant, + the latter being subject to no such disability, is infamous infinitely. If + the disability is intended as a punishment it is exceptional among legal + punishments in that it is inflicted without conviction, trial or + arraignment, the divorce proceedings being quite another and different + matter. It is exceptional in that the period of its continuance, and + therefore the degree of its severity, are indeterminate; they are + dependent on no limiting statute, and on neither the will of the power + inflicting nor the conduct of the person suffering. + </p> + <p> + To sentence a person to a punishment that is to be mild or severe + according to chance or—which is even worse—circumstance, which + but one person, and that person not officially connected with + administration of justice, can but partly control, is a monstrous + perversion of the main principles that are supposed to underlie the laws. + </p> + <p> + In "the case at bar" it can be nothing to the woman—possibly herself + remarried—whether the man remarries or not; that is, can affect only + her feelings, and only such of them as are least creditable to her. Yet + her self-interest is enlisted against him to do him incessant disservice. + By merely caring for her health she increases the sharpness of his + punishment—for punishment it is if he feels it such; every hour that + she wrests from death is added to his "term." The expediency of preventing + a man from marrying, without having the power to prevent him from making + his marriage desirable in the interest of the public and vital to that of + some woman, is not discussable here. If a man is ever justified in + poisoning a woman who is no longer his wife it is when, by way of making + him miserable, the State has given him, or he supposes it to have given + him, a direct and distinct interest in her death. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + With a view, possibly, to promoting respect for law by making the statutes + so conform to public sentiment that none will fall into disesteem and + disuse, it has been advocated that there be a formal recognition of sex in + the penal code, by making a difference in the punishment of men and of + women for the same crimes and misdemeanors. The argument is that if women + were "provided" with milder punishment juries would sometimes convict + them, whereas they now commonly get off altogether. + </p> + <p> + The plan is not so new as might be thought. Many of the nations of + antiquity of whose laws we have knowledge, and nearly all the European + nations until within a comparatively recent time, punished women + differently from men for the same offenses. And as recently as the period + of the Early Puritan in New England women were punished for some offenses + which men might commit without fear if not without reproach. The + ducking-stool, for example, was an appliance for softening the female + temper only. In England women used to be burned at the stake for crimes + for which men were hanged, roasting being regarded as the milder + punishment. In point of fact, it was not punishment at all, the victim + being carefully strangled before the fire touched her. Burning was simply + a method of disposing of the body so expeditiously as to give no occasion + and opportunity for the unseemly social rites commonly performed about the + scaffold of the erring male by the jocular populace. As lately as 1763 a + woman named Margaret Biddingfield was burned in Suffolk as an accomplice + in the crime of "petty treason." She had assisted in the murder of her + husband, the actual killing being done by a man; and he was hanged, as no + doubt he richly deserved. For "coining," too (which was "treason"), men + were hanged and women burned. This distinction between the sexes was + maintained until the year of grace 1790, after which female offenders + ceased to have "a stake in the country," and like Hood's martial hero, + "enlisted in the line." + </p> + <p> + In still earlier days, before the advantages of fire were understood, our + good grandmothers who sinned were admonished by water—they were + drowned; but in the reign of Henry III a woman was hanged—without + strangulation, apparently, for after a whole day of it she was cut down + and pardoned. Sorceresses and unfaithful wives were smothered in mud, as + also were unfaithful wives among the ancient Burgundians. The punishment + of unfaithful husbands is not of record; we only know that there were no + austerely virtuous editors to direct the finger of public scorn their way. + </p> + <p> + Among the Anglo-Saxons, women who had the bad luck to be detected in theft + were drowned, while men meeting with the same mischance died a dry death + by hanging. By the early Danish laws female thieves were buried alive, + whether or not from motives of humanity is not now known. This seems to + have been the fashion in France also, for in 1331 a woman named Duplas was + scourged and buried alive at Abbeville, and in 1460 Perotte Mauger, a + receiver of stolen goods, was inhumed by order of the Provost of Paris in + front of the public gibbet. In Germany in the good old days certain kinds + of female criminals were "impaled," a punishment too grotesquely horrible + for description, but likely enough considered by the simple German of the + period conspicuously merciful. + </p> + <p> + It is, in short, only recently that the civilized nations have placed the + sexes on an equality in the matter of the death penalty for crime, and the + new system is not yet by any means universal. That it is a better system + than the old, or would be if enforced, is a natural presumption from human + progress, out of which it is evolved. But coincidently with its evolution + has evolved also a sentiment adverse to punishment of women at all. But + this sentiment appears to be of independent growth and in no way a + reaction against that which caused the change. To mitigate the severity of + the death penalty for women to some pleasant form of euthanasia, such as + drowning in rose-water, or in their case to abolish the death penalty + altogether and make their capital punishment consist in a brief interment + in a jail with a softened name, would probably do no good, for whatever + form it might take, it would be, so far as woman is concerned, the + "extreme penalty" and crowning disgrace, and jurors would be as reluctant + to inflict it as they now are to inflict hanging. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. + </h2> + <p> + Testators should not, from the snug security of the grave, utter a + perpetual threat of disinheritance or any other uncomfortable fate to + deter an American citizen, even one of his own legatees, from applying to + the courts of his country for redress of any wrong from which he might + consider himself as suffering. The courts of law ought to be open to any + one conceiving himself a victim of injustice, and it should be unlawful to + abridge the right of complaint by making its exercise more hazardous than + it naturally is. Doubtless the contesting of wills is a nuisance, + generally speaking, the contestant conspicuously devoid of moral worth and + the verdict singularly unrighteous; but as long as some testators really + <i>are</i> daft, or subject to interested suasion, or wantonly sinful, + they should be denied the power to stifle dissent by fining the luckless + dissenter. The dead have too much to say in this world at the best, and it + is monstrous and intolerable tyranny for them to stand at the door of the + Temple of Justice to drive away the suitors that themselves have made. + </p> + <p> + Obedience to the commands of the dead should be conditional upon their + good behavior, and it is not good behavior to set up a censure of actions + at law among the living. If our courts are not competent to say what + actions are proper to be brought and what are unfit to be entertained let + us improve them until they are competent, or abolish them altogether and + resort to the mild and humane arbitrament of the dice. But while courts + have the civility to exist they should refuse to surrender any part of + their duties and responsibilities to such exceedingly private persons as + those under six feet of earth, or sealed up in habitations of hewn stone. + Persons no longer affectible by human events should be denied a voice in + determining the character and trend of them. Respect for the wishes of the + dead is a tender and beautiful sentiment, certainly. Unfortunately, it can + not be ascertained that they have any wishes. What commonly go by that + name are wishes once entertained by living persons who are now dead, and + who in dying renounced them, along with everything else. Like those who + entertained them, the wishes are no longer in existence. "The wishes of + the dead," therefore, are not wishes, and are not of the dead. Why they + should have anything more than a sentimental influence upon those still in + the flesh, and be a factor to be reckoned with in the practical affairs of + the super-graminous world, is a question to which the merely human + understanding can find no answer, and it must be referred to the lawyers. + When "from the tombs a doleful sound" is vented, and "thine ear" is + invited to "attend the cry," an intelligent forethought will suggest that + you inquire if it is anything about property. If so pass on—that is + no sacred spot. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + Much of the testimony in French courts, civil and martial, appears to + consist of personal impressions and opinions of the witnesses. All very + improper and mischievous, no doubt, if—if what? Why, obviously, if + the judges are unfit to sit in judgment By designating them to sit the + designating power assumes their fitness—assumes that they know + enough to take such things for what they are worth, to make the necessary + allowances; if needful, to disregard a witness's opinion altogether. I do + not know if they are fit. I do not know that they do make the needful + allowances. It is by no means clear to me that any judge or juror, French, + American or Patagonian, is competent to ascertain the truth when lying + witnesses are trying to conceal it under the direction of skilled and + conscientiousless attorneys licensed to deceive. But his competence is a + basic assumption of the law vesting him with the duty of deciding. Having + chosen him for that duty the French law very logically lets him alone to + decide for himself what is evidence and what is not. It does not trust him + a little but altogether. It puts him under conditions familiar to him—makes + him accessible to just such influences and suasions as he is accustomed to + when making conscious and unconscious decisions in his personal affairs. + </p> + <p> + There may be a distinct gain to justice in permitting a witness to say + whatever he wants to say. If he is telling the truth he will not + contradict himself; if he is lying the more rope he is given the more + surely he will entangle himself. To the service of that end defendants and + prisoners should, I think, be compelled to testify and denied the + advantage of declining to answer, for silence is the refuge of guilt In + endeavoring by austere means to make an accused person incriminate himself + the French judge logically applies the same principle that a parent uses + with a suspected child. When the Grandfather of His Country arraigned the + wee George Washington for arboricide the accused was not carefully + instructed that he need not answer if a truthful answer would tend to + convict him. If he had refused to answer he would indubitably have been + lambasted until he did answer, as right richly he would have deserved to + be. + </p> + <p> + The custom of permitting a witness to wander at will over the entire field + of knowledge, hearsay, surmise and opinion has several distinct advantages + over our practice. In giving hearsay evidence, for example, he may suggest + a new and important witness of whom the counsel for the other side would + not otherwise have heard, and who can then be brought into court. On some + unguarded and apparently irrelevant statement he may open an entirely new + line of inquiry, or throw upon the case a flood of light. Everyone knows + what revelations are sometimes evoked by apparently the most insignificant + remarks. Why should justice be denied a chance to profit that way? + </p> + <p> + There is a still greater advantage in the French "method." By giving a + witness free rein in expression of his personal opinions and feelings we + should be able to calculate his frame of mind, his good or ill will to the + prosecution or defense and, therefore, to a certain extent his + credibility. In our courts he is able by a little solemn perjury to + conceal all this, even from himself, and pose as an impartial witness, + when in truth, with regard to the accused, he is full of rancor or reeking + with compassion. + </p> + <p> + In theory our system is perfect. The accused is prosecuted by a public + officer, who having no interest in his conviction, will serve the State + without mischievous zeal and perform his disagreeable task with fairness + and consideration. He is permitted to entrust his defense to another + officer, whose duty it is to make a rigidly truthful and candid + presentation of his case in order to assist the court to a just decision. + The jurors, if there are jurors, are neither friendly nor hostile, are + open-minded, intelligent and conscientious. As to the witnesses, are they + not sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth (in so far as they are + permitted) and nothing but the truth? What could be finer and better than + all this?—what could more certainly assure justice? How close the + resemblance is between this ideal picture and what actually occurs all + know, or should know. The judge is commonly an ignoramus incapable of + logical thought and with little sense of the dread and awful nature of his + responsibility. The prosecuting attorney thinks it due to his reputation + to "make a record" and tries to convict by hook or crook, even when he is + himself persuaded of the defendant's innocence. Counsel for the defense is + equally unscrupulous for acquittal, and both, having industriously coached + their witnesses, contend against each other in deceiving the court by + every artifice of which they are masters. Witnesses on both sides perjure + themselves freely and with almost perfect immunity if detected. At the + close of it all the poor weary jurors, hopelessly bewildered and dumbly + resentful of their duping, render a random or compromise verdict, or one + which best expresses their secret animosity to the lawyer they like least + or their faith in the newspapers which they have diligently and + disobediently read every night Commenting upon Rabelais' old judge who, + when impeached for an outrageous decision, pleaded his defective eye-sight + which made him miscount the spots on the dice, the most distinguished + lawyer of my acquaintance seriously assured me that if all the cases with + which he had been connected had been decided with the dice substantial + justice would have been done more frequently than it was done. If that is + true, or nearly true, and I believe it, the American's right to sneer at + the Frenchman's "judicial methods" is still an open question. + </p> + <p> + It is urged that the corrupt practices in our courts of law be uncovered + to public view, whenever that is possible, by dial impeccable censor, the + press. Exposure of rascality is very good—better, apparently for + rascals than for anybody else, for it usually suggests something rascally + which they had overlooked, and so familiarizes the public with crime that + crime no longer begets loathing. If the newspapers of the country are + really concerned about corrupter practices than their own and willing to + bring our courts up to the English standard there is something better than + exposure—which fatigues. Let the newspapers set about creating a + public opinion favorable to non-elective judges, well paid, powerful to + command respect and holding office for life or good behavior. That is the + only way to get good men and great lawyers on the Bench. As matters are, + we stand and cry for what the English have and rail at the way they get + it. Our boss-made, press-ridden and mob-fearing paupers and ignoramuses of + the Bench give us as good a quality of justice as we merit A better + quality awaits us whenever the will to have it is attended by the sense to + take it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ARBITRATION + </h2> + <p> + THE universal cry for arbitration is either dishonest or unwise. For every + evil there are quack remedies galore—especially for every evil that + is irremediable. Of this order of remedies is arbitration, for of this + order of evils is the inadequate wage of manual labor. Since the beginning + of authentic history everything has been tried in the hope of divorcing + poverty and labor, but nothing has parted them. It is not conceivable that + anything ever will; success of arbitration, antecedently improbable, is + demonstrably impossible. Most of the work of the world is hard, + disagreeable work, requiring little intelligence. Most of the people of + the world are unintelligent—unfit to do any other work. If it were + not done by them it would not be done, and it is the basic work. Withdraw + them from it and the whole superstructure would topple and fall. Yet there + is too little of the work, and there are so many incapable of doing + anything else that adequate return is out of the question. For the + laboring <i>class</i> there is no hope of an existence that is comfortable + in comparison with that of the other class; the hope of an individual + laborer lies in the possibility of fitting himself for higher employment—employment + of the head; not manual but cerebral labor. While selfishness remains the + main ingredient of human nature (and a survey of the centuries accessible + to examination shows but a slow and intermittent decrease) the cerebral + workers, being the wiser and no better, will manage to take the greater + profit. In justice it must be said of them that they extend a warm and + sincere invitation to their ranks, and take "apprentices;" every chance of + education that the other class enjoys is proof of that. + </p> + <p> + All this is perhaps a trifle abstruse; let us, then, look at arbitration + more nearly; in our time it is, in form at least something new. It began + as "international arbitration," which already, in settling a few disputes + of no great importance, has shown itself a dangerous remedy. In the + necessary negotiation to determine exactly what points to submit to whom, + and how, and where, and when to submit them, and how to carry out the + arbitrator's decision, scores of questions are raised, upon each of which + it is as easy to disagree and fight as upon the original issue. + International arbitration may be defined as the substitution of many + burning questions for a smouldering one; for disputes that have reached a + really acute stage are not submitted. The animosities that it has kindled + have been hotter than those it has quenched. + </p> + <p> + Industrial arbitration is no better; it is manifestly worse, and any law + enforcing it and enforcing compliance with its decisions, is absurd and + mischievous. "Compulsory arbitration" is not arbitration, the essence + whereof is voluntary submission of differences and voluntary submission to + judgment. If either reference or obedience is enforced the arbitrators are + simply a court with no powers to do anything but apply the law. Proponents + of the fad would do well to consider this: If a party to a labor dispute + is <i>compelled</i> to invoke and obey a decision of arbitrators that + decision must follow strictly the line of law; the smallest invasion of + any constitutional, statutory or common-law right will enable him to upset + the whole judgment No legislative body can establish a tribunal empowered + to make and enforce illegal or extra legal decisions; for making and + enforcing legal ones the tribunals that we already have are sufficient + This talk of "compulsory arbitration" is the maddest nonsense that the + industrial situation has yet evolved. Doubtless it is sent upon us for our + sins; but had we not already a plague of inveracity? + </p> + <p> + Arbitration of labor disputes means compromise with the unions. It can, in + this country, mean nothing else, for the law would not survive a + half-dozen failures to concede some part of their demands, however + reasonless. By repeated strikes they would eventually get all their + original demand and as much more as on second thought they might choose to + ask for. Each concession would be, as it is now, followed by a new demand, + and the first arbitrators might as well allow them all that they demand + and all that they mean to demand hereafter. + </p> + <p> + Would not employers be equally unscrupulous. They would not. They could + not afford the disturbance, the stoppage of the business, the risk of + unfair decisions in a country where it is "popular" to favor and + encourage, not the just, but the poor. The labor leaders have nothing to + lose, not even their jobs, for their work is labor leading. Their dupes, + by the way, would be dupes no longer, for with enforced arbitration the + game of "follow my leader" would pay until there should be nothing to + follow him to but empty treasuries of dead industries in an extinct + civilization. If there must be enforced arbitration it should at least not + apply to that sum of all impudent rascalities, the "sympathetic strike." + </p> + <p> + As to the men who have set up the monstrous claim asserted by the + "sympathetic strike," I shall refer to the affair of 1904. If it was + creditable in them to feel so much concern about a few hundred aliens in + Illinois, how about the grievances of the whole body of their countrymen + in California? When their employers, who they confess were good to them, + were plundering the Californians, they did not strike, sympathetically nor + otherwise. Year after year the railway companies picked the pockets of the + Californians; corrupted their courts and legislatures; laid its Briarean + hands in exaction upon every industry and interest; filled the land with + lies and false reasoning; threw honest men into prisons and locked the + gates of them against thieves and assassins; by open defiance of the tax + collector denied to children of the poor the advantages of education—did + all this and more, and these honest working men stood loyally by it, + sharing in wages its dishonest gains, receivers, in one sense, of stolen + goods. The groans of their neighbors were nothing to them; even the wrongs + of themselves, their wives and their children did not stir them to revolt. + On every breeze that blew, this great chorus of cries and curses was borne + past their ears unheeded. Why did they not strike then? Where then were + their fiery altruists and storm-petrels of industrial disorder? No!—the + ingenious gods who have invented the Debses and Gomperses, and humorously + branded them with names that would make a cat laugh, have never put it + into their cold selfish hearts to order out their misguided followers to + redress a public wrong, but only to inflict one—to avenge a personal + humiliation, gratify an appetite for notoriety, slake a thirst for the + intoxicating cup of power, or punish the crime of prosperity. + </p> + <p> + It is a practical, an illogical, a turbulent time, yes; it always is. The + age of Jesus Christ was a practical age, yet Jesus Christ was sweetly + impractical. In an illogical period Socrates reasoned clearly, and + logically died for it. Nero's time was a time of turbulence, yet Seneca's + mind was not disturbed, nor his conscience perverted. Compare their fame + with the everlasting infamy that time has fixed upon the names of the Jack + Cades, the Robespierres, the Tomaso Nielos—guides and gods of the + "fierce democracies" which rise with a sickening periodicity to defile the + page of history with a quickly fading mark of blood and fire, their own + awful example their sole contribution to the good of mankind. To be a + child of your time, imbued with its spirit and endowed with its aims—that + is to petition Posterity for a niche in the Temple of Shame. + </p> + <p> + No strike of any prominence ever takes place in this country without the + concomitants of violence and destruction of property, and usually murder. + These cheerful incidents one who does not personally suffer them can + endure with considerable fortitude, but the sniveling, hypocritical + condemnation of them by the press that has instigated them and the + strikers who have planned and executed them, and who invariably ascribe + them to those whom they most injure; the solemn offers of the leaders to + assist in protecting the imperiled property and avenging the dead, while + openly employing counsel for every incendiary and assassin arrested in + spite of them—these are pretty hard to bear. A strike means (for it + includes as its main method) violence, lawlessness, destruction of the + property of others than the strikers, riot and if necessary bloodshed. + Even when the strikers themselves have no hand in these crimes they are + morally liable for the foreknown consequences of their act. Nay, they are + morally liable for <i>all the</i> consequences—all the + inconveniences and losses to the community, all the sufferings of the poor + entailed by interruptions of trade, all the privations of other workingmen + whom a selfish attention to their own supposed advantage throws out of the + closed industries. They are liable in morals and should be made so in law—only + that strikes are needless. It is not worth while to create a multitude of + complex criminal responsibilities for acts which can easily be prevented + by a single and simple one. How? + </p> + <p> + First, I should like to point out that we are hearing a deal too much + about a man's inalienable right to work or play, at his own sovereign + will. In so far as that means—and it is always used to mean—his + right to quit any kind of work at any moment, without notice and + regardless of consequences to others, it is false; there is no such moral + right, and the law should have at least a speaking acquaintance with + morality. What is mischievous should be illegal. The various interests of + civilization are so complex, delicate, intertangled and interdependent + that no man, and no set of men, should have power to throw the entire + scheme into confusion and disorder for pro-motion of a trumpery principle + or a class advantage. In dealing with corporations we recognize that. If + for any selfish purpose the trade union of railway managers had done what + their sacred brakemen and divine firemen did—had decreed that "no + wheel should turn," until Mr. Pullman's men should return to work—they + would have found themselves all in jail the second day. <i>Their</i> right + to quit work was not conceded: they lacked that authenticating credential + of moral and legal irresponsibility, an indurated palm. In a small lockout + affecting a mill or two the offender finds a half-hearted support in <i>the</i> + law if he is willing to pay enough deputy sheriffs; but even then he is + mounted by the hobnailed populace, at its back the daily newspapers, + clamoring and spitting like cats. But let the manager of a great railway + discharge all its men without warning and "kill" its own engines! Then see + what you will see. To commit a wrong so gigantic with impunity a man must + wear overalls. + </p> + <p> + How prevent anybody from committing it? How break up this <i>régime</i> of + strikes and boycotts and lockouts, more disastrous to others than to those + at whom the blows are aimed—than to those, even, who deliver them. + How make all those concerned in the management and operation of great + industries, about which have grown up tangles of related and dependent + interests, conduct them with some regard to the welfare of others? Before + committing ourselves to the dubious and irretraceable course of + "Government ownership," or to the infectious expedient of a "pension + system," is there anything of promise yet untried?—anything of + superior simplicity and easier application? I think so. Make a breach of + labor contract by either party to it a criminal offense punishable by + imprisonment "Fine or imprisonment" will not do—the employee, unable + to pay the fine, would commonly go to jail, the employer seldom. That + would not be fair. + </p> + <p> + The purpose of such a law is apparent: Labor contracts would then be drawn + for a certain time, securing both employer and employee and (which is more + important) helpless persons in related and dependent industries—the + whole public, in fact—against sudden and disastrous action by either + "capital" or "labor" for accomplishment of a purely selfish or frankly + impudent end. A strike or lockout compelled to announce itself thirty days + in advance would be innocuous to the public, whilst securing to the party + of initiation all the advantages that anybody professes to want—all + but the advantage of ruining others and of successfully defying the laws. + </p> + <p> + Under the present <i>régime</i> labor contracts are useless; either party + can violate them with impunity. They offer redress only through a civil + suit for damages, and the employee commonly has nothing with which to + conduct an action or satisfy a judgment. The consequence is seen in the + incessant and increasing industrial disturbances, with their + ever-attendant crimes against property, life and liberty—disturbances + which by driving capital to investments in which it needs employ no labor, + do more than all the other causes so glibly enumerated by every newspaper + and politician, though by no two alike, to bring about the "hard times"—which + in their turn cause further and worse disturbances. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + INDUSTRIAL DISCONTENT + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + THE time seems to have come when the two antagonistic elements of American + society should, and could afford to, throw off their disguise and frankly + declare their principles and purposes. But what, it may be asked, are the + two antagonistic elements? Dividing lines parting the population into two + camps more or less hostile may be drawn variously; for example, one may be + run between the law-abiding and the criminal class. But the elements to + which reference is here made are those immemorable and implacable foes + which the slang of modern economics roughly and loosely distinguishes as + "Capital" and "Labor." A more accurate classification—as accurate a + one as it is possible to make—would designate them as those who do + muscular labor and those who do not. The distinction between rich and poor + does not serve: to the laborer the rich man who works with his hands is + not objectionable; the poor man who does not, is. Consciously or + unconsciously, and alike by those whose necessities compel them to perform + it and those whose better fortune enables them to avoid it, manual labor + is considered the most insufferable of human pursuits. It is a pill that + the Tolstois, the "communities" and the "Knights" of Labor can not + sugarcoat. We may prate of the dignity of labor; emblazon its praise upon + banners; set apart a day on which to stop work and celebrate it; shout our + teeth loose in its glorification—and, God help our fool souls to + better sense, we think we mean it all! + </p> + <p> + If labor is so good and great a thing let all be thankful, for all can + have as much of it as may be desired. The eight-hour law is not mandatory + to the laborer, nor does possession of leisure entail idleness. It is + permitted to the clerk, the shopman, the street peddler—to all who + live by the light employment of keeping the wolf from the door without + eating him—to abandon their ignoble callings, seize the shovel, the + axe and the sledge-hammer and lay about them right sturdily, to the ample + gratification of their desire. And those who are engaged in more + profitable vocations will find that with a part of their incomes they can + purchase from their employers the right to work as hard as they like in + even the dullest times. + </p> + <p> + Manual labor has nothing of dignity, nothing of beauty. It is a hard, + imperious and dispiriting necessity. He who is condemned to it feels that + it sets upon his brow the brand of intellectual inferiority. And that + brand of servitude never ceases to burn. In no country and at no time has + the laborer had a kindly feeling for the rest of us, for everywhere and + always has he heard in our patronising platitudes the note of contempt. In + his repression, in the denying him the opportunity to avenge his real and + imaginary wrongs, government finds its main usefulness, activity and + justification. Jefferson's dictum that governments are instituted among + men in order to secure them in "life, liberty and the pursuit of + happiness" is luminous nonsense. Governments are not instituted; they + grow. They are evolved out of the necessity of protecting from the + handworker the life and property of the brain worker and the idler. The + first is the most dangerous because the most numerous and the least + content. Take from the science and the art of government, and from its + methods, whatever has had its origin in the consciousness of his ill-will + and the fear of his power and what have you left? A pure republic—that + is to say, no government. + </p> + <p> + I should like it understood that, if not absolutely devoid of preferences + and prejudices, I at least believe myself to be; that except as to result + I think no more of one form of government than of another; and that with + reference to results all forms seem to me bad, but bad in different + degrees. If asked my opinion as to the results of our own, I should point + to Homestead, to Wardner, to Buffalo, to Coal Creek, to the interminable + tale of unpunished murders by individuals and by mobs, to legislatures and + courts unspeakably corrupt and executives of criminal cowardice, to the + prevalence and immunity of plundering trusts and corporations and the + monstrous multiplication of millionaires. I should invite attention to the + pension roll, to the similar and incredible extravagance of Republican and + Democratic "Houses"—a plague o' them both! If addressing Democrats + only, I should mention the protective tariff; if Republicans, the + hill-tribe clamor for free coinage of silver. I should call to mind the + existence of prosperous activity of a thousand lying secret societies + having for their sole object mitigation of republican simplicity by means + of pageantry and costumes grotesquely resembling those of kings and + courtiers, and titles of address and courtesy exalted enough to draw + laughter from an ox. + </p> + <p> + In contemplation of these and a hundred other "results," no less shameful + in themselves than significant of the deeper shame beneath and prophetic + of the blacker shame to come, I should say: "Behold the outcome of hardly + more than a century of government by the people! Behold the superstructure + whose foundations our forefathers laid upon the unstable overgrowth of + popular caprice surfacing the unplummeted abysm of human depravity! Behold + the reality behind our dream of the efficacy of forms, the saving grace of + principles, the magic of words! We have believed in the wisdom of + majorities and are fooled; trusted to the good honor of numbers, and are + betrayed. Our touching faith in the liberty of the rascal, our strange + conviction that anarchy making proselytes and bombs is less dangerous than + anarchy with a shut mouth and a watched hand—lo, this is the + beginning of the aid of the dream!" + </p> + <p> + Our Government has broken down at every point, and the two irreconcilable + elements whose suspensions of hostilities are mistaken for peace are about + to try their hands at each other's tempting display of throats. There is + no longer so much as a pretense of amity; apparently there will not much + longer be a pretense of regard for mercy and morals. Already "industrial + discontent" has attained to the magnitude of war. It is important, then, + that there be an understanding of principles and purposes. As the + combatants will not define their positions truthfully by words, let us see + if it can be inferred from the actions which are said to speak more + plainly. If one of the really able men who now "direct the destinies" of + the labor organizations in this country, could be enticed into the Palace + of Truth and "examined" by a skilful catechist he would indubitably say + something like this: + </p> + <p> + "Our ultimate purpose is abolition of the distinction between employer and + employee, which is but a modification of that between master and slave. + </p> + <p> + "We propose that the laborer shall be chief owner of all the property and + profits of the enterprise in which he is engaged, and have through his + union a controlling voice in all its affairs. + </p> + <p> + "We propose to overthrow the system under which a man can grow richer by + working with his head than with his hands, and prevent the man who works + with neither from having anything at all. + </p> + <p> + "In the attainment of these ends any means is to be judged, as to its + fitness for our use, with sole regard to its efficacy. We shall punish the + innocent for the sins of the guilty. We shall destroy property and life + under such circumstances and to such an extent as may seem to us + expedient. Falsehood, treachery, arson, assassination, all these we look + upon as legitimate if effective. + </p> + <p> + "The rules of 'civilized warfare' we shall not observe, but shall put + prisoners to death or torture them, as we please. + </p> + <p> + "We do not recognize a non-union man's right to labor, nor to live. The + right to strike includes the right to strike <i>him</i>." + </p> + <p> + Doubtless all that (and "the half is not told") sounds to the unobservant + like a harsh exaggeration, an imaginative travesty of the principles of + labor organizations. It is not a travesty; it has no element of + exaggeration. Not in the last twenty-five years has a great strike or + lockout occurred in this country without supplying facts, notorious and + undisputed, upon which some of these confessions of faith are founded. The + war is practically a servile insurrection, and servile insurrections are + today what they ever were: the most cruel and ferocious of all + manifestations of human hate. Emancipation is rough work; when he who + would be free, himself strikes the blow, he can not consider too curiously + with what he strikes it nor upon whom it falls. It will profit you to + understand, my fine gentleman with the soft hands, the character of that + which is confronting you. You are not threatened with a bombardment of + roses. + </p> + <p> + Let us look into the other camp, where General Hardhead is so engrossed + with his own greatness and power as not clearly to hear the shots on his + picket line. Suppose we hypnotize him and make him open his "shut soul" to + our searching. He will say something like this: + </p> + <p> + "In the first place, I claim the right to own and enclose for my own use + or disuse as much of the earth's surface as I am desirous and able to + procure. I and my kind have made laws confirming us in the occupancy of + the entire habitable and arable area as fast as we can get it. To the + objection that this must eventually here, as it has actually done + elsewhere, deprive the rest of you places upon which legally to be born, + and exclude you after surreptitious birth as trespassers from all chance + to procure directly the fruits of the earth, I reply that you can be born + at sea and eat fish. + </p> + <p> + "I claim the right to induce you, by offer of employment, to colonize + yourselves and families about my factories, and then arbitrarily, by + withdrawing the employment, break up in a day the homes that you have been + years in acquiring where it is no longer possible for you to procure work. + </p> + <p> + "In determining your rate of wages when I employ you, I claim the right to + make your necessities a factor in the problem, thus making your + misfortunes cumulative. By the law of supply and demand (God bless its + expounder!) the less you have and the less chance to get more, the more I + have the right to take from you in labor and the less I am bound to give + you in wages. + </p> + <p> + "I claim the right to ignore the officers of the peace and maintain a + private army to subdue you when you rise. + </p> + <p> + "I claim the right to make you suffer, by creating for my advantage an + artificial scarcity of the necessaries of life. + </p> + <p> + "I claim the right to employ the large powers of the government in + advancing my private welfare. + </p> + <p> + "As to falsehood, treachery and the other military virtues with which you + threaten me, I shall go, in them, as far as you; but from arson and + assassination I recoil with horror. You see you have very little to burn, + and you are not more than half alive anyhow." + </p> + <p> + That, I submit, is a pretty fair definition of the position of the wealthy + man who works with his head. It seems worth while to put it on record + while he is extant to challenge or verify; for the probability is that + unless he mend his ways he will not much longer be wealthy, work, nor have + a head. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + In discussion of the misdoings at Homestead and Coeur d' Alene it is + amusing to observe all the champions of law and order gravely prating of + "principles" and declaring with all the solemnity of owls that these + sacred things have been violated. On that ground they have the argument + all their own way. Indubitably there is hardly a fundamental principle of + law and morals that the rioting laborers have not footballed out of the + field of consideration. Indubitably, too, in doing so they have forfeited + as they must have expected to forfeit, all the "moral support" for which + they did not care a tinker's imprecation. If there were any question of + their culpability this solemn insistence upon it would lack something of + the humor with which it is now invested and which saves the observer from + death by dejection. + </p> + <p> + It is not only in discussions of the "labor situation" that we hear this + eternal babble of "principles." It is never out of ear, and in politics is + especially clamant. Every success in an election is yawped of as "a + triumph of Republican (or Democratic) principles." But neither in politics + nor in the quarrels of laborers and their employers have principles a + place as "factors in the problem." Their use is to supply to both + combatants a vocabulary of accusation and appeal. All the fierce talk of + an antagonist's violation of those eternal principles upon which organized + society is founded—and the rest of it—what is it but the cry + of the dog with the chewed ear? The dog that is chewing foregoes the + advantage of song. + </p> + <p> + Human contests engaging any number of contestants are not struggles of + principles but struggles of interests; and this is no less true of those + decided by the ballot than of those in which the franker bullet gives + judgment. Nor, but from considerations of prudence and expediency, will + either party hesitate to transgress the limits of the law and outrage the + sense of right. At Homestead and Wardner the laborers committed robbery, + pillage and murder, as striking workmen invariably do when they dare, and + as cowardly newspapers and scoundrel politicians encourage them in doing. + But what would you have? They conceive it to be to their interest to do + these things. If capitalists conceive it to be to theirs they too would do + them. They do not do them for their interest lies in the supremacy of the + law—under which they can suffer loss but do not suffer hunger. + </p> + <p> + "But they do murder," say the labor unions; "they bring in gangs of armed + mercenaries who shoot down honest workmen striving for their rights." This + is the baldest nonsense, as they know very well who utter it. The + Pinkerton men are mere mercenaries and have no right place in our system, + but there have been no instances of their attacking men not engaged in + some unlawful prank. In the fight at Homestead the workmen were actually + intrenched on premises belonging to the other side, where they had not the + ghost of a legal right to be. American working men are not fools; they + know well enough when they are rogues. But confession is not among the + military virtues, and the question. Is roguery expedient? is not so simple + that it can be determined by asking the first preacher you meet. + </p> + <p> + It would be very nice and fine all round if idle workmen would not riot + nor idle employers meet force with force, but invoke the impossible + Sheriff. When the Dragon has been chained in the Bottomless Pit and we are + living under the rule of the saints, things will be so ordered, but in + these rascal times "revolutions are not made with rosewater," and this is + a revolution. What is being revolutionized is the relation between our old + friends. Capital and Labor. The relation has already been altered many + times, doubtless; once, we know, within the period covered by history, at + least in the countries that we call civilized. The relation was formerly a + severely simple one—the capitalist owned the laborer. Of the + difficulty and the cost of abolishing that system it is needless to speak + at length. Through centuries of time and with an appalling sacrifice of + life the effort has gone on, a continuous war characterized by monstrous + infractions of law and morals, by incalculable cruelty and crime. Our own + generation has witnessed the culminating triumphs of this revolution, and + of its three mightiest leaders the assassination of two, the death in + exile of the third. And now, while still the clank of the falling chains + is echoing through the world, and still a mighty multitude of the world's + workers is in bondage under the old system, the others, for whose + liberation was all this "expense of spirit in a waste of shame," are + sharply challenging the advantage of the new. The new is, in troth, + breaking down at every point The relation of employer and employee is + giving but little better satisfaction than that of master and slave. The + difference between the two is, indeed, not nearly so broad as we persuade + ourselves to think it. In many of the industries there is practically no + difference at all, and the tendency is more and more to effacement of the + difference where it exists. + </p> + <p> + Labor unions, strikes and rioting are no new remedies for this insidious + disorder; they were common in ancient Rome and still more ancient Egypt. + In the twenty-ninth year of Rameses III a deputation of workmen employed + in the Theban necropolis met the superintendent and the priests with a + statement of their grievances. "Behold," said the spokesman, "we are + brought to the verge of famine. We have neither food, nor oil, nor + clothing; we have no fish; we have no vegetables. Already we have sent up + a petition to our sovereign lord the Pharaoh, praying that he will give us + these things and we are going to appeal to the Governor that we may have + the wherewithal to live." The response to this complaint was one day's + rations of corn. This appears to have been enough only while it lasted, + for a few weeks later the workmen were in open revolt. Thrice they broke + out of their quarter, rioting like mad and defying the police. Whether + they were finally shot full of arrows by the Pinkerton men of the period + the record does not state. + </p> + <p> + "Organized discontent" in the laboring population is no new thing under + the sun, but in this century and country it has a new opportunity and + Omniscience alone can forecast the outcome. Of one thing we may be very + sure, and the sooner the "capitalist" can persuade himself to discern it + the sooner will his eyes guard his neck: the relations between those who + are able to live without physical toil and those who are not are a long + way from final adjustment, but are about to undergo a profound and + essential alteration. That this is to come by peaceful evolution is a hope + which has nothing in history to sustain it. There are to be bloody noses + and cracked crowns, and the good people who suffer themselves to be + shocked by such things in others will have a chance to try them for + themselves. The working man is not troubling himself greatly about a just + allotment of these blessings; so that the greater part go to those who do + not work with their hands he will not consider too curiously any person's + claim to exemption. It would perhaps better harmonize with his sense of + the fitness of things (as it would, no doubt, with that of the angels) if + the advantages of the transitional period fell mostly to the share of such + star-spangled impostors as Andrew Carnegie; but almost any distribution + that is sufficiently objectionable as a whole to the other side will be + acceptable to the distributor. In the mean time it is to be wished that + the moralize, and homilizers who prate of "principles" may have a little + damnation dealt out to them on account. The head that is unable to + entertain a philosophical view of the situation would be notably + advantaged by removal. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + It is the immigration of "the oppressed of all nations" that has made this + country one of the worst on the face of the earth. The change from good to + bad took place within a generation—so quickly that few of us have + had the nimbleness of apprehension to "get it through our heads." We go on + screaming our eagle in the self-same note of triumph that we were taught + at our fathers' knees before the eagle became a buzzard. America is still + "an asylum for the oppressed;" and still, as always and everywhere, the + oppressed are unworthy of asylum, avenging upon those who give them + sanctuary the wrongs from which they fled. The saddest thing about + oppression is that it makes its victims unfit for anything but to be + oppressed—makes them dangerous alike to their tyrants, their saviors + and themselves. In the end they turn out to be fairly energetic + oppressors. The gentleman in the cesspool invites compassion, certainly, + but we may be very well assured, before undertaking his relief without a + pole, that his conception of a prosperous life is merely to have his nose + above the surface with another gentleman underfoot. + </p> + <p> + All languages are spoken in Hell, but chiefly those of Southeastern + Europe. I do not say that a man fresh from the fields or the factories of + Europe—even of Southeastern Europe—may not be a good man; I + say only that, as a matter of fact, he commonly is not. In nine instances + in ten he is a brute whom it would be God's mercy to drown on his arrival, + for he is constitutionally unhappy. + </p> + <p> + Let us not deny him his grievance: he works—when he works—for + men no better than himself. He is required, in many instances, to take a + part of his pay in "truck" at prices of breathless altitude; and the pay + itself is inadequate—hardly more than double what he could get in + his own country. Against all this his howl is justified; but his rioting + and assassination are not—not even when directed against the + property and persons of his employers. When directed against the persons + of other laborers, who choose to exercise the fundamental human right to + work for whom and for what pay they please—when he denies this + right, and with it the right of organized society to exist, the necessity + of shooting him is not only apparent; it is conspicuous and imperative. + That he and his horrible kind, of whatever nationality, are usually + forgiven this just debt of nature, and suffered to execute, like rivers, + their annual spring rise, constitutes the most valid of the many + indictments that decent Americans by birth or adoption find against the + feeble form of government under which their country groans, A nation that + will not enforce its laws has no claim to the respect and allegiance of + its people. + </p> + <p> + This "citizen soldiery" business is a ghastly failure. The National Guard + is not worth the price of its uniforms. It is intended to be a Greater + Constabulary: its purpose is to suppress disorders with which the civil + authorities are too feeble to cope. How often does it do so? Nine times in + ten it fraternizes with, or is cowed or beaten by the savage mobs which it + is called upon to kill. In a country with a competent militia and + competent men to use it there would be crime enough and some to spare, but + no rioting. Rioting in a Republic is without a shadow of excuse. If we + have bad laws, or if our good laws are not enforced; if corporations and + capital are "tyrannous and strong;" if white men murder one another and + black men outrage white women, all this is our own fault—the fault + of those, among others, who seek redress or revenge by rioting and + lynching. The people have always as good government, as good industrial + conditions, as effective protection of person, property and liberty, as + they deserve. They can have what ever they have the honesty to desire and + the sense to set about getting in the right way. If as citizens of a + Republic we lack the virtue and intelligence rightly to use the supreme + power of the ballot so that it + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Executes a freeman's will + As lightning does the will of God" +</pre> + <p> + we are unfit to be citizens of a Republic, undeserving of peace, + prosperity and liberty, and have no right to rise against conditions due + to our own moral and intellectual delinquency. There is a simple way, + Messieurs the Masses to correct public evils: put wise and good men into + power. If you can not do that for you are not yourselves wise, or will not + for you are not yourselves good, you deserve to be oppressed when you + submit and shot when you rise. + </p> + <p> + To shoot a rioter or lyncher is a high kind of mercy. Suppose that + twenty-five years ago (the longer ago the better) two or three criminal + mobs in succession had been exterminated in that way, "as the law + provides." Suppose that several scores of lives had been so taken, + including even those of "innocent spectators"—though that kind of + angel does not abound in the vicinity of mobs. Suppose that no demagogue + judges had permitted officers in command of the "firing lines" to be + persecuted in the courts. Suppose that these events had writ themselves + large and red in the public memory. How many lives would this have saved? + Just as many as since have been taken and lost by rioters, plus those that + for a long time to come will be taken, and minus those that were taken at + that time. Make your own computation from your own data; I insist only + that a rioter shot in time saves nine. + </p> + <p> + You know—you, the People—that all this is true. You know that + in a Republic lawlessness is villainy entailing greater evils than it + cures—that it cures none. You know that even the "money power" is + powerful only through your own dishonesty and cowardice. You know that + nobody can bribe or intimidate a voter who will not take a bribe or suffer + himself to be intimidated—that there can be no "money power" in a + nation of honorable and courageous men. You know that "bosses" and + "machines" can not control you if you will not suffer then to divide you + into "parties" by playing upon your credulity and senseless passions. You + know all this, and know it all the time. Yet not a man has the courage to + stand forth and say to your faces what you know in your hearts. Well, + Messieurs the Masses, I don't consider you dangerous—not very. I + have not observed that you want to tear anybody to pieces for confessing + your sins, even if at the same time he confesses his own. From a + considerable experience in that sort of thing I judge that you rather like + it, and that he whom, secretly, you most despise is he who echoes back to + you what he is pleased to think you think and flatters you for gain. + Anyhow, for some reason, I never hear you speak well of newspaper men and + politicians, though in the shadow of your disesteem they get an occasional + gleam of consolation by speaking fairly well of one another. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CRIME AND ITS CORRECTIVES + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + SOCIOLOGISTS have been debating the theory that the impulse to commit + crime is a disease, and the ayes appear to have it—not the impulse + but the decision. It is gratifying and profitable to have the point + settled: we now know "where we are at," and can take our course + accordingly. It has for a number of years been known to all but a few + back-number physicians—survivals from an exhausted <i>régime</i>—that + all disease is caused by bacilli, which worm themselves into the organs + that secrete health and enjoin them from the performance of that rite. The + medical conservatives mentioned attempt to whittle away the value and + significances of this theory by affirming its inadequacy to account for + such disorders as broken heads, sunstroke, superfluous toes, + home-sickness, burns and strangulation on the gallows; but against the + testimony of so eminent bacteriologists as Drs. Koch and Pasteur their + carping is as that of the idle angler. The bacillus is not to be denied; + he has brought his blankets and is here to stay until evicted, and + eviction can not be wrought by talking. Doubtless we may confidently + expect his eventual suppression by a fresher and more ingenious disturber + of the physiological peace, but the bacillus is now chief among ten + thousand evils and it is futile to attempt to read him out of the party. + </p> + <p> + It follows that in order to deal intelligently with the criminal impulse + in our afflicted fellow-citizens we must discover the bacillus of crime. + To that end I think that the bodies of hanged assassins and such persons + of low degree as have been gathered to their fathers by the cares of + public office or consumed by the rust of inactivity in prison should be + handed over to the microscopists for examination. The bore, too, offers a + fine field for research, and might justly enough be examined alive. + Whether there is one general—or as the ancient and honorable orders + prefer to say, "grand"—bacillus, producing a general (or grand) + criminal impulse covering a multitude of sins, or an infinite number of + well defined and several bacilli, each inciting to a particular crime, is + a question to the determination of which the most distinguished + microscopist might be proud to devote the powers of his eye. If the latter + is the case it will somewhat complicate the treatment, for clearly the + patient afflicted with chronic robbery will require medicines different + from those that might be efficacious in a gentleman suffering from + constitutional theft or the desire to represent his District in the + Assembly. But it is permitted to us to hope that all crimes, like all + arts, are essentially one; that murder, arson and conservatism are but + different symptoms of the same physical disorder, back of which is a + microbe vincible to a single medicament, albeit the same awaits discovery. + </p> + <p> + In the fascinating theory of the unity of crime we may not unreasonably + hope to find another evidence of the brotherhood of man, another spiritual + bond tending to draw the various classes of society more closely together. + </p> + <p> + From time to time it is said that a "wave" of some kind of crime is + sweeping the country. It is all nonsense about "waves" of crime. + Occasionally occurs some crime notable for its unusual features, or for + the renown of those concerned. It arrests public attention, which for a + time is directed to that particular kind of crane, and the newspapers, + with business-like instinct, give, for a season, unusual prominence to the + record of similar offenses. Then, self-deceived, they talk about a "wave," + or "epidemic" of it. So far is this from the truth that one of the most + noticeable characteristics of crime is the steady and unbroken monotony of + its occurrence in certain forms. There is nothing so dull and unvarying as + this tedious uniformity of repetition. The march of crime is never + retarded, never accelerated. The criminals appear to be thoroughly well + satisfied with their annual average, as shown by the periodical reports of + their secretary, the statistician. + </p> + <p> + A marked illustration occurs to me. Many years ago in London a well-known + and respectable gentleman was brutally garroted. It was during the "silly + season"—between sessions of Parliament, when the newspapers are + likely to be dull. They at once began to report cases of garroting. There + appeared to be an "epidemic of garroting." The public mind was terribly + excited, and when Parliament met it hastened to pass the infamous + "flogging act"—a distinct reversion to the senseless and discredited + methods of physical torture, so alluring to the half instructed mind of + the average journalist of today. Yet the statistics published by the Home + Secretary under whose administration the act was passed show that neither + at the time of the alarm was there any material increase of garroting, nor + in the period of public tranquillity succeeding was there any appreciable + diminution. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + By advocating painless removal of incurable idiots and lunatics, + incorrigible criminals and irreclaimable drunkards from this vale of tears + Dr. W. Duncan McKim provoked many a respectable but otherwise blameless + person to throw a catfit of great complexity and power. Yet Dr. McKim + seemed only to anticipate the trend of public opinion and forecast its + crystallization into law. It is rapidly becoming a question of not what we + ought to do with these unfortunates, but what we shall be compelled to do. + Study of the statistics of the matter shows that in all civilized + countries mental and moral diseases are increasing, proportionately to + population, at a rate which in the course of a few generations will make + it impossible for the healthy to care for the afflicted. To do so will + require the entire revenue which it is possible to raise by taxation—will + absorb all the profits of all the industries and professions and make + deeper and deeper inroads upon the capital from which they are derived. + When it comes to that there can be but one result. High and humanizing + sentiments are angel visitants, whom we entertain with pride and pleasure, + but when <i>fine</i> entertainment becomes too costly to be borne we + "speed the parting guest" forthwith. And it may happen that in inviting to + his vacant place a less exciting successor—that in replacing + Sentiment with Reason—we shall, in this instance, learn to our joy + that we do but entertain another angel. For nothing is so heavenly as + Reason; nothing is so sweet and compassionate as her voice— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose, + But musical as is Apollo's lute," +</pre> + <p> + Is it cruel, is it heartless, is it barbarous to use something of the same + care in breeding men and women as in breeding horses and dogs? Here is a + determining question: Knowing yourself doomed to hopeless idiocy, lunacy, + crime or drunkenness, would you, or would you not, welcome a painless + death? Let us assume that you would. Upon what ground, then, would you + deny to another a boon that you would desire for yourself? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + The good American is, as a rule, pretty hard upon roguery, but he atones + for his austerity by an amiable toleration of rogues. His only requirement + is that he must personally know the rogues. We all "denounce" thieves + loudly enough, if we have not the honor of their acquaintance. If we have, + why, that is different—unless they have the actual odor of the + prison about them. We may know them guilty, but we meet them, shake hands + with them, drink with them, and if they happen to be wealthy or otherwise + great invite them to our houses, and deem it an honor to frequent theirs. + We do not "approve their methods"—let that be understood; and + thereby they are sufficiently punished. The notion that a knave cares a + pin what is thought of his ways by one who is civil and friendly to + himself appears to have been invented by a humorist. On the vaudeville + stage of Mars it would probably have made his fortune. If warrants of + arrest were out for every man in this country who is conscious of having + repeatedly shaken hands with persons whom he knew to be knaves there would + be no guiltless person to serve them. + </p> + <p> + I know men standing high in journalism who today will "expose" and + bitterly "denounce" a certain rascality and tomorrow will be hobnobbing + with the rascals whom they have named. I know legislators of renown who + habitually in "the halls of legislation" raise their voices against the + dishonest schemes of some "trust magnate," and are habitually seen in + familiar conversation with him. Indubitably these be hypocrites all. + Between the head and the heart of such a man is a wall of adamant, and + neither organ knows what the other is doing. + </p> + <p> + If social recognition were denied to rogues they would be fewer by many. + Some would only the more diligently cover their tracks along the devious + paths of unrighteousness, but others would do so much violence to their + consciences as to renounce the disadvantages of rascality for those of an + honest life. An unworthy person dreads nothing so much as the withholding + of an honest hand, the slow inevitable stroke of an ignoring eye. + </p> + <p> + For one having knowledge of Mr. John D. Rockefeller's social life and + connections it would be easy to name a dozen men and women who by a + conspiracy of conscription could profoundly affect the plans and profits + of the Standard Oil Company. I have been asked: "If John D. Rockefeller + were introduced to you by a friend, would you refuse to take his hand?" I + certainly should—and if ever thereafter I took the hand of that + hardy "friend" it would be after his repentance and promise to reform his + ways. We have Rockefellers and Morgans because we have "respectable" + persons who are not ashamed to take them by the hand, to be seen with + them, to say that they know them. In such it is treachery to censure them; + to cry out when robbed by them is to turn State's evidence. + </p> + <p> + One may smile upon a rascal (most of us do so many times a day) if one + does not know him to be a rascal, and has not said he is; but knowing him + to be, or having said he is, to smile upon him is to be a hypocrite—just + a plain hypocrite or a sycophantic hypocrite, according to the station in + life of the rascal smiled upon. There are more plain hypocrites than + sycophantic ones, for there are more rascals of no consequence than rich + and distinguished ones, though they get fewer smiles each. The American + people will be plundered as long as the American character is what it is; + as long as it is tolerant of successful knavery; as long as American + ingenuity draws an imaginary distinction between a man's public character + and his private—his commercial and his personal In brief, the + American people will be plundered as long as they deserve to be plundered. + No human law can stop it, none ought to stop it, for that would abrogate a + higher and more salutary law: "As ye sow ye shall reap." + </p> + <p> + In a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst is the following: "The story of all + our Lord's dealings with sinners leaves upon the mind the invariable + impression, if only the story be read sympathetically and earnestly, that + He always felt kindly towards the transgressor, but could have no + tenderness of regard toward the transgression. There is no safe and + successful dealing with sin of any kind save as that distinction is + appreciated and made a continual factor in our feelings and efforts." + </p> + <p> + With all due respect for Dr. Parkhurst, that is nonsense. If he will read + his New Testament more understandingly he will observe that Christ's + kindly feeling to transgressors was not to be counted on by sinners of + every kind, and it was not always in evidence; for example, when he + flogged the money-changers out of the temple. Nor is Dr. Parkhurst himself + any too amiably disposed toward the children of darkness. It is not by + mild words and gentle means that he has hurled the mighty from their seats + and exalted them of low degree. Such revolutions as he set afoot are not + made with spiritual rose-water; there must be the contagion of a noble + indignation fueled with harder wood than abstractions. The people can not + be collected and incited to take sides by the spectacle of a man fighting + something that does not fight back. It is men that Dr. Parkhurst is + trouncing—not their crimes—not Crime. He may fancy himself + "dowered with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn," but in reality he + does not hate hate but hates the hateful, and scorns, not scorn, but the + scornworthy. + </p> + <p> + It is singular with what tenacity that amusing though mischievous + superstition keeps its hold upon the human mind—that grave <i>bona + fide</i> personification of abstractions and the funny delusion that it is + possible to hate or love them. Sin is not a thing; there is no existing + object corresponding to any of the mere counter-words that are properly + named abstract nouns. One can no more hate sin or love virtue than one can + hate a vacuum (which Nature—itself imaginary—was once by the + scientists of the period solemnly held to do) or love one of the three + dimensions. We may think that while loving a sinner we hate the sin, but + that is not so; if anything is hated it is other sinners of the same kind, + who are not quite so close to us. + </p> + <p> + "But," says Citizen Goodheart, who thinks with difficulty, "shall I throw + over my friend when he is in trouble?" Yes, when you are convinced that he + deserves to be in trouble; throw him all the harder and the further + because he is your friend. In addition to his particular offense against + society he has disgraced <i>you</i>. If there are to be lenity and charity + let them go to the criminal who has foreborne to involve you in his shame. + It were a pretty state of affairs if an undetected scamp, fearing + exposure, could make you a co-defendant by so easy a precaution as + securing your acquaintance and regard. Don't throw the first stone, of + course, but when convinced that your friend is a proper target, heave away + with a right hearty good-will, and let the stone be of serviceable + dimensions, scabrous, textured flintwise and delivered with a good aim. + </p> + <p> + The French have a saying to the effect that to know all is to pardon all; + and doubtless with an omniscient insight into the causes of character we + should find the field of moral responsibility pretty thickly strewn with + extenuating circumstances very suitable indeed for consideration by a god + who has had a hand in besetting "with pitfall and with gin" the road we + are to wander in. But I submit that universal forgiveness would hardly do + as a working principle. Even those who are most apt and facile with the + incident of the woman taken in adultery commonly cherish a secret respect + for the doctrine of eternal damnation; and some of them are known to pin + their faith to the penal code of their state. Moreover there is some + reason to believe that the sinning woman, being "taken," was penitent—they + usually are when found out. + </p> + <p> + I care nothing about principles—they are lumber and rubbish. What + concerns our happiness and welfare, as affectible by our fellowmen, is + conduct "Principles, not men," is a rogue's cry; rascality's counsel to + stupidity, the noise of the duper duping on his dupe. He shouts it most + loudly and with the keenest sense of its advantage who most desires + inattention to his own conduct, or to that forecast of it, his character. + As to sin, that has an abundance of expounders and is already universally + known to be wicked. What more can be said against it, and why go on + repeating that? The thing is a trifle wordworn, whereas the sinner cometh + up as a flower every day, fresh, ingenious and inviting. Sin is not at all + dangerous to society; it is the sinner that does all the mischief. Sin has + no arms to thrust into the public treasury and the private; no hands with + which to cut a throat; no tongue to wreck a reputation withal. I would no + more attack it than I would attack an isosceles triangle, a vacuum, or + Hume's "phantasm floating in a void." My chosen enemy must be something + that has a skin for my switch, a head for my cudgel—something that + can smart and ache and, if so minded, fight back. I have no quarrel with + abstractions; so far as I know they are all good citizens. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE DEATH PENALTY + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + "DOWN with the gallows!" is a cry not unfamiliar in America. There is + always a movement afoot to make odious the just principle of "a life for a + life"—to represent it as "a relic of barbarism," "a usurpation of + the divine authority," and the rotten rest of it The law making murder + punishable by death is as purely a measure of self-defense as is the + display of a pistol to one diligently endeavoring to kill without + provocation. Even the most brainless opponent of "capital punishment" + would do that if he knew enough. It is in precisely the same sense an + admonition, a warning to abstain from crime. Society says by that law: "If + you kill one of us you die," just as by display of the pistol the + individual whose life is attacked says: "Desist or be shot." To be + effective the warning in either case must be more than an idle threat. + Even the most unearthly reasoner among the gallows-downing unfortunates + would hardly expect to frighten away an assassin who knew the pistol to be + unloaded. Of course these queer illogicians can not be made to understand + that their position commits them to absolute non-resistance to any kind of + aggression, and that is fortunate for the rest of us, for if as Christians + they frankly and consistently took that ground we should be under the + miserable necessity of respecting them. + </p> + <p> + We have good reason to hold that the horrible prevalence of murder in this + country is due to the fact that we do not execute our laws—that the + death penalty is threatened but not inflicted—that the pistol is not + loaded. In civilized countries, where there is enough respect for the laws + to administer them, there is enough to obey them. While man still has as + much of the ancestral brute as his skin can hold widiout cracking we shall + have thieves and demagogues and anarchists and assassins and persons with + a private system of lexicography who define hanging as murder and murder + as mischance, and many another disagreeable creation, but in all this + welter of crime and stupidity are areas where human life is comparatively + secure against the human hand. It is at least a significant coincidence + that in these the death penalty for murder is fairly well enforced by + judges who do not derive any part of their authority from those for whose + restraint and punishment they hold it. Against the life of one guiltless + person the lives of ten thousand murderers count for nothing; their + hanging is a public good, without reference to the crimes that disclose + their deserts. If we could discover them by other signs than their bloody + deeds they should be hanged anyhow. Unfortunately we must have a death as + evidence. The scientists who will tell us how to recognize the potential + assassin, and persuade us to kill him, will be the greatest benefactor of + his century. + </p> + <p> + What would these enemies of the gibbet have?—these lineal + descendants of the drunken mobs that pelted the hangmen at Tyburn Tree; + this progeny of criminals, which has so defiled with the mud of its + animosity the noble office of public executioner that even "in this + enlightened age" he shirks his high duty, entrusting it to a hidden or + unnamed subordinate? If murder is unjust of what importance is it whether + it's punishment by death be just or not?—nobody needs to incur it. + </p> + <p> + Men are not drafted for the death penalty; they volunteer. "Then it is not + deterrent," mutters the gentleman whose rude forefather pelted the + hangman. Well, as to that, the law which is to accomplish more than a part + of its purpose must be awaited with great patience. Every murder proves + that hanging is not altogether deterrent; every hanging that it is + somewhat deterrent—it deters the person hanged. A man's first murder + is his crime, his second is ours. + </p> + <p> + The voice of Theosophy has been heard in favor of downing the gallows. As + usual the voice is a trifle vague and it babbles. Clear speech is the + outcome of clear thought, and that is something to which Theosophists are + not addicted. Considering their infirmity in that way, it would be hardly + fair to take them as seriously as they take themselves, but when any + considerable number of apparently earnest citizens unite in a petition to + the Governor of their State, to commute the death sentence of a convicted + assassin without alleging a doubt of his guilt the phenomenon challenges a + certain attention to what they do allege. What these amiable persons hold, + it seems, is what was held by Alphonse Karr: the expediency of abolishing + the death penalty; but apparently they do not hold, with him, that the + assassins should begin. They want the State to begin, believing that the + magnanimous example will effect a change of heart in those about to + murder. This, I take it, is the meaning of their assertion that "death + penalties have not the deterring influence which imprisonment for life + carries." In this they obviously err: death deters at least the person who + suffers it—he commits no more murder; whereas the assassin who is + imprisoned for life and immune from further punishment may with impunity + kill his keeper or whomsoever he may be able to get at. Even as matters + now are, the most incessant vigilance is required to prevent convicts in + prison from murdering their attendants and one another. How would it be if + the "life-termer" were assured against any additional inconvenience for + braining a guard occasionally, or strangling a chaplain now and then? A + penitentiary may be described as a place of punishment and reward; and + under the system proposed the difference in desirableness between a + sentence and an appointment would be virtually effaced. To overcome this + objection a life sentence would have to mean solitary confinement, and + that means insanity. Is that what these Theosophical gentlemen propose to + substitute for death? + </p> + <p> + These petitioners call the death penalty "a relic of barbarism," which is + neither conclusive nor true. What is required is not loose assertion and + dogs-eared phrases, but evidence of futility, or, in lack of that, cogent + reasoning. It is true that the most barbarous nations inflict the death + penalty most frequently and for the greatest number of offenses, but that + is because barbarians are more criminal in instinct and less easily + controlled by gentle methods than civilized peoples. That is why we call + them barbarous. It is not so very long since our English ancestors + punished more than forty kinds of crime with death. The fact that the + hangman, the boiler-in-oil and the breaker-on-the-wheel had their hands + full does not show that the laws were futile; it shows that the dear old + boys from whom we are proud to derive ourselves were a bad lot—of + which we have abundant corroborative evidence in their brutal pastimes and + in their manners and customs generally. To have restrained that crowd by + the rose-water methods of modern penology—that is unthinkable. + </p> + <p> + The death penalty, say the memorialists, "creates blood-thirstiness in the + unthinking masses and defeats its own ends. It is a cause of murder, not a + check." These gentlemen are themselves of "the unthinking masses"—they + do not know how to think. Let them try to trace and lucidly expound the + chain of motives lying between the knowledge that a murderer has been + hanged and the wish to commit a murder. How, precisely, does the one beget + the other? By what unearthly process of reasoning does a man turning away + from the gallows persuade himself that it is expedient to incur the danger + of hanging? Let us have pointed out to us the several steps in that + remarkable mental progress. Obviously, the thing is absurd; one might as + reasonably say that contemplation of a pitted face will make a man go and + catch smallpox, or the spectacle of an amputated limb on the scrap-heap of + a hospital tempt him to cut off his arm. + </p> + <p> + "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," says the Theosophist, "is not + justice. It is revenge and unworthy of a Christian civilization." It is + exact justice: nobody can think of anything more accurately just than such + punishments would be, whatever the motive in awarding them. Unfortunately + such a system is not practicable, but he who denies its absolute justice + must deny also the justice of a bushel of corn for a bushel of corn, a + dollar for a dollar, service for service. We can not undertake by such + clumsy means as laws and courts to do to the criminal exactly what he has + done to his victim, but to demand a life for a life is simple, + practicable, expedient and (therefore) right. + </p> + <p> + Here are two of these gentlemen's dicta, between which they inserted the + one just considered, though properly they should go together in frank + inconsistency: + </p> + <p> + "6. It [the death penalty] punishes the innocent a thousand times more + than the guilty. Death is merciful to the tortures which the living + relatives must undergo. And they have committed no crime." + </p> + <p> + "8. Death penalties have not the deterring influence which imprisonment + for life carries. Mere death is not dreaded. See the number of suicides. + Hopeless captivity is much more severe." + </p> + <p> + Merely noting that the "living relatives" whose sorrows so sympathetically + affect these soft-hearted and soft-headed persons are those of the + murderer, not those of his victim, let us consider what they really say, + not what they think they say: "Death is no very great punishment, for the + criminal doesn't mind it much, but hopeless captivity is a very great + punishment indeed Therefore, let us spare the assassin's family the + tortures they will suffer if we inflict the lighter penalty. Let us make + it easier for them by inflicting the severer one." + </p> + <p> + There is sense for you!—sense of the sound old fruity Theosophical + sort—the kind of sense that has lifted "The Beautiful Cult" out of + the dark domain of reason into the serene altitudes of inexpressible + Thrill! + </p> + <p> + As to "hopeless captivity," though, there is no such thing. In + legislation, today can not bind tomorrow. By an act of the Legislature—even + by a constitutional prohibition, we may do away with the pardoning power; + but laws can be repealed, constitutions amended. + </p> + <p> + The public has a short memory, signatures to petitions in the line of + mercy are had for the asking, and tender-hearted Governors are familiar + afflictions. We have life sentences already, and sometimes they are served + to the end—if the end comes soon enough! but the average length of + "life imprisonment" is, I am told, a little more than seven years. Hope + springs eternal in the human beast, and matters simply can not be so + arranged that in entering the penitentiary he will "leave hope behind." + Hopeless captivity is a dream. + </p> + <p> + I quote again: + </p> + <p> + "9. Life imprisonment is the natural and humane check upon one who has + proven his unfitness for freedom by taking life deliberately." + </p> + <p> + What! it is no longer "much more severe" than the "relic of barbarism?" In + the course of a half dozen lines of petition it has become "humane". Truly + these are lightning changes of character! It would be pleasing to know + just what these worthy Theosophers have the happiness to think that they + think. + </p> + <p> + "It is the only punishment that receives the consent of conscience." + </p> + <p> + That is to say, their conscience and that of the convicted assassin. + </p> + <p> + "Taking the life of a murderer does not restore the life he took + therefore, it is a most illogical punishment. Two wrongs do not make a + right." + </p> + <p> + Here's richness! Hanging an assassin is illogical because it does not + restore the life of his victim; incarceration does; therefore, + incarceration is logical—<i>quod erat demonstrandum</i>. + </p> + <p> + Two wrongs certainly do not make a right, but the veritable thing in + dispute is whether taking the life of a life-taker is a wrong. So naked + and unashamed an example of <i>petitio principii</i> would disgrace a + debater in a pinafore. And these wonder-mongers have the incredible + effrontery to babble of "logic"! Why, if one of them were to meet a + syllogism in a lonely road he would run away in a hundred and fifty + directions as hard as ever he could hook it. One is almost ashamed to + dispute with such intellectual cloudings. + </p> + <p> + Whatever an individual may rightly do to protect himself society may + rightly do to protect him, for he is a part of itself. If he may rightly + take life in defending himself society may rightly take life in defending + him. If society may rightly take life in defending him it may rightly + threaten to take it. Having rightly and mercifully threatened to take it, + it not only rightly may take it, but expediently must. + </p> + <p> + The law of a life for a life does not altogether prevent murder. No law + can altogether prevent any form of crime, nor is it desirable that it + should. Doubtless God could so have created us that our sense of right and + justice could have existed without contemplation of injustice and wrong, + as doubtless he could so have created us that we could have felt + compassion without a knowledge of suffering, but doubtless he did not. + Constituted as we are, we can know good only by contrast with evil. Our + sense of sin is what our virtues feed upon; in the thin air of universal + morality the altar-fires of honor and the beacons of conscience could not + be kept alight A community without crime would be a community without warm + and elevated sentiments—without the sense of justice, without + generosity, without courage, without magnanimity—a community of + small, smug souls, uninteresting to God and uncoveted by the Devil. We can + have too much of crime, no doubt; what the wholesome proportion is none + can say. Just now we are running a good deal to murder, but he who can + gravely attribute that phenomenon, or any part of it, to infliction of the + death penalty, instead of virtual immunity from any penalty at all, is + justly entitled to the innocent satisfaction that comes of being a + simpleton. + </p> + <p> + The New Woman is against the death penalty, naturally, for she is hot and + hardy in the conviction that whatever is is wrong. She has visited this + world in order to straighten things about a bit, and is in distress lest + the number of things be insufficient to her need. The matter is important + variously; not least so in its relation to the new heaven and the new + earth that are to be the outcome of woman suffrage. There can be no doubt + that the vast majority of women have sentimental objections to the death + penalty that quite outweigh such practical considerations in its favor as + they can be persuaded to comprehend. Aided by the minority of men + afflicted by the same mental malady, they will indubitably effect its + abolition in the first lustrum of their political activity. The New Woman + will scarcely feel the seat of power warm beneath her before giving to the + assassin's "unhand me villain!" the authority of law. So we shall make + again the old experiment, discredited by a thousand failures, of + preventing crime by tenderness to caught criminals. And the criminal + uncaught will treat us to a quality of toughness notably augmented by the + Christian spirit of the régime. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + As to painless executions, the simple and practical way to make them both + just and popular is the adoption by murderers of a system of painless + assassinations. Until this is done there seems to be no hope that the + people will renounce the wholesome discomfort of the style of executions + endeared to them by memories and associations of the tenderest character. + There is also, I fancy, a shaping notion in the public mind that the + penologists and their allies have gone about as far as they can safely be + permitted to go in the direction of a softer suasion of the criminal + nature toward good behavior. The modern prison has become a rather more + comfortable habitation than the dangerous classes are accustomed to at + home. Modern prison life has in their eyes something of the charm and + glamor of an ideal existence, like that in the Happy Valley from which + Rasselas had the folly to escape. Whatever advantages to the public may be + secured by abating the rigors of imprisonment and inconveniences incident + to execution, there is this objection, it makes them less deterrent. Let + the penologers and philanthrope, have their way and even hanging might be + made so pleasant and withal so interesting a social distinction that it + would deter nobody but the person hanged. Adopt the euthanasian method of + electricity, asphyxia by smothering in rose-leaves, or slow poisoning with + rich food, and the death penalty may come to be regarded as the object of + a noble ambition to the <i>bon vivant</i>, and the rising young suicide + may go and murder somebody else instead of himself in order to receive a + happier dispatch than his own 'prentice hand can assure him. + </p> + <p> + But the advocates of agreeable pains and penalties tell us that in the + darker ages, when cruel and degrading punishment was the rule, and was + freely inflicted for every light infraction of the law, crime was more + common than it is now; and in this they appear to be right. But they one + and all overlook a fact equally obvious and vastly significant: that the + intellectual, moral and social condition of the masses was very low. Crime + was more common because ignorance was more common, poverty was more + common, sins of authority, and therefore hatred of authority, were more + common. The world of even a century ago was a quite different world from + the world of today, and a vastly more uncomfortable one. The popular adage + to the contrary notwithstanding, human nature was not by a long cut the + same then that it is now. In the very ancient time of that early English + king, George III, when women were burned at the stake in public for + various offenses and men were hanged for "coining" and children for theft, + and in the still remoter period, (circa 1530) when poisoners were boiled + in several waters, divers sorts of criminals were disemboweled and some + are thought to have undergone <i>the pêne forte et dure</i> of + cold-pressing (an infliction which the pen of Hugo has since made popular—in + literature)—in these wicked old days it is possible that crime + flourished, not because of the law's severity, but in spite of it. It is + possible that our respected and respectable ancestors understood the + situation as it then was a trifle better than we can understand it on the + hither side of this gulf of years, and that they were not the reasonless + barbarians that we think them to have been. And if they were, what must + have been the unreason and barbarity of the criminal element with which + they had to deal? + </p> + <p> + I am far from thinking that severity of punishment can have the same + restraining effect as probability of some punishment being inflicted; but + if mildness of penalty is to be superadded to difficulty of conviction, + and both are to be mounted upon laxity in detection, the "pile" will be + "complete" with a vengeance. There is a peculiar fitness, perhaps, in the + fact that all these ideas for comfortable punishment should be urged at a + time when there appears to be a tolerably general disposition to inflict + no punishment at all. There are, however, still a few old-fashioned + persons who hold it obvious that one who is ambitious to break the laws of + his country will not with as light a heart and as airy an indifference + incur the peril of a harsh penalty as he will the chance of one more + nearly resembling that which he would select for himself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + After lying for more than a century dead I was revived, given a new body, + and restored to society. This was in the year 2015. The first thing of + interest that I observed was an enormous building, covering a square mile + of ground. It was surrounded on all sides by a high, strong wall of hewn + stone upon which armed sentinels paced to and fro. In one face of the wall + was a single gate of massive iron, strongly guarded. While admiring the + cyclopean architecture of the "reverend pile" I was accosted by a man in + uniform, evidently The Warden, with a cheerful salutation. + </p> + <p> + "Colonel," I said, pressing his hand, "it gives me pleasure to find some + one that I can believe. Pray tell me what is this building." + </p> + <p> + "That," said the colonel, "is the new State penitentiary. It is one of + twelve, all alike." + </p> + <p> + "You surprise me," I replied. "Surely the criminal element must have + increased enormously." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, indeed," he assented; "under the Reform <i>régime</i>, which began + in your day, it became so powerful, bold and fierce that arrests were no + longer possible and the prisons then in existence were soon overcrowded. + The State was compelled to erect others of greater capacity." + </p> + <p> + "But, Colonel," I protested, "if the criminals were too bold and powerful + to be taken into custody, of what use are the prisons! And how are they + crowded?" + </p> + <p> + He fixed upon me a look that I could not fail to interpret as expressing a + doubt of my sanity. "What?" he said, "is it possible that the modern + Penology is unknown to you? Do you suppose we practise the antiquated and + ineffective method of shutting up the rascals? Sir, the growth of the + criminal element has, as I said, compelled the erection of more and larger + prisons. We have enough to hold comfortably all the honest men and women + of the State. Within these protecting walls they carry on all the + necessary vocations of life excepting commerce. That is necessarily in the + hands of the rogues as before." + </p> + <p> + "Venerated representative of Reform," I exclaimed, wringing his hand with + effusion, "you are Knowledge, you are History, you are the Higher + Education! We must talk further. Come, let us enter this benign edifice; + you shall show me your dominion and instruct me in the rules. You shall + propose me as an inmate." + </p> + <p> + I walked rapidly to the gate. When challenged by the sentinel, I turned to + summon my instructor. He was nowhere visible: desolate and forbidding, as + about the broken statue of Ozymandias, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The lone and level sands stretched far away." +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + RELIGION + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + This is my ultimate and determining test of right—"What, in the + circumstances, would Christ have done?"—the Christ of the New + Testament, not the Christ of the commentators, theologians, priests and + parsons. The test is perhaps not infallible, but it is exceedingly simple + and gives as good practical results as any. I am not a Christian, but so + far as I know, the best and truest and sweetest character in literature, + is next to Buddha, Jesus Christ. He taught nothing new in goodness, for + all goodness was ages old before he came; but with an almost infallible + intuition he applied to life and conduct the entire law of righteousness. + He was a lightning moral calculator: to his luminous intelligence the + statement of the problem carried the solution—he could not hesitate, + he seldom erred. That upon his deeds and words was founded a religion + which in a debased form persists and even spreads to this day is mere + attestation of his marvelous gift: adoration is a primitive mode of + recognition. + </p> + <p> + It seems a pity that this wonderful man had not a longer life under more + complex conditions—conditions more nearly identical with those of + the modern world and the future. One would like to be able to see, through + the eyes of his biographers, his genius applied to more and more difficult + questions. Yet one can hardly go wrong in inference of his thought and + act. In many of the complexities and entanglements of modern affairs it is + no easy matter to find an answer off-hand to the question,"What is it + right to do?" But put it in another way: "What would Christ have done?" + and lo! there is light. I Doubt spreads her bat-like wings and is away; + the sun of truth springs into the sky, splendoring the path of right and + marking that of error with a deeper shade. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + Gentlemen of the secular press dealt with the Rev. Mr. Sheldon not + altogether fairly. To some very relevant considerations they gave no + weight. It was not fair, for example, to say, as the distinguished editor + of the "North American Review" did, that in professing to conduct a daily + newspaper for a week as he conceived that Christ would have conducted it, + Mr. Sheldon acted the part of "a notoriety seeking mountebank." It seldom + is fair to go into the question of motive, for that is something upon + which one has the least light, even when the motive is one's own. The + motives that we think dominale us seem simple and obvious; they are in + most instances exceedingly complex and obscure. Complacently surveying the + wreck and ruin that he has wrought, even that great anarch, the "well + meaning person," can not have entire assurance that he meant as well as + the disastrous results appear to him to show. + </p> + <p> + The trouble with Mr. Harvey of the "Review" was inability to put himself + in another's place if that happened to be at any considerable distance + from his own place. He made no allowance for the difference in the point + of view—for the difference, that is, between his mind and the mind + of Mr. Sheldon. If Mr. Harvey had undertaken to conduct that Kansas + newspaper as Christ would have done he would indeed have been "a notoriety + seeking mountebank," or some similarly unenviable thing, for only a + selfish purpose could persuade him to an obviously resultless work. But + Mr. Sheldon was different—his was the religious mind—a mind + having faith in an "overruling" Providence who can, and frequently does, + interfere with the orderly relation of cause and effect, accomplishing an + end by means otherwise inadequate to its production. Believing himself a + faithful servant of that Power, and asking daily for its interposition for + promotion of a highly moral purpose, why should he not have expected his + favor to the enterprise? To expect that was, in Mr. Sheldon, natural, + reasonable, wise; his folly lay in believing in conditions making it + expectable. A person convinced that the law of gravitation is suspended is + no fool for walking into a bog. Mr. Harvey may understand, but Mr. Sheldon + can not understand, that Jesus Christ would not edit a newspaper at all. + </p> + <p> + The religious mind, it should be understood, is not logical. It may + acquire, as Whateley's did, a certain familiarity with the syllogism as an + abstraction, but of the syllogism's practical application, its real + relation to the phenomena of thought, the religious mind can know nothing. + That is merely to say that the mind congenitally gifted with the power of + logic and accessible to its light and leading does not take to religion, + which is a matter, not of reason, but of feeling—not of the head, + but of the heart. Religions are conclusions for which the facts of nature + supply no major premises. They are accepted or rejected according to the + original mental make-up of the person to whom they appeal for recognition. + Believers and unbelievers are like two boys quarreling across a wall. Each + got to his place by means of a ladder. They may fight if they will, but + neither can kick away the other's support. + </p> + <p> + Believing the things that he did believe, Mr. Sheldon was entirely right + in thinking that the main purpose of a newspaper should be the salvation + of souls. If his religious belief is true that should be the main purpose, + not only of a newspaper, but of everything that has a purpose, or can be + given one. If we have immortal souls and the consequences of our deeds in + the body reach over into another life in another world, determining there + our eternal state of happiness or pain, that is the most momentous fact + conceivable. It is the only momentous fact; all others are chaff and rags. + A man who, believing it to be a fact, does not make it the one purpose of + his life to save his soul and the souls of others that are willing to be + saved is a fool and a rogue. If he think that any part of this only + needful work can be done by turning a newspaper into a gruelpot he ought + to do so or (preferably) perish in the attempt. + </p> + <p> + The talk of degrading the sacred name, and all that, is mostly nonsense. + If one may not test his conduct in this life by reference to the highest + standard that his religion affords it is not easy to see how religion is + to be made anything but a mere body of doctrine. I do not think the + Christian religion will ever be seriously discredited by an attempt to + determine, even with too dim a light, what under given circumstances, the + man miscalled its "founder" would do. What else is his great example good + for? But it is not always enough to ask oneself, "How would Christ do + this?" One should first consider whether Christ would do it. It is + conceivable that certain of his thrifty contemporaries may have asked him + how he would change money in the Temple. + </p> + <p> + If Mr. Sheldon's critics were unfair his defenders were, as a rule, not + much better. They meant to be fair, but they had to be foolish. For + example, there is the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst, whose defence was published with + Mr. Harvey's attack. I shall give a single illustration of how this more + celebrated than cerebrated "divine" is pleased to think that he thinks. He + is replying to some one's application to this matter of Christ's + injunction, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth." This command, + he gravely says, "is not against money, nor against the making of money, + but against the loving it for its own sake and the dedicating of it to + self-aggrandizing uses." I call this a foolish utterance, because it + violates the good old rule of not telling an obvious falsehood. In no word + nor syllable does Christ's injunction give the least color of truth to the + reverend gentleman's "interpretation;" that is the reverend gentleman's + very own, and doubtless he feels an honest pride in it. It is the product + of a controversial need—a characteristic attempt to crawl out of a + hole in an enclosure which he was not invited to enter. The words need no + "interpretation;" are capable of none; are as clear and unambiguous a + proposition as language can frame. Moreover, they are consistent with all + that we think we know of their author's life and character, for he not + only lived in poverty and taught poverty as a blessing, but commanded it + as a duty and a means of salvation. The probable effect of universal + obedience among those who adore him as a god is not at present an urgent + question. I think even so faithful a disciple as the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst + has still a place to lay his head, a little of the wherewithal to be + clothed, and a good deal of the power of interpretation to excuse it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + There are other hypocrites than those of the pulpit Dr. Gatling, the + ingenious scoundrel who invented the gun that bears his name with + commendable fortitude, says he has given much thought to the task of + bringing the forces of war to such perfection that war will be no more. + Commonly the man who talks of war becoming so destructive as to be + impossible is only a harmless lunatic, but this fellow utters his cant to + conceal his cupidity. If he thought there was any danger of the nations + beating their swords into plowshares we should see him "take the stump" + against agriculture forthwith. The same is true of all military inventors. + They are lions' parasites; themselves, of cold blood they fatten upon hot. + The sheep-tick's paler fare is not at all to their taste. + </p> + <p> + I sometimes wish I were a preacher: preachers do so blindly ignore their + shining opportunities. I am indifferently versed in theology—whereof, + so help me Heaven, I do not believe one word—but know something of + religion. I know, for example, that Jesus Christ was no soldier; that war + has two essential features which did not command His approval: aggression + and defence. No man can either attack or defend and remain Christian; and + if no man, no nation. I could quote texts by the hour proving that Christ + taught not only absolute abstention from violence but absolute + non-resistance. Now what do we see? Nearly all the so-called Christian + nations of the world sweating and groaning under their burdens of debt + contracted in violation of these injunctions which they believe divine—contracted + in perfecting their means of offense and defense. "We must have the best," + they cry; and if armor plates for ships were better when alloyed with + silver, and guns if banded with gold, such armor plates would be put upon + the ships, such guns would be freely made. No sooner does one nation adopt + some rascal's costly device for taking life or protecting it from the + taker (and these soulless inventors will as readily sell the product of + their malign ingenuity to one nation as to another) than all the rest + either possess themselves of it or adopt something superior and more + expensive; and so all pay the penalty for the sins of each. A hundred + million dollars is a moderate estimate of what it has cost the world to + abstain from strangling the infant Gatling in his cradle. + </p> + <p> + You may say, if you will, that primitive Christianity—the + Christianity of Christ—is not adapted to these rough-and-tumble + times; that it is not a practical scheme of conduct. As you please; I have + not undertaken to say what it is not, but what it partly is. I am no + Christian, though I think that Christ probably knew what was good for man + about as well as Dr. Gatling or the United States Ordnance Office. It is + not for me to defend Christianity; Christ did not. Nevertheless, I can not + forbear the wish that I were a preacher, in order sincerely to affirm that + the awful burdens borne by modern nations are obvious judgments of Heaven + for disobedience to the Prince of Peace. What a striking theme to kindle + fires upon the heights of imagination—to fill the secret sources of + eloquence—to stir the very stones in the temple of truth! What a + noble subject for the pious gentlemen who serve (with rank, pay and + allowances) as chaplains in the Army and the Navy, or the civilian divines + who offer prayer at the launching of an ironclad! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. + </h2> + <p> + A matter of missionaries commonly is to the fore as a cause of quarrel + among nations which have the hardihood to prefer their own religions to + ours. Missionaries constitute, in truth, a perpetual menace to the + national peace. I dare say the most of them are conscientious men and + women of a certain order of intellect. They believe, and from the way that + they interpret their sacred book have some reason to believe, that in + meddling uninvited with the spiritual affairs of others they perform a + work acceptable to God—their God. They think they discern a moral + difference between "approaching" a man of another religion about the state + of his soul and approaching him on the condition of his linen or the + character of his wife. I think there is no difference. I have observed + that the person who volunteers an interest in my spiritual welfare is the + same person from whom I must expect an impudent concern about my temporal + affairs. The missionary is one who goes about throwing open the shutters + of other men's bosoms in order to project upon the blank walls a shadow of + himself. + </p> + <p> + No ruler nor government of sense would willingly permit foreigners to sap + the foundation of the national religion. No ruler nor government ever does + permit it except under the stress of compulsion. It is through the + people's religion that a wise government governs wisely—even in our + own country we make only a transparent pretense of officially ignoring + Christianity, and a pretense only because we have so many kinds of + Christians, all jealous and inharmonious. Each sect would make this a + Theocracy if it could, and would that make short work of any missionary + from abroad. Happily all religions but ours have the sloth and timidity of + error; Christianity alone, drawing vigor from eternal truth, is courageous + enough and energetic enough to make itself a nuisance to people of every + other faith. The Jew not only does not bid for converts, but discourages + them by imposition of hard conditions, and the Moslem True Believer's + simple, forthright method of reducing error is to cut off the head holding + it. I don't say that this is right; I say only that, being practical and + comprehensible, it commands a certain respect from the impartial observer + not conversant with scriptural justification of the other practice. + </p> + <p> + It is only where the missionaries have made themselves hated that there is + any molestation of Europeans engaged in the affairs of this world. Chinese + antipathy to Caucasians in China is neither a racial animosity nor a + religious; it is an instinctive dislike of persons who will not mind their + own business. China has been infested with missionaries from the earliest + centuries of our era, and they have rarely been molested when they have + taken the trouble to behave themselves. In the time of the Emperor + Justinian the fact that the Christian religion was openly preached + throughout China enabled that sovereign to wrest from the Chinese the + jealously-guarded secret of silk-making. He sent two monks to Pekin, who + alternately preached seriousness and studied sericulture, and who brought + away silkworms' eggs concealed in sticks. + </p> + <p> + In religious matters the Chinese are more tolerant than we. They let the + religions of others alone, but naturally and rightly demand that others + shall let theirs alone. In China, as in other Oriental countries where the + color line is not drawn and where slavery itself is a light affliction, + the mental attitude of the zealot who finds gratification in "spreading + the light" of which he deems himself custodian, is not understood. Like + most things not understood, it is felt to be bad, and is indubitably + offensive. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + At a church club meeting a paper was read by a minister entitled, "Why the + Masses Do not Attend the Churches." This good and pious man was not + ashamed to account for it by the fact that there is no Sunday law, and + "the masses" can find recreation elsewhere, even in the drinking saloons. + It is frank of him to admit that he and his professional brethren have not + brains enough to make religious services more attractive than shaking dice + for cigars or playing cards for drink; but if it is a fact he must not + expect the local government to assist in spreading the gospel by + rounding-up the people and corralling them in the churches. The truth is, + and this gentleman suspects it, that "the masses" stay out of hearing of + his pulpit because he talks nonsense of the most fatiguing kind; they + would rather do any one of a thousand other things than go to hear it. + These parsons are like a scolding wife who grieves because her husband + will not pass his evenings with her. The more she grieves, the more she + scolds and the more diligently he keeps away from her. I don't think Jack + Satan is conspicuously wise, but he is in the main a good entertainer, + with a right pretty knack at making people come again; but the really + reprehensible part of his performance is not the part that attracts them. + The parsons might study his methods with great advantage to religion and + morality. + </p> + <p> + It may be urged that religious services have not entertainment for their + object. But the people, when not engaged in business or labor, have it for + <i>their</i> object. If the clergy do not choose to adapt their + ministrations to the characters of those to whom they wish to minister, + that is their own affair; but let them accept the consequences. "The + masses" move along the line of least reluctance. They do not really enjoy + Sunday at all; they try to get through the day in the manner that is least + wearisome to the spirit. Possibly their taste is not what it ought to be. + If this minister were a physician of bodies instead of souls, and patients + who had not called him in should refuse to take the medicine which he + thought his best and they his nastiest, he should either offer them + another, a little less disagreeable if a little less efficacious, or let + them alone. In no case is he justified in asking the civil authority to + hold their noses while he plies the spoon. + </p> + <p> + "The masses" have not asked for churches and services; they really do not + care for anything of the kind—whether they ought is another matter. + If the clergy choose to supply them, that is well and worthy. But they + should understand their relation to the impenitent worldling, which is + precisely that of a physician without a mandate from the patient, who may + not be convinced that there is very much the matter with him. The + physician may have a diploma and a State certificate authorizing him to + practise, but if the patient do not deem himself bound to be practised + upon has the physician a right to make him miserable until he will submit? + Clearly, he has not. If he can not persuade him to come to the dispensary + and take medicine there is an end to the matter, and he may justly + conclude that he is misfitted to his vocation. + </p> + <p> + I am sure that the ministers and that singularly small contingent of + earnest and, on the whole, pretty good persons who cluster about them do + not perceive how alien they are in their convictions, tastes, sympathies + and general mental habitudes to the great majority of their fellow men and + women. Their voices, like "the gushing wave" which, to the ears of the + lotus-eaters, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Far, far away did seem to mourn and rave," +</pre> + <p> + come to us as from beyond a great gulf—mere ghosts of sound, almost + destitute of signification. We know that they would have us do something, + but what it is we do not clearly apprehend. We feel that they are + concerned for us, but why we are imperfectly able to conceive. In an + intelligible tongue they tell us of unthinkable things. Here and there in + the discourse we catch a word, a phrase, a sentence—something which, + from ancestors whose mother-speech it was, we have inherited the capacity + to understand; but the homily as a whole is devoid of meaning. Solemn and + sonorous enough it all is, and not unmusical, but it lacks its natural + accompaniment of shawm and sackbut and the wind-swept harp in the willows + by the waters of Babylon. It is, in fact, something of a survival—the + memory of a dream. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0047" id="link2H_4_0047"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + The first week of January is set apart as a week of prayer. It is a custom + of more than a half century's age, and it seems that "gracious answers + have been received in proportion to the earnestness and unanimity of the + petitions." That is to say, in this world's speech, the more Christians + that have prayed and the more they have meant it, the better the result is + known to have been. I don't believe all that. I don't believe that when + God is asked to do something that he had not intended to do he counts + noses before making up his mind whether to do it or not God probably knows + the character of his work, and knowing that he has made this a world of + knaves and dunces he must know that the more of them that ask for + something, and the more loudly they ask, the stronger is the presumption + that they ought not to have it. And I think God is perhaps less concerned + about his popularity than some good folk seem to suppose. + </p> + <p> + Doubtless there are errors in the record of results—some things set + down as "answers" to prayer which came about through the orderly operation + of natural laws and would have occurred anyhow. I am told that similar + errors have been made, or are believed to have been made, in the past. In + 1730, for example, a good Bishop at Auvergne prayed for an eclipse of the + sun as a warning to unbelievers. The eclipse ensued and the pious prelate + made the most of it; but when it was shown that the astronomers of the + period had foretold it he was a sufferer from irreverent gibes. A monk of + Treves prayed that an enemy of the church, then in Paris, might lose his + head, and it fell off; but it transpired that, unknown (or known) to the + monk, the man was under sentence of decapitation when the prayer was made. + This is related by Ausolus, who piously explains, however, that but for + the prayer the sentence might perhaps have been commuted to service in the + galleys. I have myself known a minister to pray for rain, and the rain + came. Perhaps you can conceive his discomfiture when I showed him that the + weather bureau had previously predicted a fair day. + </p> + <p> + I do not object to a week of prayer. But why only a week? If prayer is + "answered" Christians ought to pray all the time. That prayer is + "answered" the Scripture affirms as positively and unequivocally as + anything can be affirmed in words: "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in + prayer, believing, that ye shall receive." Why, then, when all the clergy + of this country prayed, publicly for the recovery of President McKinley, + did the man die? Why is it that although two pious Chaplains ask almost + daily that goodness and wisdom may descend upon Congress, Congress remains + wicked and unwise? Why is it that although in all the churches and half + the dwellings of the land God is continually asked for good government, + good government remains what it always and everywhere has been, a dream? + From Earth to Heaven in unceasing ascension flows a stream of prayer for + every blessing that man desires, yet man remains unblest, the victim of + his own folly and passions, the sport of fire, flood, tempest and + earthquake, afflicted with famine and disease, war, poverty and crime, his + world an incredible welter of evil, his life' a labor and his hope a lie. + Is it possible that all this praying is futilized and invalidated by the + lack of faith?—that the "asking" is not credentialed by the + "believing?" When the anointed minister of Heaven spreads his palms and + uprolls his eyes to beseech a general blessing or some special advantage + is he the celebrant of a hollow, meaningless rite, or the dupe of a false + promise? One does not know, but if one is not a fool one does know that + his every resultless petition proves him by the inexorable laws of logic + to be the one or the other. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + Modern Christianity is beautiful exceedingly, and he who admires not is + eyed batly and minded as the mole. "Sell all thou hast," said Christ and + "give to the poor." All—no less—in order "to be saved." The + poor were Christ's peculiar care. Ever for them and their privations, and + not greatly for their spiritual darkness, fell from his lips the + compassionate word, the mandate divine for their relief and cherishing. Of + foreign missions, of home missions, of mission schools, of church + buildings, of work among pagans <i>in partibus infidelium</i>, of work + among sailors, of communion table, of delegates to councils—of any + of these things he knew no more than the moon man. They were inventions of + others, as is the entire florid and flamboyant fabric of ecclesiasticism + that has been reared, stone by stone and century after century, upon his + simple life and works and words. "Founder," indeed! He founded nothing, + instituted nothing; Paul did all that Christ simply went about doing, and + being, good—admonishing the rich, whom he regarded as criminals, + comforting the luckless and uttering wisdom with that Oriental indirection + wherein our stupid ingenuity finds imaginary warrant for all desiderated + pranks and fads. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0049" id="link2H_4_0049"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IMMORTALITY + </h2> + <p> + THE desire for life everlasting has commonly been affirmed to be universal—at + least that is the view taken by those unacquainted with Oriental faiths + and with Oriental character. Those of us whose knowledge is a trifle wider + are not prepared to say that the desire is universal or even general. + </p> + <p> + If the devout Buddhist, for example, wishes to "live alway," he has not + succeeded in very clearly formulating the desire. The sort of thing that + he is pleased to hope for is not what we should call life, and not what + many of us would care for. + </p> + <p> + When a man says that everybody has "a horror of annihilation," we may be + very sure that he has not many opportunities for observation, or that he + has not availed himself of all that he has. Most persons go to sleep + rather gladly, yet sleep is virtual annihilation while it lasts; and if it + should last forever the sleeper would be no worse off after a million + years of it than after an hour of it There are minds sufficiently logical + to think of it that way, and to them annihilation is not a disagreeable + thing to contemplate and expect. + </p> + <p> + In this matter of immortality, people's beliefs appear to go along with + their wishes. The chap who is content with annihilation thinks he will get + it; those that want immortality are pretty sure they are immortal, and + that is a very comfortable allotment of faiths. The few of us that are + left unprovided for are those who don't bother themselves much about the + matter, one way or another. + </p> + <p> + The question of human immortality is the most momentous that the mind is + capable of conceiving. If it is a fact that the dead live, all other facts + are in comparison trivial and without interest. The prospect of obtaining + certain knowledge with regard to this stupendous matter is not + encouraging. In all countries but those in barbarism the powers of the + profoundest and most penetrating intelligences have been ceaselessly + addressed to the task of glimpsing a life beyond this life; yet today no + one can truly say that he knows. It is still as much a matter of faith as + ever it was. + </p> + <p> + Our modern Christian nations hold a passionate hope and belief in another + world, yet the most popular writer and speaker of his time, the man whose + lectures drew the largest audiences, the work of whose pen brought him the + highest rewards, was he who most strenuously strove to destroy the ground + of that hope and unsettle the foundations of that belief. + </p> + <p> + The famous and popular Frenchman, Professor of Spectacular Astronomy, + Camille Flammarion, affirms immortality because he has talked with + departed souls who said that it was true. Yes, Monsieur, but surely you + know the rule about hearsay evidence. We Anglo-Saxons are very particular + about that. Your testimony is of that character. + </p> + <p> + "I don't repudiate the presumptive arguments of school men. I merely + supplement them with something positive. For instance, if you assumed the + existence of God this argument of the scholastics is a good one. God has + implanted in all men the desire of perfect happiness. This desire can not + be satisfied in our lives here. If there were not another life wherein to + satisfy it then God would be a deceiver. <i>Voila tout</i>." + </p> + <p> + There is more: the desire of perfect happiness does not imply immortality, + even if there is a God, for: + </p> + <p> + ( 1 ) God may not have implanted it, but merely suffers it to exist, as He + suffers sin to exist, the desire of wealth, the desire to live longer than + we do in this world. It is not held that God implanted all the desires of + the human heart. Then why hold that He implanted that of perfect + happiness? + </p> + <p> + (2) Even if He did—even if a divinely implanted desire entail its + own gratification—even if it can not be gratified in this life—that + does not imply immortality. It implies <i>only</i> another life long + enough for its gratification just once. An eternity of gratification is + not a logical inference from it. + </p> + <p> + (3) Perhaps God <i>is</i> "a deceiver" who knows that He is not? + Assumption of the existence of a God is one thing; assumption of the + existence of a God who is honorable and candid according to our finite + conception of honor and candor is another. + </p> + <p> + (4) There may be an honorable and candid God. He may have implanted in us + the desire of perfect happiness. It may be—it is—impossible to + gratify that desire in this life. Still, another life is not implied, for + God may not have intended us to draw the inference that He is going to + gratify it. If omniscient and omnipotent, God must be held to have + intended, whatever occurs, but no such God is assumed in M. Flammarion's + illustration, and it may be that God's knowledge and power are limited, or + that one of them is limited. + </p> + <p> + M. Flammarion is a learned, if somewhat "yellow" astronomer. + </p> + <p> + He has a tremendous imagination, which naturally is more at home in the + marvelous and catastrophic than in the orderly regions of familiar + phenomena. To him the heavens are an immense pyrotechnicon and he is the + master of the show and sets off the fireworks. But he knows nothing of + logic, which is the science of straight thinking, and his views of things + have therefore no value; they are nebulous. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is clearer than that our pre-existence is a dream, having + absolutely no basis in anything that we know or can hope to know. Of + after-existence there is said to be evidence, or rather testimony, in + assurances of those who are in present enjoyment of it—if it is + enjoyable. Whether this testimony has actually been given—and it is + the only testimony worth a moment's consideration—is a disputed + point Many persons while living this life have professed to have received + it. But nobody professes, or ever has professed, to have received a + communication of any kind from one in actual experience of the fore-life. + "The souls as yet ungarmented," if such there are, are dumb to question. + The Land beyond the Grave has been, if not observed, yet often and + variously described: if not explored and surveyed, yet carefully charted. + From among so many accounts of it that we have, he must be fastidious + indeed who can not be suited. But of the Fatherland that spreads before + the cradle—the great Heretofore, wherein we all dwelt if we are to + dwell in the Hereafter, we have no account. Nobody professes knowledge of + that. No testimony reaches our ears of flesh concerning its topographical + or other features; no one has been so enterprising as to wrest from its + actual inhabitants any particulars of their character and appearance, to + refresh our memory withal. And among educated experts and professional + proponents of worlds to be there is a general denial of its existence. + </p> + <p> + I am of their way of thinking about that. The fact that we have no + recollection of a former life is entirely conclusive of the matter. To + have lived an unrecollected life is impossible and unthinkable, for there + would be nothing to connect the new life with the old—no thread of + continuity—nothing that persisted from the one life to the other. + The later birth is that of another person, an altogether different being, + unrelated to the first—a new John Smith succeeding to the late Tom + Jones. + </p> + <p> + Let us not be misled here by a false analogy. Today I may get a thwack on + the mazzard which will give me an intervening season of unconsciousness + between yesterday and tomorrow. Thereafter I may live to a green old age + with no recollection of anything that I knew, or did, or was before the + accident; yet I shall be the same person, for between the old life and the + new there will be a <i>nexus</i>, a thread of continuity, something + spanning the gulf from the one state to the other, and the same in both—namely, + my body with its habits, capacities and powers. That is I; that identifies + me as my former self—authenticates and credentials me as the person + that incurred the cranial mischance, dislodging memory. + </p> + <p> + But when death occurs <i>all</i> is dislodged if memory is; for between + two merely mental or spiritual existences memory is the only <i>nexus</i> + conceivable; consciousness of identity is the only identity. To live again + without memory of having lived before is to live another. Re-existence + without recollection is absurd; there is nothing to re-exist. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0050" id="link2H_4_0050"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + OPPORTUNITY + </h2> + <p> + THIS is not a country of equal fortunes; outside a Socialist's dream no + such country exists or can exist. But as nearly as possible this is a + country of equal opportunities for those who begin life with nothing but + nature's endowments—and of such is the kingdom of success. + </p> + <p> + In nine instances in ten successful Americans—that is Americans who + have succeeded in any worthy ambition or legitimate field of endeavor—have + started with nothing but the skin they stood in. It almost may be said, + indeed, that to begin with nothing is a main condition of success—in + America. + </p> + <p> + To a young man there is no such hopeless impediment as wealth or the + expectation of wealth. Here a man and there a man will be born so + abundantly endowed by nature as to overcome the handicap of artificial + "advantages," but that is not the rule; usually the chap "born with a gold + spoon in his mouth" puts in his time sucking that spoon, and without other + employment. Counting possession of the spoon success, why should he bestir + himself to achieve what he already has? + </p> + <p> + The real curled darling of opportunity has nothing in his mouth but his + teeth and his appetite—he knows, or is likely to know, what it is to + feel his belly sticking to his back. If he have brains a-plenty he will + get on, for he must be up and doing—the penalty of indiligence is + famine. If he have not, he may up and do to the uttermost satisfaction of + his mind and heart, but the end of that man is failure, with possibly + Socialism, that last resort of conscious incompetence. It fatigues, this + talk of the narrowing opportunities of today, the "closed avenues to + success," and the rest of it. Doubtless it serves its purpose of making + mischief for the tyrant trusts and the wicked rich generally, but in a six + months' bound volume of it there is not enough of truth to float a + religion. + </p> + <p> + Men of brains never had a better chance than now to accomplish all that it + is desirable that they should accomplish; and men of no brains never did + have much of a chance, nor under any possible conditions can have in this + country, nor in any other. They are nature's failures, God's botchwork. + Let us be sorry for them, treating them justly and generously; but the + Socialism that would level us all down to their plane of achievement and + reward is a proposal of which they are themselves the only proponents. + </p> + <p> + Opportunity, indeed! Who is holding me from composing a great opera that + would make me rich and famous? + </p> + <p> + What oppressive laws forbade me to work my passage up the Yukon as + deckhand on a steamboat and discover the gold along Bonanza creek? + </p> + <p> + What is there in our industrial system that conceals from me the secret of + making diamonds from charcoal? + </p> + <p> + Why was it not I who, entering a lawyer's office as a suitable person to + sweep it out, left it as an appointed Justice of the Supreme Court? + </p> + <p> + The number of actual and possible sources of profit and methods of + distinction is infinite. Not all the trusts in the world combined in one + trust of trusts could appreciably reduce it—could condemn to + permanent failure one man with the talent and the will to succeed. They + can abolish that doubtful benefactor of the "small dealer," who lives by + charging too much, and that very thickly disguised blessing the "drummer," + whom they have to add to the price of everything they sell; but for every + opportunity they close they open a new one and leave untouched a thousand + actual and a million possible ones. As to their dishonest practices, these + are conspicuous and striking, because "lumped," but no worse than the + silent, steady aggregate of cheating; by which their constituent firms and + individuals, formerly consumed the consumer without his special wonder. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0051" id="link2H_4_0051"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHARITY + </h2> + <p> + THE promoter of organized charity protests against "the wasteful and + mischievous method of undirected relief." He means, naturally, relief that + is not directed by somebody else than the person giving it—undirected + by him and his kind—professional almoners—philanthropists who + deem it more blessed to allot than to bestow. Indubitably much is wasted + and some mischief done by indiscriminate giving—and individual + givers are addicted to that faulty practice. But there is something to be + said for "undirected relief" quite the same. It blesses not only him who + receives (when he is worthy; and when he is not upon his own head be it), + but him who gives. To those uncalculating persons who, despite the + protests of the organized charitable, concede a certain moral value to the + spontaneous impulses of the heart and read in the word "relief" a double + meaning, the office of the mere distributor is imperfectly sacred. He is + even without scriptural authority, and lives in the perpetual challenge of + a moral <i>quo warranto</i>. Nevertheless he is not without his uses. He + is a tapper of tills that do not open automatically. He is almoner to the + uncompassionate, who but for him would give no alms. He negotiates + unnatural but not censurable relations between selfishness and + ingratitude. The good that he does is purely material. He makes two leaves + of fat to grow where but one grew before, lessens the sum of gastric pangs + and dorsal chills. All this is something, certainly, but it generates no + warm and elevated sentiments and does nothing in mitigation of the poor's + animosity to the rich. Organized charity is a sapid and savorless thing; + its place among moral agencies is no higher than that of root beer. + </p> + <p> + Christ did not say "Sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the church to + give to the poor." He did not mention the Associated Charities of the + period. I do not find the words "The Little Sisters of the Poor ye have + always with you," nor "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these + Dorcas societies ye have done it unto me." Nowhere do I find myself + commanded to enable others to comfort the afflicted and visit the sick and + those in prison. Nowhere is recorded God's blessing upon him who makes + himself a part of a charity machine—no, not even if he be the + guiding lever of the whole mechanism. + </p> + <p> + Organized charity is a delusion and a snare. It enables Munniglut to think + himself a good man for paying annual dues and buying transferable meal + tickets. Munniglut is not thereby, a good man. On the Last Great Day, when + he cowers in the Ineffable Presence and is asked for an accounting it will + not help him to say, "Hearing that A was in want I gave money for his need + to B." Nor will it help B to say, "When A was in distress I asked C to + relieve him, and myself allotted the relief according to a resolution of + D, E and F." + </p> + <p> + There are blessings and benefactions that one would willingly forego—among + them the poor. Quack remedies for poverty amuse; a real specific would + kindle a noble enthusiasm. Yet the world would lose much by it; human + nature would suffer a change for the worse. Happily and unhappily poverty + is not abolishable: "The poor ye have always with you" is a sentence that + can never become unintelligible. Effect of a thousand causes, poverty is + invincible, eternal. And since we must have it let us thank God for it and + avail ourselves of all its advantages to mind and character. He who is not + good to the deserving poor—who knows not those of his immediate + environment, who goes not among them making inquiry of their personal + needs, who does not wish with all his heart and both his hands to relieve + them—is a fool. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0052" id="link2H_4_0052"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EMANCIPATED WOMAN + </h2> + <p> + WHAT I should like to know is, how "the enlargement of woman's sphere" by + entrance into the various activities of commercial, professional and + industrial life benefits the sex. It may please Helen Gougar and satisfy + her sense of logical accuracy to say, as she does: "We women must work in + order to fill the places left vacant by liquor-drinking men." But who + filled these places before? Did they remain vacant, or were there then + disappointed applicants, as now? If my memory serves, there has been no + time in the period that it covers when the supply of workers—abstemious + male workers—was not in excess of the demand. That it has always + been so is sufficiently attested by the universally inadequate wage rate. + </p> + <p> + Employers seldom fail, and never for long, to get all the workmen they + need. The field, then, into which women have put their sickles was already + overcrowded with reapers. Whatever employment women have obtained has been + got by displacing men—who would otherwise be supporting women. Where + is the general advantage? We may shout "high tariff," "combination of + capital," "demonetization of silver," and what not, but if searching for + the cause of augmented poverty and crime, "industrial discontent," and the + tramp evil, instead of dogmatically expounding it, we should take some + account of this enormous, sudden addition to the number of workers seeking + work. If any one thinks that within the brief period of a generation the + visible supply of labor can be enormously augmented without profoundly + affecting the stability of things and disastrously touching the interests + of wage-workers, let no rude voice dispel his dream of such maleficent + agencies as his slumbrous understanding may joy to affirm. And let our + Widows of Ashur unlung themselves in advocacy of quack remedies for evils + for which they themselves are cause; it remains true that when the + contention of two lions for one bone is exacerbated by the accession of a + lioness the squabble is not composable by stirring up some bears in the + cage adjacent. + </p> + <p> + Indubitably a woman is under no obligation to sacrifice herself to the + good of her sex by refusing needed employment in the hope that it may fall + to a man gifted with dependent women. Nevertheless our congratulations are + more intelligent when bestowed upon her individual head than when sifted + into the hair of all Eve's daughters. This is a world of complexities, in + which the lines of interest are so intertangled as frequently to + transgress that of sex; and one ambitious to help but half the race may + profitably know that every effort to that end provokes a counterbalancing + mischief. The "enlargement of woman's opportunities" has benefited + individual women. It has not benefited the sex as a whole, and has + distinctly damaged the race. The mind that can not discern a score of + great and irreparable general evils distinctly traceable to "emancipation + of woman" is as impregnable to the light as a toad in a rock. + </p> + <p> + A marked demerit of the new order of things—the régime of female + commercial service—is that its main advantage accrues, not to the + race, not to the sex, not to the class, not to the individual woman, but + to the person of least need and worth—the male employer. (Female + employers in any considerable number there will not be, but those that we + have could give the male ones profitable instruction in grinding the faces + of their employees.) This constant increase of the army of labor—always + and everywhere too large for the work in sight—by accession of a new + contingent of natural oppressibles makes the very teeth of old Munniglut + thrill with a poignant delight. It brings in that situation known as two + laborers seeking one job—-and one of them a person whose bones he + can easily grind to make his bread. And Munniglut is a miller of skill and + experience, dusted all over with the evidence of his useful craft. When + Heaven has assisted the Daughters of Hope to open to women a new "avenue + of opportunities" the first to enter and walk therein, like God in the + Garden of Eden, is the good Mr. Munniglut, contentedly smoothing the folds + out of the superior slope of his paunch, exuding the peculiar aroma of his + oleagmous personality, and larding the new roadway with the overflow of a + righteousness secreted by some spiritual gland stimulated to action by + relish of his own identity. And ever thereafter the subtle suggestion of a + fat Philistinism lingers along the path of progress like an assertion of a + possessory right. + </p> + <p> + It is God's own crystal truth that in dealing with women unfortunate + enough to be compelled to earn their own living and fortunate enough to + have wrested from Fate an opportunity to do so, men of business and + affairs treat them with about the same delicate consideration that they + show to dogs and horses of the inferior breeds. It does not commonly occur + to the wealthy "professional man," or "prominent merchant," to be ashamed + to add to his yearly thousands a part of the salary justly due to his + female bookkeeper or typewriter, who sits before him all day with an empty + belly in order to have an habilimented back. He has a vague, hazy notion + that the law of supply and demand is mandatory, and that in submitting + himself to it by paying her a half of what he would have to pay a man of + inferior efficiency he is supplying the world with a noble example of + obedience. I must take the liberty to remind him that the law of supply + and demand is not imperative; it is not a statute, but a phenomenon. He + may reply: "It is imperative; the penalty for disobedience is failure. If + I pay more in salaries and wages than I need to, my competitor will not; + and with that advantage he will drive me from the field." If his margin of + profit is so small that he must eke it out by coining the sweat of his + workmen into nickels, I've nothing to say to him. Let him adopt in peace + the motto, "I cheat to eat" I do not know why he should eat, but Nature, + who has provided sustenance for the worming sparrow, the sparrowing owl, + and the owling eagle, approves the needy man of prey, and makes a place + for him at table. + </p> + <p> + Human nature is pretty well balanced; for every lacking virtue there is a + rough substitute that will serve at a pinch—as cunning is the wisdom + of the unwise, and ferocity the courage of the coward. Nobody is + altogether bad; the scoundrel who has grown rich by underpaying the + workmen in his factory will sometimes endow an asylum for indigent seamen. + To oppress one's own workmen, and provide for the workmen of a neighbor—to + skin those in charge of one's own interests, while cottoning and oiling + the residuary product of another's skinnery—that is not very good + benevolence, nor very good sense, but it serves in place of both. The man + who eats <i>pâté de fois gras</i> in the sweat of his girl cashier's face, + or wears purple and fine linen in order that his typewriter may have an + eocene gown and a pliocene hat, seems a tolerably satisfactory specimen of + the genus thief; but let us not forget that in his own home—a fairly + good one—he may enjoy and merit that highest and most honorable + title in the hierarchy of woman's favor, "a good provider." One having a + just claim to that glittering distinction should enjoy a sacred immunity + from the coarse and troublesome question, "From whose backs and bellies do + you provide?" + </p> + <p> + So much for the material results to the sex. What are the moral results? + One does not like to speak of them, particularly to those who do not and + can not know—to good women in whose innocent minds female immorality + is inseparable from flashy gowning and the painted face; to foolish, + book-taught men who honestly believe in some protective sanctity that + hedges womanhood. If men of the world with years enough to have lived out + of the old <i>régime</i> into the new would testify in this matter there + would ensue a great rattling of dry bones in bodices of reform ladies. + Nay, if the young man about town, knowing nothing of how things were in + the "dark backward and abysm of time," but something of the moral + difference between even so free-running a creature as the society girl and + the average working girl of the factory, the shop and the office, would + speak out (under assurance of immunity from prosecution) his testimony + would be a surprise to the cartilaginous virgins, blowsy matrons, acrid + relicts and hairy males of Emancipation. It would pain, too, some very + worthy but unobservant persons not in sympathy with "the cause." + </p> + <p> + Certain significant facts are within the purview of all but the very young + and the comfortably blind. To the woman of today the man of today is + imperfectly polite. In place of reverence he gives her "deference;" to the + language of compliment has succeeded the language of raillery. Men have + almost forgotten how to bow. Doubtless the advanced female prefers the new + manner, as may some of her less forward sisters, thinking it more sincere. + It is not; our giddy grandfather talked high-flown nonsense because his + heart had tangled his tongue. He treated his woman more civilly than we + ours because he loved her better. He never had seen her on the "rostrum" + and in the lobby, never had seen her in advocacy of herself, never had + read her confessions of his sins, never had felt the stress of her + competition, nor himself assisted by daily personal contact in rubbing the + bloom off her. He did not know that her virtues were due to her secluded + life, but thought, dear old boy, that they were a gift of God. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0053" id="link2H_4_0053"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE OPPOSING SEX + </h2> + <p> + EMANCIPATION of woman is not of American invention. The "movement," like + most others that are truly momentous, originated in Europe, and has broken + through and broken down more formidable barriers of law, custom and + tradition there than here. It is not true that the English married woman + is "virtually a bondwoman" to her husband; that "she can hardly go and + come without his consent, and usually he does not consent;" that "all she + has is his." If there is such a thing as "the bitterness of the English + married woman to the law," underlying it there is such a thing as + ignorance of what the law is. The "subjection of woman," as it exists + today in England, is customary and traditionary—a social, not a + legal, subjection. Nowhere has law so sharply challenged that male + dominion whose seat is in the harder muscles, the larger brain and the + coarser heart And the law, it may be worth while to point out, was not of + woman born; nor was it handed down out of Heaven engraved on tables of + stone. Learned English judges have decided that virtually the term + "marital rights" has no longer a legal signification. As one writer puts + it, "The law has relaxed the husband's control over his wife's person and + fortune, bit by bit, until legally it has left him nothing but the power + to prevent her, if he is so disposed, and arrives in time, from jumping + out of the window." He will find it greatly to his interest to arrive in + time when he conveniently can, and to be so disposed, for the husband is + still liable for the wife's torts; and if she makes the leap he may have + to pay for the telescoping of a subjacent hat or two. + </p> + <p> + In England it is the Tyrant Man himself who is chafing in his chain. Not + only is a husband still liable for the wrongs committed by the wife whom + he has no longer the power to restrain from committing them, but in many + ways—in one very important way—his obligation to her remains + intact after she has had the self-sacrifice to surrender all obligation to + him. Moreover, if his wife has a separate estate he has to endure the pain + of seeing it hedged about from her creditors (themselves not altogether + happy in the contemplation) with restrictions which do not hamper the + right of recourse against his own. Doubtless all this is not without a + softening effect upon his character, smoothing down his dispositional + asperities and endowing him day by day with fresh accretions of humility. + And that is good for him. I do not say that female autonomy is not among + the most efficacious agencies for man's reclamation from the sin of pride; + I only say that it is not indigenous to this country, the sweet, sweet + home of the assassiness, the happy hunting ground of the whiplady, the + paradise of the vitrioleuse. + </p> + <p> + If the protagonists of woman suffrage are frank they are shallow; if wise, + uncandid. Continually they affirm their conviction that political power in + the hands of women will give us better government. To proof of that + proposition they address all the powers that they have and marshal such + facts as can be compelled to serve under their flag. They either think or + profess to think that if they can show that women's votes will purify + politics they will have proved their case. That is not true; whether they + know it or not, the strongest objection to woman suffrage would remain + untouched. Pure politics is desirable, certainly, but it is not the chief + concern of the best and most intelligent citizens. Good government is + "devoutly to be wished," but more than good government we need good women. + If all our public affairs were to be ordered with the goodness and wisdom + of angels, and this state of perfection were obtained by sacrifice of any + of those qualities which make the best of our women, if not what they + should be, nor what the mindless male thinks them, at least what they are, + we should have purchased the advantage too dearly. The effect of woman + suffrage upon the country is of secondary importance: the question for + profitable consideration is, How will it affect the character of woman? He + who does not see in the goodness and charm of such women as are good and + charming something incalculably more precious than any degree of political + purity or national prosperity may be a patriot: doubtless he is; but also + he has the distinction to be a pig. + </p> + <p> + I should like to ask the gallant gentlemen who vote for removal of woman's + political disability if they have observed in the minds and manners of the + women in the forefront of the movement nothing "ominous and drear." Are + not these women different—I don't say worse, just different—from + the best types of women of peace who are not exhibits and audibles? If + they are different, is the difference of such a nature as to encourage a + hope that activity in public affairs will work an improvement in women + generally? Is "the glare of publicity" good for her growth in grace and + winsomeness? Would a sane and sensible husband or lover willingly forego + in wife or sweetheart all that the colonels of her sex appear to lack, or + find in her all that they appear to have and to value? + </p> + <p> + A few more questions—addressed more particularly to veteran + observers than to those to whom the world is new and strange. Have you + observed any alteration in the manner of men toward women? If so, is it in + the direction of greater rudeness or of more ceremonious respect? And + again, if so, has not the change, in point of time, been coincident with + the genesis and development of woman's "emancipation" and her triumphal + entry into the field of "affairs"? Are you really desirous that the change + go further? Or do you think that when women are armed with the ballot they + will compel a return of the old <i>régime</i> of deference and delicate + consideration—extorting by their power the tribute once voluntarily + paid to their weakness? Is there any known way by which women can at once + be our political equals and our social superiors, our competitors in the + sharp and bitter struggle for glory, gain or bread, and the objects of our + unselfish and undiminished devotion? The present predicts the future; of + the foreshadow of the coming event all sensitive female hearts feel the + chill. For whatever advantages, real or illusory, some women enjoy under + this <i>régime</i> of partial "emancipation" all women pay. Of the coin in + which payment is made the shouldering shouters of the sex have not a groat + and can bear the situation with impunity. They have either passed the age + of masculine attention or were born without the means to its accroachment. + Dwelling in the open bog, they can afford to defy eviction. + </p> + <p> + While men did nearly all the writing and public speaking of the world, + setting so the fashion in thought, women, naturally extolled with true + sexual extravagance, came to be considered, even by themselves, as a very + superior order of beings, with something in them of divinity which was + denied to man. Not only were they represented as better, generally, than + men, as indeed anybody could see that they were, but their goodness was + supposed to be a kind of spiritual endowment and more or less independent + of environmental influences. + </p> + <p> + We are changing all that. Women are beginning to do much of the writing + and public speaking, and not only are they going to extol us (to the + fattening of our conceit) but they are bound to disclose, even to the + unthinking, certain defects of character in themselves which their silence + had veiled. Their competition, too, in several kinds of affairs will + slowly but certainly provoke resentment, and moreover expose them to + temptations which will distinctly lower the morality of their sex. All + these changes, and many more having a similar effect and significance, are + occurring with amazing rapidity, and the stated results are already + visible to even the blindest observation. In accurate depiction of the new + order of things conjecture fails, but so much we know: the + woman-superstition has already received its death wound and must soon + expire. + </p> + <p> + Everywhere, and in no reverential spirit, men are questioning the dear old + idolatry; not "sapping a solemn creed with solemn sneer," but + dispassionately applying to its basic doctrine the methods of scientific + criticism. He who within even the last twenty years has not marked in + society, in letters, in art, in everything, a distinct change in man's + attitude toward women—a change which, were one a woman, one would + not wish to see—may reasonably conclude that much, otherwise + observable, is hidden by his nose. In the various movements—none of + them consciously iconoclastic—engaged in overthrowing this oddest of + modern superstitions there is something to deprecate, and even deplore, + but the superstition can be spared. It never had much in it that was + either creditable or profitable, and all through its rituals ran a note of + insincerity which was partly Nature's protest against the rites, but + partly, too, hypocrisy. There is no danger that good men will ever cease + to respect and love good women, and if bad men ever cease to adore them + for their sex when not beating them for their virtues the gain in + consistency will partly offset the loss in religious ecstasy. + </p> + <p> + Let the patriot abandon his fear, his betters their hope, that only the + low class woman will vote—the unlettered wench of the slums, the + raddled hag of the dives, the war-painted <i>protégée</i> of the police. + Into the vortex of politics goes every floating thing that is free to + move. The summons to the polls will be imperative and incessant. Duty will + thunder it from every platform, conscience whisper it into every ear, + pride, interest, the lust of victory—all the motives that impel men + to partisan activity will act with equal power upon women as upon men; and + to all the other forces flowing irresistibly toward the polls will be + added the suasion of men themselves. The price of votes will not decline + because of the increased supply, although it will in most instances be + offered in currencies too subtle to be counted. As now, the honest and + respectable elector will habitually take bribes in the invisible coin of + the realm of Sentiment—a mintage peculiarly valued by woman. For one + reason or another all women will vote, even those who now view the "right" + widi aversion. The observer who has marked the strength and activity of + the forces pent in the dark drink of politics and given off in the act of + bibation will not expect inaction to the victim of the "habit," be he male + or she female. In the partisan, conviction is compulsion—-opinions + bear fruit in conduct. The partisan thinks in deeds, and woman is by + nature a partisan—a blessing for which the Lord has never made her + male relatives and friends sufficiently thankful. Not a mere man of them + would have the effrontery to ask her toleration if she were not Depend + upon it, the full strength of the female vote will eventually be cast at + every election. And it would be well indeed for civilization and the + interests of the race if woman suffrage meant no more than going to the + polling-place and polling—which clearly is all that it has been + thought out to mean by the headless horsemen spurring their new hobbies + bravely at the tail of the procession. That would be a very simple matter; + the opposition based upon the impropriety of the female rubbing shoulders + at the polls with such scurvy blackguards as ourselves may with advantage + be retired from service. Nor is it particularly important what men and + measures the women will vote for. By one means or another Tyrant Man will + have his way; the Opposing Sex can merely obstruct him in his way of + having it. And should that obstruction ever be too pronounced, the party + line and the sex line coinciding, woman suffrage will then and henceforth + be no more. + </p> + <p> + In the politics of this bad world majorities are of several kinds. One of + the most "overwhelming" is made up of these simple elements: (1) a + numerical minority; (2) a military superiority. If not a single election + were ever in any degree affected by it, the introduction of woman suffrage + into our scheme of manners and morals would nevertheless be the most + momentous and mischievous event of modern history. Compared with the + action of this destructive solvent, that of all other disintegrating + agencies concerned in our decivilization is as the languorous indiligence + of rosewater to the mordant fury of nitric acid. + </p> + <p> + Lively Woman is indeed, as Carlyle would put it, "hellbent" on + purification of politics by adding herself as an ingredient. It is + unlikely that the injection of her personality into the contention (and + politics is essentially a contention) will allay any animosities, sweeten + any tempers, elevate any motives. The strifes of women are distinctly + meaner than those of men—which are out of all reason mean; their + methods of overcoming opponents distinctly more unscrupulous. That their + participation in politics will notably alter the conditions of the game is + not to be denied; that, unfortunately, is obvious; but that it will make + the player less malignant and the playing more honorable is a proposition + in support of which one can utter a deal of gorgeous nonsense, with a less + insupportable sense of its unfitness, than in the service of any other + delusion. + </p> + <p> + The frosty truth is that except in the home the influence of women is not + elevating, but debasing. When they stoop to uplift men who need uplifting, + they are themselves pulled down, and that is all that is accomplished. + Wherever they come into familiar contact with men who are not their + relatives they impart nothing, they receive all; they do not affect us + with their notions of morality; we infect them with ours. + </p> + <p> + In the last forty years, in this country, they have entered a hundred + avenues of activity from which they were previously debarred by an + unwritten law. They are found in the offices, the shops, the factories. + Like Charles Lamb's fugitive pigs, they have run up all manner of streets. + Does any one think that in that time there has been an advance in + professional, commercial and industrial morality? Are lawyers more + scrupulous, tradesmen more honest? When one has been served by a + "saleslady" does one leave the shop with a feebler sense of injury than + was formerly inspired by a transaction at the counter—a duller + consciousness of being oneself the commodity that has changed hands? Have + actresses elevated the stage to a moral altitude congenial to the colder + virtues? In studios of the artists is the "sound of revelry by night" + invariably a deep, masculine bass? In literature are the immoral books—the + books "dealing" with questionable "questions"—always, or even + commonly, written by men? + </p> + <p> + There is one direction in which "emancipation of woman" and enlargement of + her "sphere" have wrought a reform: they have elevated the <i>personnel</i> + of the little dinner party in the "private room." Formerly, as any veteran + man-about-town can testify, if he will, the female contingent of the party + was composed of persons altogether unspeakable. That element now remains + upon its reservation; among the superior advantages enjoyed by the + man-about-town of today is that of the companionship, at his dinner <i>in + camera</i>, of ladies having an honorable vocation. In the corridors of + the "French restaurant" the swish of Pseudonyma's skirt is no longer + heard; she has been superseded by the Princess Tap-tap (with Truckle & + Cinch), by my lady Snip-snip (from the "emporium" of Boltwhack & Co.), + by Miss Chink-chink, who sits at the receipt of customs in that severely + un-French restaurant, the Maison Hash. That the man-about-town has been + morally elevated by this Emancipation of Girl from the seclusion of home + to that of the "private room" is too obvious for denial. Nothing so + uplifts Tyrant Man as the table talk of good young women who earn their + own living. + </p> + <p> + I do not wish to be altogether ironical about this rather serious matter—not + so much so as to forfeit anything of lucidity. Let me state, then, in all + earnestness and sobriety and simplicity of speech, what is known to every + worldly-wise male dweller in the cities, to every scamp and scapegrace of + the clubs, to every reformed sentimentalist and every observer with a + straight eye—namely, that in all the various classes of young women + in our cities who support, or partly support, themselves in vocations + which bring them into personal contact with men, female chastity is a + vanishing tradition. In the lives of the "main and general" of these, all + those <i>considerate</i> which have their origin in personal purity, and + cluster about it, and are its signs and safeguards, have almost ceased to + cut a figure. It is needless to remind me that there are exceptions—I + know that. With some of them I have personal acquaintance, or think I + have, and for them a respect withheld from any woman of the rostrum who + points to their misfortune and calls it emancipation—to their need + and calls it a spirit of independence. It is not from these good girls + that you will hear the flippant boast of an unfettered life, with "freedom + to develop;" nor is it they who will be foremost and furious in denial and + resentment of my statements regarding the morals of their class. They do + not know the whole truth, thank Heaven, but they know enough for a + deprecation too deep to find relief in a cheap affirmation of woman's + purity, which is, and always has been, the creature of seclusion. + </p> + <p> + The fitness of women for political activity is not in present question; I + am considering the fitness of political activity for women. For women as + men say they are, wish them to be, and try to think them, it is unfit + altogether—as unfit as anything else that "mixes them up" with us, + compelling a communication and association that are not social. If we wish + to have women who are different from ourselves in knowledge, character, + accomplishments, manners; as different mentally as physically—and in + these and in all odier expressible differences reside all the charms that + they have for us—we must keep them, or they must keep themselves, in + an environment unlike our own. One would think that obvious to the meanest + capacity, and might even hope that it would be understood by the Daughters + of Thunder. Possibly the Advanced One, hospitably accepting her karma, is + not concerned to be charming to "the likes o' we'"—would prefer the + companionship of her blue gingham umbrella, her corkscrew curls, her + epicene audiences and her name in the newspapers. Perhaps she is content + with the comfort of her raucous voice. Therein she is unwise, for + self-interest is the first law. When we no longer find woman charming we + may find a way to make them more useful—more truly useful, even, + than the speech-ladies would have them make themselves by competition. + Really, there is nothing in the world between them and slavery but their + power of interesting us; and that has its origin in the very differences + which the Colonels are striving to abolish. God has made no law of + miracles and none of His laws are going to be suspended in deference to + woman's desire to achieve familiarity without contempt. If she wants to + please she must retain some scrap of novelty; if she desires our respect + she must not be always in evidence, disclosing the baser side of her + character, as in competition with us she must do (as we do to one another) + or lamentably fail. Mrs. Edmund Gosse, like "Ouida," Mrs. Atherton, and + all other women of brains, declares that the taking of unfair advantages—the + lack of magnanimity—is a leading characteristic of her sex. Mrs. + Gosse adds, with reference to men's passive acquiescence in this monstrous + folly of "emancipation," that possibly our quiet may be the calm before + the storm; and she utters this warning, which, also, more strongly, + "Ouida" has uttered: "How would it be with us if the men should suddenly + rise <i>en masse</i> and throw the whole surging lot of us into convents + and harems?" + </p> + <p> + It is not likely that men will "rise <i>en masse</i>" to undo the mischief + wrought by noisy protagonists of Woman Suffrage working like beavers to + rear their airy fad upon the sandy foundation of masculine tolerance and + inattention. No rising will be needed. All that is required for the wreck + of their hopes is for a wave of reason to slide a little farther up the + sands of time, "loll out its large tongue, lick the whole labor flat" The + work has prospered so far only because nobody but its promoters has taken + it seriously. It has not engaged attention from those having the knowledge + and the insight to discern beneath its cap-and-bells and the motley that + is its only wear a serious menace to all that civilized men hold precious + in woman. It is of the nature of men—themselves cheerful + polygamists, with no penitent intentions—to set a high value upon + chastity in woman. (We need not inquire why they do so; those to whom the + reasons are not clear can profitably remain in the valley of the shadow of + ignorance.) Valuing it, they purpose having it, or some considerable + numerical presumption of it. As they perceive that in a general way women + are virtuous in proportion to the remoteness of their lives and interests + from the lives and interests of men—their seclusion from the + influences of which men's own vices are a main part—an easy and + peaceful means will doubtless be found for the repression of the shouters. + </p> + <p> + In the orchestration of mind woman's instruments might have kept silence + without injury to the volume and quality of the music; efface the impress + of her touch upon the world and, by those who come after, the blank must + be diligently sought. Go to the top of any large city and look about and + below. It is not much that you will see, but it represents an amazing + advance from the conditions of primitive man. No where in the wide survey + will you see the work of woman. It is all the work of men's hands, and + before it was wrought into form and substance, existed as conscious + creations in men's brains. Concealed within the visible forms of buildings + and ships—themselves miracles of thought—lie such + wonder-worlds of invention and discovery as no human life is long enough + to explore, no human understanding capacious enough to hold in knowledge. + If, like Asmodeus, we could rive the roofs and see woman's part of this + prodigious exhibition—the things that she has actually created with + her brain—what kind of display would it be? It is probable that all + the intellectual energy expended by women from first to last would not + have sufficed, if directed into the one channel, for the genesis and + evolution of the modern bicycle. + </p> + <p> + I once heard a lady who had playfully competed with men in a jumping match + gravely attribute her defeat to the trammeling of her skirt. Similarly, + women are pleased to explain their penury of mental achievement by + repressive education and custom, and therein they are not altogether in + heresy. But even in regions where they have ever had the freedom of the + quarries they have not builded themselves monuments. Nobody, for example, + is holding them from greatness in poetry, which needs no special + education, and music, in which they have always been specially educated; + yet where is the great poem by a woman? where the great musical + composition? In the grammar of literature what is the feminine of Homer, + of Shakspere, of Goethe, of Hugo? What female names are the equivalents of + the names of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Wagner? Women are not musicians—they + "sing and play." In short, if woman had no better claim to respect and + affection than her brain; no sweeter charms than those of her reason; no + means of suasion but her power upon men's convictions, she would long ago + have been "improved off the face of the earth." As she is, men accord her + such homage as is compatible with contempt, such immunities as are + consistent with exaction; but whereas she is not altogether filled with + light and is moreover, imperfectly reverent, it is but right that in + obedience to Scriptural injunction she keep silence in our churches while + we are worshipping Ourselves. + </p> + <p> + She will not have it so, the good, good girl; as moral as the best of us, + she will be as intellectual as the rest of us. She will have out her + little taper and set the rivers of thought all ablaze, legging it over the + land from stream to stream till all are fired. She will widen her sphere, + forsooth, herself no wider than before. It is not enough that we have + edified her a pedestal and perform impossible rites in celebration of her + altitude and distinction. It does not suffice that with never a smile we + assure her that she is the superior sex—a whopper by the repetition + whereof certain callow youth among us have incurred the divine vengeance + of belief. It does not satisfy her that she is indubitably gifted with + pulchritude and an unquestionable genius for its embellishing; that Nature + has endowed her with a prodigious knack at accroachment, whereby the male + of her species is lured to a suitable doom. No; she has taken unto herself + in these evil days that "intelligent discontent" which giveth its beloved + fits. To her flock of graces and virtues she must add our one poor ewe + lamb of brains. Well, I tell her that intellect is a monster which devours + beauty; that the woman of exceptional mind is exceptionally masculine in + face, figure, action; that in transplanting brains to an unfamiliar soil + God leaves much of the original earth about the roots. And so with a + reluctant farewell to Lovely Woman, I humbly withdraw from her presence + and hasten to overtake the receding periphery of her "sphere." + </p> + <p> + One moment more. Mesdames: I crave leave to estop your disfavor—which + were affliction and calamity—by "defining my position" in the words + of one of yourselves, who has said of me (though with reprehensible + exaggeration, believe me) that I hate woman and love women—have an + acute animosity to your sex and adoring each individual member of it. What + matters my opinion of your understandings so long as I am in bondage to + your charms? Moreover, there is one service of incomparable utility and + dignity for which I esteem you eminently fit—to be mothers of men. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0054" id="link2H_4_0054"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE AMERICAN SYCOPHANT + </h2> + <p> + AN AMERICAN newspaper holds this opinion: "If republican government had + done nothing else than give independence to American character and + preserve it from the servility inseparable from the allegiance to kings, + it would have accomplished a great work." + </p> + <p> + I do not doubt that the writer of that sentence believes that republican + government has actually wrought the change in human nature which + challenges his admiration. He is very sure that his countrymen are not + sycophants; that before rank and power and wealth they stand covered, + maintaining "the godlike attitude of freedom and a man" and exulting in + it. It is not true; it is an immeasurable distance from the truth. We are + as abject toadies as any people on earth—more so than any European + people of similar civilization. When a foreign emperor, king, prince or + nobleman comes among us the rites of servility that we execute in his + honor are baser than any that he ever saw in his own land. When a foreign + nobleman's prow puts into shore the American shin is pickled in brine to + welcome him; and if he come not in adequate quantity those of us who can + afford the expense go swarming over sea to struggle for front places in + his attention. In this blind and brutal scramble for social recognition in + Europe the traveling American toady and impostor has many chances of + success: he is commonly unknown even to ministers and consuls of his own + country, and these complaisant gentlemen, rather than incur the risk of + erring on the wrong side, take him at his own valuation and push him in + where his obscurity being again in his favor, he is treated with kindly + toleration, and sometimes a genuine hospitality, to which he has no shadow + of right nor title, and which, if he were a gentleman, he would not accept + if it were voluntarily proffered. It should be said in mitigation that all + this delirious abasement in no degree tempers his rancor against the + system of which the foreign notable is the flower and fruit. He keeps his + servility sweet by preserving it in the salt of vilification. In the + character of a blatant blackguard the American snob is so happily + disguised that he does not know himself. + </p> + <p> + An American newspaper once printed a portrait of her whom the irreverent + Briton had a reprehensible habit of designating colloquially as "The Old + Lady," But the editor in question did not so designate her—his + simple American manhood and republican spirit would not admit that she was + a lady. So he contented himself with labeling the portrait "Her Most + Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria" This incident raises an important + question. + </p> + <p> + Important Question Raised by This Incident: Is it better to be a subject + and a man, or a citizen and a flunkey—to own the sway of a "gory + tyrant" and retain one's self-respect, or dwell, a "sovereign elector," in + the land of liberty and disgrace it? + </p> + <p> + However it may be customary for English newspapers to designate the + English sovereign, they are at least not addicted to sycophancy in + designating the rulers of other countries than their own. They would not + say "His Abracadabral Humpti-dumptiness Emperor William," nor "His + Pestilency the Speaker of the American House of Representatives." They + would not think of calling even the most ornately self-bemedaled American + sovereign elector "His Badgesty." Of a foreign nobleman they do not say + "His Lordship;" they will not admit that he is a lord; nor when speaking + of their own noblemen do they spell "lord" with a capital L, as we do. In + brief, when mentioning foreign dignitaries, of whatever rank in their own + countries, the English press is simply and serviceably descriptive: the + king is a king, the queen a queen, the jack a jack. We use "another kind + of common sense." At the very foundation of our political system lies the + denial of hereditary and artificial rank. Our fathers created this + government as a protest against all that, and all that it implies. They + virtually declared that kings and noblemen could not breathe here, and no + American loyal to the principles of the Revolution which made him one will + ever say in his own country "Your Majesty" or "Your Lordship"—the + words would choke him and they ought. + </p> + <p> + There are a few of us who keep the faith, who do not bow the knee to Baal, + who hold fast to what is high and good in the doctrine of political + equality; in whose hearts the altar-fires of rational liberty are kept + aglow, beaconing the darkness of that illimitable inane where their + countrymen, inaccessible to the light, wander witless in the bogs of + political unreason, alternately adoring and damning the man-made gods of + their own stature. Of that bright band fueling the bale-fires of political + consistency I can not profess myself a member in good standing. In view of + this general recreancy and treason to the principles that our fathers + established by the sword—having in constant observation this almost + universal hospitality to the solemn nonsense of hereditary rank and + unearned distinction, my faith in practical realization of republican + ideals is small, and I falter in the work of their maintenance in the + interest of a people for whom they are too good. Seeing that we are immune + to none of the evils besetting monarchies, excepting those for which we + secretly yearn; that inequality of fortune and unjust allotment of honors + are as conspicuous among us as elsewhere; that the tyranny of individuals + is as intolerable, and that of the public more so; that the law's majesty + is a dream and its failure a fact—hearing everywhere the footfalls + of disorder and the watchwords of anarchy, I despair of the republic and + catch in every breeze that blows "a cry prophetic of its fall." + </p> + <p> + I have seen a vast crowd of Americans change color like a field of waving + grain, as it uncovered to do such base homage to a petty foreign princess + as in her own country she had never received. I have seen full-grown, + self-respecting American citizens tremble and go speechless when spoken to + by the Emperor of Brazil. I have seen a half-dozen American gentlemen in + evening clothes trying to outdo one another in the profundity of their + bows in the presence of the nigger King of Hawaii. I have not seen a + Chinese "Earl" borne in a chair by four Americans officially detailed for + the disgraceful service, but it was done, and did not evoke a hiss of + disapproval. And I did not—thank Heaven!—observe the mob of + American "simple republicans" that dogged the heels of a disreputable + little Frenchman who is a count by courtesy only, and those of an English + duke quietly attending to his business of making a living by being a + married man. The republican New World is no less impested with servility + than the monarchial Old. One form of government may be better than another + for this purpose or for that; all are alike in the futility of their + influence upon human character. None can affect man's instinctive + abasement in the contemplation of power and rank. + </p> + <p> + Not only are we no less sycophantic than the people of monarchial + countries; we are more so. We grovel before their exalted personages, and + perform in addition a special prostration at the clay feet of our own + idols—which <i>they</i> do not revere. The typical "subject," + hat-in-hand to his sovereign and his nobleman, is a less shameful figure + than the "citizen" executing his genuflexion before the public of which he + is himself a part. No European court journal, no European courtier, was + ever more abject in subservience to the sovereign than are the American + newspaper and the American politician in flattery of the people. Between + the courtier and the demagogue I see nothing to choose. They are moved by + the same sentiment and fired by the same hope. Their method is flattery, + and their purpose profit. Their adulation is not a testimony to character, + but a tribute to power, or the shadow of power. If this country were + governed by its criminal idiots we should have the same attestations of + their goodness and wisdom, the same competition for their favor, the same + solemn doctrine that their voice is the voice of God. Our children would + be brought up to believe that an Idiotocracy is the only natural and + rational form of government And for my part I'm not at all sure that it + would not be a pretty good political system, as political systems go. I + have always, however, cherished a secret faith in Smithocracy, which seems + to combine the advantages of both the monarchial and the republican idea. + If all the offices were held for life by Smiths—the senior John + being President—we should have a settled and orderly succession to + allay all fears of anarchy and a sufficiently wide eligibility to feed the + fires of patriotic ambition. All could not be Smiths, but many could marry + into the family. + </p> + <p> + The Harrison "progress" left its heritage of shame, whereof each abaser + would gladly have washed the hands of him in his neighbor's basin. All + this was in due order of Nature, and was to have been expected. It was a + phenomenon of the same character as, in the loves of the low, the + squabbling consequent upon satiety and shame. We could not slink out of + sight; we could deny our sycophancy, albeit we might give it another name; + but we could somewhat medicine our damaged self-esteem by dealing + damnation 'round on one another. The blush of shame turned easily to the + glow of indignation, and many a hot hatred was kindled at the rosy flame + of self-contempt. Persons conscious of having dishonored themselves are + doubly sensitive to any indignity put upon them by others. The vices and + follies of human nature are interdependent; they do not move alone, nor + are they singly aroused to activity. In my judgment, this entire incident + of the President's "tour" was infinitely discreditable to President and + people. I do not go into the question of his motive in making it. Be that + what it may, the manner of it seems to me an outrage upon all the + principles and sentiments underlying republican institutions. In all but + the name it was a "royal progress"—the same costly ostentation, the + same civic and military pomp, the same solemn and senseless adulation, the + same abasement of spirit of the Many before the One. And according to + republican traditions, ten thousand times a year affirmed, in every way in + which affirmation is possible, we fondly persuade ourselves, as a true + faith in the hearts of our hearts, that the One is the inferior of the + Many! And it is no mere political catch-phrase: he <i>is</i> their + servant; he <i>is</i> their creature; all that in him to which they grovel + (dignifying and justifying their instinctive and inherited servility by + names as false as anything in ceremonial imposture) they themselves have + made, as truly as the heathen has made the wooden god before which he + performs his unmanly rite. It is precisely this thing—the + superiority of the people to their servants—that constitutes, and + was by our fathers understood to constitute, the essential, fundamental + difference between the monarchial system which they uprooted and the + democratic one which they planted in its stead. Deluded men! how little + they guessed the length and strength and vitality of the roots left in the + soil of the centuries when their noxious harvestage of mischievous + institutions had been cast as rubbish to the void! + </p> + <p> + I am no contestant for forms of government—no believer in either the + practical value or the permanence of any that has yet been devised. That + all men are created equal, in the best and highest sense of the phrase, I + hold; not as I observe it held by others, but as a living faith. That an + officeholder is a servant of the people; that I am his political superior, + owing him no deference, and entitled to such deference from him as may be + serviceable to keep him in mind of his subordination—these are + propositions which command my assent, which I <i>feel</i> to be true and + which determine the character of my personal relations with those whom + they concern. That I should give my hand, or bend my neck, or uncover my + head to any man in homage to or recognition of his office, great or small, + is to me simply inconceivable. These tricks of servility with the softened + names are the vestiges of an involuntary allegiance to power extraneous to + the performer. They represent in our American life obedience and + propitiation in their most primitive and odious forms. The man who speaks + of them as manifestations of a proper respect for "the President's great + office" is either a rogue, a dupe or a journalist They come to us out of a + fascinating but terrible past as survivals of servitude. They speak a + various language of oppression, and the superstition of man-worship; they + cany forward the traditions of the sceptre and the lash. Through the + plaudits of the people may be heard always the faint, far cry of the + beaten slave. + </p> + <p> + Respect? Respect the good. Respect the wise. Respect the dead. Let the + President look to it that he belongs to one of these classes. His going + about the country in gorgeous state and barbaric splendor as the guest of + a thieving corporation, but at our expense—shining and dining and + swining—unsouling himself of clotted nonsense in pickled platitudes + calculated for the meridian of Coon Hollow, Indiana, but ingeniously + adapted to each water tank on the line of his absurd "progress," does not + prove it, and the presumption of his "great office" is against him. + </p> + <p> + Can you not see, poor misguided "fellow citizens," how you permit your + political taskmasters to forge leg-chains of your follies and load you + down with them? Will nothing teach you that all this fuss-and-feathers, + all this ceremony, all this official gorgeousness and brass-banding, this + "manifestation of a proper respect for the nation's head" has no decent + place in American life and American politics? Will no experience open your + stupid eyes to the fact that these shows are but absurd imitations of + royalty, to hold you silly while you are plundered by the managers of the + performance?—that while you toss your greasy caps in air and sustain + them by the ascending current of your senseless hurrahs the programmers + are going through your blessed pockets and exploiting your holy dollars? + No; you feel secure; "power is of the People," and you can effect a change + of robbers every four years. Inestimable privilege—to pull off the + glutted leech and attach the lean one! And you can not even choose among + the lean leeches, but must accept those designated by the programmers and + showmen who have the reptiles on tap! But then you are not "subjects;" you + are "citizens"—there is much in that Your tyrant is not a "King;" he + is a "President." He does not occupy a "throne," but a "chair." He does + not succeed to it by inheritance; he is pitchforked into it by the boss. + Altogether, you are distinctly better off than the Russian mujik who wears + his shirt outside his trousers and has never shaken hands with the Czar in + all his life. + </p> + <p> + I hold that kings and noblemen can not breathe in America. When they set + foot upon our soil their kingship and their nobility fall away from them + like the chains of a slave in England. Whatever a man may be in his own + country, here he is but a man. My countrymen may do as they please, + lickspittling the high and mighty of other nations even to the filling of + their spiritual bellies, but I make a stand for simple American manhood. I + will meet no man on this soil who expects from me a greater deference than + I could properly accord to the President of my own country. My allegiance + to republican institutions is slack through lack of faith in them as a + practical system of governing men as men are. All the same, I will call no + man "Your Majesty," nor "Your Lordship." For me to meet in my own country + a king or a nobleman would require as much preliminary negotiation as an + official interview between the Mufti of Moosh and the Ahkoond of Swat. The + form of salutation and the style and tide of address would have to be + settled definitively and with precision. With some of my most esteemed and + patriotic friends the matter is more simple; their generosity in + concession fills me with admiration and their forbearance in exaction + challenges my astonishment as one of the seven wonders of American + hospitality. In fancy I see the ceremony of their "presentation" and as + examples of simple republican dignity I commend their posture to the youth + of this fair New World, inviting particular attention to the grand, bold + curves of character shown in the outlines of the Human Ham. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0055" id="link2H_4_0055"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A DISSERTATION ON DOGS + </h2> + <p> + OF ALL anachronisms and survivals, the love of the dog; is the most + reasonless. Because, some thousands of years ago, when we wore other skins + than our own and sat enthroned upon our haunches, tearing tangles of + tendons from raw bones with our teeth, the dog ministered purveyorwise to + our savage needs, we go on cherishing him to this day, when his only + function is to lie sun-soaken on a door mat and insult us as we pass in + and out, enamored of his fat superfluity. One dog in a thousand earns his + bread—and takes beefsteak; the other nine hundred and ninety-nine we + maintain, by cheating the poor, in the style suitable to their state. + </p> + <p> + The trouble with the modern dog is that he is the same old dog. Not an + inch has the rascal advanced along the line of evolution. We have ceased + to squat upon our naked haunches and gnaw raw bones, but this companion of + the childhood of the race, this vestigial remnant of <i>juventus mundi</i> + this dismal anachronism, this veteran inharmony of the scheme of things, + the dog, has abated no jot nor tittle of his unthinkable + objection-ableness since the morning stars sang together and he had sat up + all night to deflate a lung at the performance. Possibly he may some time + be improved otherwise than by effacement, but at present he is still in + that early stage of reform that is not incompatible with a mouthful of + reformer. + </p> + <p> + The dog is a detestable quadruped. He knows more ways to be unmentionable + than can be suppressed in seven languages. + </p> + <p> + The word "dog" is a term of contempt the world over. Poets have sung and + prosaists have prosed of the virtues of individual dogs, but nobody has + had the hardihood to eulogize the species. No man loves the Dog; he loves + his own dog or dogs, and there he stops; the force of perverted affection + can no further go. He loves his own dog partly because that thrifty + creature, ever cadging when not maurauding, tickles his vanity by fawning + upon him as the visible source of steaks and bones; and partly because the + graceless beast insults everybody else, harming as many as he dares. The + dog is an encampment of fleas, and a reservoir of sinful smells. He is + prone to bad manners as the sparks fly upward. He has no discrimination; + his loyalty is given to the person that feeds him, be the same a + blackguard or a murderer's mother. He fights for his master without regard + to the justice of the quarrel—wherein he is no better than a patriot + or a paid soldier. There are men who are proud of a dog's love—and + dogs love that kind of men. There are men who, having the privilege of + loving women, insult them by loving dogs; and there are women who forgive + and respect their canine rivals. Women, I am told, are true cynolaters; + they adore not only dogs, but Dog—not only their own horrible little + beasts, but those of others. But women will love anything; they love men + who love dogs. I sometimes wonder how it is that of all our women among + whom the dog fad is prevalent none have incurred the husband fad, or the + child fad. Possibly there are exceptions, but it seems to be a rule that + the female heart which has a dog in it is without other lodgers. There is + not, I suppose, a very wild and importunate demand for accommodation. For + my part, I do not know which is the less desirable, the tenant or the + tenement There are dogs that submit to be kissed by women base enough to + kiss them; but they have a secret, coarse revenge. For the dog is a joker, + withal, gifted with as much humor as is consistent with biting. + </p> + <p> + Miss Louise Imogen Guiney has replied to Mrs. Meynell's proposal to + abolish the dog—a proposal which Miss Guiney has the originality to + call "original." Divested of its "literature," Miss Guiney's plea for the + defendant consists, essentially, of the following assertions: (1) Dogs are + whatever their masters are. (2) They bite only those who fear them. (3) + Really vicious dogs are not found nearer than Constantinople. (4) Only + wronged dogs go mad, and hydrophobia is retaliation. (5) In actions for + damages for dog-bites judicial prejudice is against the dog. (6) "Dogs are + continually saving children from death." (7) Association with dogs begets + piety, tenderness, mercy, loyalty, and so forth; in brief, the dog is an + elevating influence: "to walk modestly at a dog's heels is a certificate + of merit!" As to that last, if Miss Guiney had ever observed the dog + himself walking modestly at the heels of another dog she would perhaps + have wished that it was not the custom of her sex to seal the certificate + of merit with a kiss. + </p> + <p> + In all this absurd woman's statements, thus fairly epitomized, there is + not one that is true—not one of which the essential falsity is not + evident, obvious, conspicuous to even the most delinquent observation. Yet + with the smartness and smirk of a graduating seminary girl refuting + Epicurus she marshals them against the awful truth that every year in + Europe and the United States alone more than five thousand human beings + the of hydrophobia—a fact which her controversial conscience does + not permit her to mention. The names on this needless death-roll are + mostly those of children, the sins of whose parents in cherishing their + own hereditary love of dogs is visited upon their children because they + have not the intelligence and agility to get out of the way. Or perhaps + they lack that tranquil courage upon which Miss Guiney relies to avert the + canine tooth from her own inedible shank. + </p> + <p> + Finally this amusing illogician, this type and example of the female + controversialist, has the hardihood to hope that there may be fathers who + can see their children the the horrible death of hydrophobia without + wishing "to exile man's best ideal of fidelity from the hearthstones of + civilization." If we must have an "ideal of fidelity" why not find it, not + in the dog that kills the child, but in the father that kills the dog. The + profit of maintaining a standard and pattern of the virtues (at + considerable expense in the case of this insatiable canine consumer) may + be great, but are we so hard pushed that we must go to the animals for it? + In life and letters are there no men and women whose names kindle + enthusiasm and emulation? Is fidelity, is devotion, is self-sacrifice + unknown among ourselves? As a model of the higher virtues why will not + one's mother serve at a pinch? And what is the matter with Miss Guiney + herself? She is faithful, at least to dogs, whatever she may be to the + hundreds of American children inevitably foredoomed to a death of + unthinkable agony. + </p> + <p> + There is perhaps a hope that when the sun's returning flame shall gild the + hither end of the thirtieth century this savage and filthy brute, the dog, + will have ceased to "banquet on through a whole year" of human fat and + lean; that he will have been gathered to his variously unworthy fathers to + give an account of the deeds done in body of man. In the meantime, those + of us who have not the enlightened understanding to be enamored of him may + endure with such fortitude as we can command his feats of tooth among the + shins and throats of those who have; we ourselves are so few that there is + a strong numerical presumption of personal immunity. + </p> + <p> + It is well to have a clear understanding of such inconveniences as may be + expected to ensue from dog-bites. That inconveniences and even discomforts + do sometimes flow from, or at least follow, the mischance of being bitten + by dogs, even the sturdiest champion of "man's best friend" will admit + when not heated fay controversy. True, he is disposed to sympathy for + those incurring the inconveniences and discomforts, but against apparent + incompassion may be offset his indubitable sympathy with the dog. No one + is altogether heartless. + </p> + <p> + Amongst the several disadvantages of a close personal connection with the + canine tooth, the disorder known as hydrophobia has long held an + undisputed primacy. The existence of dus ailment is attested by so many + witnesses, many of whom, belonging to the profession of medicine, speak + with a certain authority, that even the breeders and lovers of snap-dogs + are compelled reluctantly to concede it, though as a rule they stoutly + deny that it is imparted by the dog. In their view, hydrophobia is a + theory, not a condition. The patient imagines himself to have it, and + acting upon that unsupported assumption or hypothesis, suffers and dies in + the attempt to square his conduct with his opinions. + </p> + <p> + It seems there is firmer ground for their view of the matter than the rest + of us have been willing to admit There is such a thing, doubtless, as + hydrophobia proper, but also there is such another thing as + pseudo-hydrophobia, or hydrophobia improper. + </p> + <p> + Pseudo-hydrophobia, the physicians explain, is caused by fear of + hydrophobia. The patient, having been chewed by a healthy and harmless + dog, broods upon his imaginary peril, solicitously watches his imaginary + symptoms, and, finally, persuading himself of their reality, puts them on + exhibition, as he understands them. He runs about (when permitted) on his + hands and knees, growls, barks, howls, and in default of a tail wags the + part of him where it would be if he had one. In a few days he is gone + before, a victim to his lack of confidence in man's best friend. + </p> + <p> + The number of cases of pseudo-hydrophobia, relatively, to those of true + hydrophobia, is not definitely known, the medical records having been + imperfectly made, and never collated; champions of the snap-dog, as + intimated, believe it is many to nothing. That being so (they argue), the + animal is entirely exonerated, and leaves the discussion without a stain + upon his reputation. + </p> + <p> + But that is feeble reasoning. Even if we grant their premises we can not + embrace their conclusion. In the first place, it hurts to be bitten by a + dog, as the dog himself audibly confesses when bitten by another dog. + Furthermore, pseudo-hydrophobia is quite as fatal as if it were a + legitimate product of the bite, not a result of the terror which that + mischance inspires. + </p> + <p> + Human nature being what it is, and well known to the dog to be what it is, + we have a right to expect that the creature will take our weaknesses into + consideration—that he will respect our addiction to reasonless + panic, even as we respect his when, as we commonly do, we refrain from + attaching tinware to his tail. A dog that runs himself to death to evade a + kitchen utensil which could not possibly harm him, and which if he did not + flee would not pursue, is the author of his own undoing in precisely the + same sense as is the victim of pseudo-hydrophobia. He is slain by a + theory, not a condition. Yet the wicked boy that set him going is not + blameless, and no one would be so zealous and strenuous in his prosecution + as the cynolater, the adorer of dogs, the person who holds them guileless + of pseudo-hydrophobia. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Nicholas Smith, while United States Consul at Liege, wrote, or caused + to be written, an official report, wickedly, willfully and maliciously + designed to abridge the privileges, augment the ills and impair the + honorable status of the domestic dog. In the very beginning of this report + Mr. Smith manifests his animus by stigmatizing the domestic dog as an + "hereditary loafer;" and having hurled the allegation, affirms "the dawn + of a [Belgian] new era" wherein the pampered menial will loaf no more. + There is to be no more sun-soaking on door mats having a southern + exposure, no more usurpation of the warmest segment of the family circle, + no more successful personal solicitation of cheer at the domestic board. + The dog's place in the social scale is no longer to be determined by + consideration of sentiment, but will be the result of cold commercial + calculation, and so fixed as best to serve the ends of industrial + expediency. All this in Belgium, where the dog is already in active + service as a beast of burden and draught; doubtless the transition to that + humble condition from his present and immemorial social elevation in less + advanced countries will be slow and characterized by bitter factional + strife. America, especially, though ever accessible to the infection of + new and profitable ideas, will be angularly slow to accept so radical a + subversion of a social superstructure that almost may be said to rest upon + the domestic dog as a basic verity. + </p> + <p> + The dogs are our only true "leisure class" (for even the tramps are + sometimes compelled to engage in such simple industries as are possible + within the "precincts" of the county jail) and we are justly proud of + them. They toil not, neither spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not a + dog. Instead of making them hewers of wood and drawers of water, it would + be more consonant with the Anglomaniacal and general Old World spirit, now + so dominant in the councils of the nation, to make them "hereditary + legislators." And Mr. Smith must permit me to add, with a special + significance, that history records an instance of even a horse making a + fairly good Consul. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Smith avers with obvious and impudent satisfaction that in Liege twice + as many draught dogs as horses are seen in the streets, attached to + vehicles. He regards "a gaily painted cart" drawn by "a well fed dog" and + driven by a well fed (and gaily painted) woman as a "pleasing vision." I + do not; I should prefer to see the dog sitting at the receipt of steaks + and chops and the lady devoting herself to the amelioration of the + condition of the universe, and the manufacture of poetry and stories that + are not true. A more pleasing vision, too, one endeared to eye and heart + by immemorial use and wont, is that of stranger and dog indulging in the + pleasures of the chase—stranger a little ahead—while the woman + in the case manifests a characteristically compassionate solicitude lest + the gentleman's trousers do not match Fido's mustache. It is, indeed, + impossible to regard with any degree of approval the degradation to + commercial utility of two so noble animals as Dog and Woman; and if Man + had joined them together by driving-reins I should hope that God would put + them asunder, even if the reins were held by Dog. There would no doubt be + a distinct gain as well as a certain artistic fitness in unyoking the + strong-minded female of our species from the Chariot of Progress and + yoking her to the apple-cart or fish-wagon, and—but that is another + story; the imminence of the draughtwoman is not foreshadowed in the report + of our Consul at Liege. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Smith's estimate of the number of dogs in this country at 7,000,000 is + a "conservative" one, it must be confessed, and can hardly have been based + on observations by moonlight in a suburban village; his estimate of the + effective strength of the average dog at 500 pounds is probably about + right, as will be attested by any intelligent boy who in campaigns against + orchards has experienced detention by the Cerberi of the places. Taking + his own figures Mr. Smith calculates that we have in this country + 3,500,000,000 pounds of "idle dog power." But this statement is more + ingenious than ingenuous; it gives, as doubtless it was intended to give, + the impression that we have only idle dogs, whereas of all mundane forces + the domestic dog is most easily stirred to action. His expense of energy + in pursuit of the harmless, necessary flea, for example, is prodigious; + and he is not infrequently seen in chase of his own tail, with an activity + scarcely inferior. If there is anything worth while in accepted theories + of the conversion and conservation of force these gigantic energies are by + no means wasted; they appear as heat, light and electricity, modifying + climate, reducing gas bills and assisting in propulsion of street cars. + Even in baying the moon and insulting visitors and bypassers the dog + releases a certain amount of vibratory force which through various + mutations of its wave-length, may do its part in cooking a steak or + gratifying the olfactory nerve by throwing fresh perfume on the violet. + Evidently the commercial advantages of deposing the dog from the position + of Exalted Personage and subduing him to that of Motor would not be all + clear gain. He would no longer have the spirit to send, Whitmanwise, his + barbarous but beneficent yawp over the housetops, nor the leisure to throw + off vast quantities of energy by centrifugal efforts at the conquest of + his tail. As to the fleas, he would accept them with apathetic + satisfaction as preventives of thought upon his fallen fortunes. + </p> + <p> + Having observed with attention and considered with seriousness the London + <i>Daily News</i> declares its conviction that the dog, as we have the + happiness to know him, is dreadfully bored by civilization. This is one of + the gravest accusations that the friends of progress and light have been + called out to meet—a challenge that it is impossible to ignore and + unprofitable to evade; for the dog as we have the happiness to know him is + the only dog that we have the happiness really to know. The wolf is hardly + a dog within the meaning of the law, nor is the scalp-yielding coyote, + whether he howls or merely sings and plays the piano; moreover, these are + beyond the pale of civilization and outside the scope of our sympathies. + </p> + <p> + With the dog it is different His place is among us; he is with us and of + us—a part of our life and love. If we are maintaining and promoting + a condition of things that gives him "that tired feeling" it is befitting + that we mend our ways lest, shaking the carpet dust from his feet and the + tenderloin steaks from his teeth, he depart from our midst and connect + himself with the enchanted life of the thrilling barbarian. We can not + afford to lose him. The cynophobes may call him a "survival" and sneer at + his exhausted mandate—albeit, as Darwin points out, they are + indebted for their sneer to his own habit of uncovering his teeth to bite; + they may seek to cast opprobrium upon the nature of our affection for him + by pronouncing it hereditary—a bequest from our primitive ancestors, + for whom he performed important service in other ways than depriving + visitors of their tendons; but quite the same we should miss him at his + meal time and in the (but for him) silent watches of the night. We should + miss his bark and his bite, the feel of his forefeet upon our + shirt-fronts, the frou-frou of his dusty sides against our nether + habiliments. More than all, we should miss and mourn that visible yearning + for chops and steaks, which he has persuaded us to accept as the lovelight + of his eye and a tribute to our personal worth. We must keep the dog, and + to that end find means to abate his weariness of us and our ways. + </p> + <p> + Doubtless much might be done to reclaim our dogs from their uncheerful + state of mind by abstention from debate on imperialism; by excluding them + from the churches, at least during the sermons; by keeping them off the + streets and out of hearing when rites of prostration are in performance + before visiting notables; by forbidding anyone to read aloud in their + hearing the sensational articles in the newspapers, and by educating them + to the belief that Labor and Capital are illusions. A limitation of the + annual output of popular novels would undoubtedly reduce the dejection, + which could be still further mitigated by abolition of the more successful + magazines. If the dialect story or poem could be prohibited, under severe + penalties, the sum of night-howling (erroneously attributed to lunar + influence) would experience an audible decrement, which, also, would + enable the fire department to augment its own uproar without reproach. + There is, indeed, a considerable number of ways in which we might effect a + double reform—promoting the advantage of Man, as well as medicating + the mental fatigue of Dog. For another example, it would be "a boon and a + blessing to man" if Society would put to death, or at least banish, the + mill-man or manufacturer who persists in apprising the entire community + many times a day by means of a steam whistle that it is time for his + oppressed employees (every one of whom has a gold watch) to go to work or + to leave off. Such things not only make a dog tired, they make a man mad. + They answer with an accented affirmative Truthful James' plaintive + inquiry, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Is civilization a failure, + Or is the Caucasian played out?" +</pre> + <p> + Unquestionably, from his advantageous point of view as a looker-on at the + game, the dog is justified in the conviction that they are. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0056" id="link2H_4_0056"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE ANCESTRAL BOND + </h2> + <p> + A WELL-KNOWN citizen of Ohio once discovered another man of the same name + exactly resembling him, and writing a "hand" which, including the + signature, he was unable to distinguish from his own. The two men were + unable to discover any blood relationship between them. It is nevertheless + almost absolutely certain that a relationship existed, though it may have + been so remote a degree that the familiar term "forty-second cousin" would + not have exaggerated the slenderness of the tie. The phenomena of heredity + have been inattentively noted; its laws are imperfectly understood, even + by Herbert Spencer and the prophets. My own small study in this amazing + field convinces me that a man is the sum of his ancestors; that his + character, moral and intellectual, is determined before his birth. His + environment with all its varied suasions, its agencies of good and evil; + breeding, training, interest, experience and the rest of it—have + little to do with the matter and can not alter the sentence passed upon + him at conception, compelling him to be what he is. + </p> + <p> + Man is the hither end of an immeasurable line extending back to the + ultimate Adam—or, as we scientists prefer to name him, Protoplasmos. + Man travels, not the mental road that he would, but the one that he must—is + pushed this way and that by the resultant of all the forces behind him; + for each member of the ancestral line, though dead, yet pusfaedi. In one + of what Dr. Nolmes (Holmes, ed.) calls his "medicated novels," <i>The + Guardian Angel</i>, this truth is most admirably and lucidly set forth + with abundant instance and copious exposition. Upon another work of his, + <i>Elsie Venner</i>—in which he erroneously affirms the influence of + circumstance and environment—let us lay a charitable hand and fling + it into the fire. + </p> + <p> + Clearly all one's ancestors have not equal power in shaping his character. + Conceiving them, according to our figure, as arranged in line behind him + and influential in the ratio of their individuality, we shall get the best + notion of their method by supposing them to have taken their places in an + order somewhat independent of chronology and a little different from their + arrangement behind his brother. Immediately at his back, with a + controlling hand (a trifle skinny) upon him, may stand his + great-grandmother, while his father may be many removes arear. Or the + place of power may be held by some fine old Asian gentleman who flourished + before the confusion of tongues on the plain of Shinar; or by some + cave-dweller who polished the bone of life in Mesopotamia and was perhaps + a respectable and honest troglodyte. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes a whole platoon of ancestors appears to have been moved backward + or forward, <i>en bloc</i> not, we may be sure, capriciously, but in + obedience to some law that we do not understand. I know a man to whose + character not an ancestor since the seventeenth century has contributed an + element. Intellectually he is a contemporary of John Dryden, whom + naturally he reveres as the greatest of poets. I know another who has + inherited his handwriting from his great-grandfather, although he has been + trained to the Spencerian system and tried hard to acquire it. + Furthermore, his handwriting follows the same order of progressive + development as that of his greatgrandfather. At the age of twenty he wrote + exactly as his ancestor did at the same age, and, although at forty-five + his chirography is nothing like what it was even ten years ago, it is + accurately like his great-grandfather's at forty-five. It was only five + years ago that the discovery of some old letters showed him how his + great-grandfather wrote, and accounted for the absolute dissimilarity of + his own handwriting to that of any known member of his family. + </p> + <p> + To suppose that such individual traits as the configuration of the body, + the color of the hair and eyes, the shape of hands and feet, the + thousand-and-one subtle characteristics that make family resemblances are + transmissible, and that the form, texture and capacities of the brain + which fix the degree of natural intellect, are <i>not</i> transmissible, + is illogical and absurd. We see that certain actions, such as gestures, + gait, and so forth, resulting from the most complex concurrences of brain, + nerves and muscles, are hereditary. Is it reasonable to suppose that the + brain alone of all the organs performs its work according to its own sweet + will, free from congenital tendencies? Is it not a familiar fact that + racial characteristics are persistent?—that one race is stupid and + indocile, another quick and intelligent? Does not each generation of a + race inherit the intellectual qualities of the preceding generation? How + could this be true of generations and not of individuals? + </p> + <p> + As to stirpiculture, the intelligent and systematic breeding of men and + women with a view to improvement of the species—it is a thing of the + far future, It is hardly in sight. Yet, what splendid possibilities it + carries! Two or three generations of as careful breeding as we bestow on + horses, dogs and pigeons would do more good than all the penal, + reformatory and educating agencies of the world accomplish in a thousand + years. It is the one direction in which human effort to "elevate the race" + can be assured of a definitive, speedy and adequate success. It is hardly + better than nonsense to prate of any good coming to the race through (for + example) medical science, which is mainly concerned in reversing the + beneficent operation of natural laws and saving the unfittest to + perpetuate their unfitness. Our entire system of charities is of, to the + same objection; it cares for the incapables whom Nature is trying to "weed + out," This not only debases the race physically, intellectually and + morally, but constantly increases the rate of debasement. The proportion + of criminals, paupers and the various kinds of "inmates" of charitable + institutions augments its horrible percentage yearly. On the other hand, + our wars destroy the capable; so thus we make inroads upon the vitality of + the race from two directions. We preserve the feeble and extirpate the + strong. He who, in view of this amazing folly can believe in a constant, + even slow, progress of the human race toward perfection ought to be happy. + He has a mind whose Olympian heights are inaccessible—the Titans of + fact can never scale them to storm its ancient reign. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0057" id="link2H_4_0057"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE RIGHT TO WORK + </h2> + <p> + ALL kinds of relief, charitable or other, doubtless tend to perpetuation + of pauperism, inasmuch as paupers are thereby kept alive; and living + paupers unquestionably propagate their unthrifty kind more abundantly than + dead ones. It is not true, though, that relief interferes with Nature's + beneficent law of the survival of the fittest, for the power to excite + sympathy and obtain relief is a kind of fitness. I am still a devotee of + the homely primitive doctrine that mischance, disability or even unthrift, + is not a capital crime justly and profitably punishable by starvation. I + still regard the Good Samaritan with a certain toleration and Jesus + Christ's tenderness to the poor as something more than a policy of + obstruction. + </p> + <p> + If no such thing as an almshouse, a hospital, an asylum or any one of the + many public establishments for relief of the unfortunate were known the + proposal to found one would indubitably evoke from thousands of throats + notes of deprecation and predictions of disaster. It would be called + Socialism of the radical and dangerous kind—of a kind to menace the + stability of government and undermine the very foundations of organized + society! Yet who is more truly unfortunate than an able-bodied man out of + work through no delinquency of will and no default of effort? Is hunger to + him and his less poignant than to the feeble in body and mind whom we + support for nothing in almshouse or asylum? Are cold and exposure less + disagreeable to him than to them? Is not his claim to the right to live as + valid as theirs if backed by the will to pay for life with work? And in + denial of his claim is there not latent a far greater peril to society + than inheres in denial of theirs? So unfortunate and dangerous a creature + as a man willing to work, yet having no work to do, should be unknown + outside of the literature of satire. Doubtless there would be enormous + difficulties in devising a practicable and beneficent system, and + doubtless the reform, like all permanent and salutary reforms, will have + to grow. The growth naturally will be delayed by opposition of the + workingmen themselves—precisely as they oppose prison labor from + ignorance that labor makes labor. + </p> + <p> + It matters not that nine in ten of all our tramps and vagrants are such + from choice, and irreclaimable degenerates into the bargain; so long as + one worthy man is out of employment and unable to obtain it our duty is to + provide it by law. Nay, so long as industrial conditions are such that so + pathetic a phenomenon is possible we have not the moral right to disregard + that possibility. The right to employment being the right to life, its + denial is homicide. It should be needless to point out the advantages of + its concession. It would preserve the life and self-respect of him who is + needy through misfortune, and supply an infallible means of detection of + his criminal imitator, who could then be dealt with as he deserves, + widiout the lenity that finds justification in doubt and compassion. It + would diminish crime, for an empty stomach has no morals. With a wage rate + lower than the commercial, it would disturb no private industries by + luring away their workmen, and with nothing made to sell there would be no + competition with private products. Properly directed, it would give us + highways, bridges and embankments which we shall not otherwise have. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult to say if our laws relating to vagrancy and vagrants are + more cruel or more absurd. If not so atrocious they would evoke laughter; + if less ridiculous we should read them with indignation. Here is an + imaginary conversation: + </p> + <p> + The Law: It is forbidden to you to rob. It is forbidden to you to steal. + It is forbidden to you to beg. + </p> + <p> + The Vagrant: Being without money, and denied employment, I am compelled to + obtain food, shelter and clothing in one of these ways, else I shall be + hungry and cold. + </p> + <p> + The Law: That is no affair of mine. Yet I am considerate—you are + permitted to be as hungry as you like and as cold as may suit you. + </p> + <p> + The Vagrant: Hungry, yes, and many thanks to you; but if I go naked I am + arrested for indecent exposure. You require me to wear clothing. + </p> + <p> + The Law: You'll admit that you need it. + </p> + <p> + The Vagrant: But not that you provide a way for me to get it. No one will + give me shelter at night; you forbid me to sleep in a straw stack. + </p> + <p> + The Law: Ungrateful man! we provide a cell. + </p> + <p> + The Vagrant: Even when I obey you, starving all day and freezing all + night, and holding my tongue with both hands, I am liable to arrest for + being "without visible means of support." + </p> + <p> + The Law: A most reprehensible condition. + </p> + <p> + The Vagrant: One thing has been overlooked—a legal punishment for + begging for work. + </p> + <p> + The Law: True; I am not perfect. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0058" id="link2H_4_0058"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE RIGHT TO TAKE ONESELF OFF + </h2> + <p> + A PERSON who loses heart and hope through a personal bereavement is like a + grain of sand on the seashore complaining that the tide has washed a + neighboring grain out of reach. He is worse, for the bereaved grain cannot + help itself; it has to be a grain of sand and play the game of tide, win + or lose; whereas he can quit—by watching his opportunity can "quit a + winner." For sometimes we do beat "the man who keeps the table"—never + in the long run, but infrequently and out of small stakes. But this is no + time to "cash in" and go, for you can not take your little winning with + you. The time to quit is when you have lost a big stake, your fool hope of + eventual success, your fortitude and your love of the game. If you stay in + the game, which you are not compelled to do, take your losses in good + temper and do not whine about them. They are hard to bear, but that is no + reason why you should be. + </p> + <p> + But we are told with tiresome iteration that we are "put here" for some + purpose (not disclosed) and have no right to retire until summoned—it + may be by small-pox, it may be by the bludgeon of a blackguard, it may be + by the kick of a cow; the "summoning" Power (said to be the same as the + "putting" Power) has not a nice taste in the choice of messengers. That + "argument" is not worth attention, for it is unsupported by either + evidence or anything remotely resembling evidence. "Put here." Indeed! And + by the keeper of the table who "runs" the "skin game." We were put here by + our parents—that is all anybody knows about it; and they had no more + authority than we, and probably no more intention. + </p> + <p> + The notion that we have not the right to take our own lives comes of our + consciousness that we have not the courage. It is the plea of the coward—his + excuse for continuing to live when he has nothing to live for—or his + provision against such a time in the future. If he were not egotist as + well as coward he would need no excuse. To one who does not regard himself + as the center of creation and his sorrow as the throes of the universe, + life, if not worth living, is also not worth leaving. The ancient + philosopher who was asked why he did not the if, as he taught, life was no + better than death, replied: "Because death is no better than life." We do + not know that either proposition is true, but the matter is not worth + bothering about, for both states are supportable—life despite its + pleasures and death despite its repose. + </p> + <p> + It was Robert G. Ingersoll's opinion that there is rather too little than + too much suicide in the world—that people are so cowardly as to live + on long after endurance has ceased to be a virtue. This view is but a + return to the wisdom of the ancients, in whose splendid civilization + suicide had as honorable place as any other courageous, reasonable and + unselfish act. Antony, Brutus, Cato, Seneca—these were not of the + kind of men to do deeds of cowardice and folly. The smug, self-righteous + modern way of looking upon the act as that of a craven or a lunatic is the + creation of priests, Philistines and women. If courage is manifest in + endurance of profitless discomfort it is cowardice to warm oneself when + cold, to cure oneself when ill, to drive away mosquitoes, to go in when it + rains. The "pursuit of happiness," then, is not an "inalienable right," + for that implies avoidance of pain. No principle is involved in this + matter; suicide is justifiable or not, according to circumstances; each + case is to be considered on its merits and he having the act under + advisement is sole judge. To his decision, made with whatever light he may + chance to have, all honest minds will bow. The appellant has no court to + which to take his appeal. Nowhere is a jurisdiction so comprehensive as to + embrace the right of condemning the wretched to life. + </p> + <p> + Suicide is always courageous. We call it courage in a soldier merely to + face death—say to lead a forlorn hope—although he has a chance + of life and a certainty of "glory." But the suicide does more than face + death; he incurs it, and with a certainty, not of glory, but of reproach. + If that is not courage we must reform our vocabulary. + </p> + <p> + True, there may be a higher courage in living than in dying—a moral + courage greater than physical. The courage of the suicide, like that of + the pirate, is not incompatible with a selfish disregard of the rights and + interests of others—a cruel recreancy to duty and decency. I have + been asked: "Do you not think it cowardly when a man leaves his family + unprovided for, to end his life, because he is dissatisfied with life in + general?" No, I do not; I think it selfish and cruel. Is not that enough + to say of it? Must we distort words from their true meaning in order more + effectually to damn the act and cover its author with a greater infamy? A + word means something; despite the maunderings of the lexicographers, it + does not mean whatever you want it to mean. "Cowardice" means the fear of + danger, not the shirking of duty. The writer who allows himself as much + liberty in the use of words as he is allowed by the dictionary-maker and + by popular consent is a bad writer. He can make no impression on his + reader, and would do better service at the ribbon-counter. + </p> + <p> + The ethics of suicide is not a simple matter; one can not lay down laws of + universal application, but each case is to be judged, if judged at all, + with a full knowledge of all the circumstances, including the mental and + moral make-up of the person taking his own life—an impossible + qualification for judgment. One's time, race and religion have much to do + with it. Some people, like the ancient Romans and the modern Japanese, + have considered suicide in certain circumstances honorable and obligatory; + among ourselves it is held in disfavor. A man of sense will not give much + attention to considerations of that kind, excepting in so far as they + affect others, but in judging weak offenders they are to be taken into the + account. Speaking generally, then, I should say that in our time and + country the following persons (and some others) are justified in removing + themselves, and that to some of them it is a duty: + </p> + <p> + One afflicted with a painful or loathsome and incurable disease. + </p> + <p> + One who is a heavy burden to his friends, with no prospect of their + relief. + </p> + <p> + One threatened with permanent insanity. + </p> + <p> + One irreclaimably addicted to drunkenness or some similarly destructive or + offensive habit. + </p> + <p> + One without friends, property, employment or hope. + </p> + <p> + One who has disgraced himself. + </p> + <p> + Why do we honor the valiant soldier, sailor, fireman? For obedience to + duty? Not at all; that alone—without the peril—seldom elicits + remark, never evokes enthusiasm. It is because he faced without flinching + the risk of that supreme disaster—or what we feel to be such—death. + But look you: the soldier braves the danger of death; the suicide braves + death itself! The leader of the forlorn hope may not be struck. The sailor + who voluntarily goes down with his ship may be picked up or cast ashore. + It is not certain that the wall will topple until the fireman shall have + descended with his precious burden. But the suicide—his is the + foeman that never missed a mark, his the sea that gives nothing back; the + wall that he mounts bears no man's weight And his, at the end of it all, + is the dishonored grave where the wild ass of public opinion + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Stamps o'er his head but can not break his sleep." +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Shadow On The Dial, and Other +Essays, by Ambrose Bierce + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHADOW ON THE DIAL *** + +***** This file should be named 25304-h.htm or 25304-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/3/0/25304/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> |