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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1886)
THE WEST SHORE. probably even greater. In other words, there is now accomplished by machinery alone, in supplying the wants of mankind, what would be equivalent to tho work of more than half the entire population of the globe, if every human being were a working man. The reliof from physical toil, through tho employ, aiout of tub powers of nature, him enabled the race to make a corresponding iutollectual development Fifty years ago the Bible, the, almanac and the text books used in schools, comprised the literature of the groat majori ty of households. In the advanood education of the academies there was only an explanation of the first ru diments of natural philosophy. Chemistry had not at tained to the dignity of a diutiuot science. Orgauio chemistry, which in these days is making such vast con tributions to civilization, was wholly unknown. In the electrical science our knowledge was almost aa limited. Certain phenomena of the eloctrical machine woreknown, but the almost infinite energy of electricity and magnet ism was of no service to mankind. In the familiar rhyme of thirty yeara ago, Itaniamia Franklin mulit Ui harm, Twu hinwaml by ProfMiir Mum. Until these forces woro harnessed and made to do the work of man they wore dreaded elemeuts, with which it was popularly deemed a sncrilogo to meddle. The first use of this ouorgy of natare to diffuse in formation was on Nov. 28, 1814, when the Loudon Time was printed on a press driven by steam, making eleven hundred impressions an hour. Hut for twenty yeara later than that the printing presses of this country wore worked by hand. Now we have perfecting presses that print twenty-five thousand iinpronmoiis an hour. Tho two Bible societies, British and American, are togothor printing a copy of the entire Biblo every ten seconds. In 1870, the number of newspapers printed in Groat Britain was three hundred and seventy millions. Alxnit the same number were priutod in France, and more than four times as many were printed in the United BUtea. To-day the number of copios of newspapers printed in this country exceeds two thousand millions. Tho commerce of the world is now regulated by tel egraph, which, at the same time, vantly augments tho power of capital. A telegram from Portland to a Now York bank, or from New York to a London bank, an swers all the purposes of gold, silver or bills of exchange. Wbila tho Oregon pioneer who spent half a year in com ing to this state, may now be carried back by steam in four days, tho train in which he is borne is guarded from othor trains thundoring towards him or following him upon the same track, by tho train diajatcher, who sits in a telegraph office a hundred miles away. Tho telegraph wires along the' track are the reins by which the iron horse is driven. It is needleas to multiply il lustrations of the various ways in which the energy of nature is employed to relieve mankind from physical toil and thus augment tho caacity for work and ability to supply ever increasing want. The attniumouts which have been so rapidly made in this age of steam constitute our present civilisation. As it has arisen so largely out of tho conversion to tho use of mau of the powers of nature, it would be strange if it did not partake largely of tho character of its mate rial sources. The impulse imparted by tho invention of steam lias been attended by in null general improve mout, and it Is doubtless, aa John Stewart Mill has no bly said, " loading np to a recognition of the generous doctrine of the solidarity, tho fellowship, the oommon brotherhood of man." And yet there aro many reasons for accepting the truth of Mr. Alfred Wallace's state ment that " our mastery over tho forces of nature has led to a rapid growth of population and a vast accumula tion of wealth; but these Iikyo brought with them such an amount of poverty and crime, and have filtered tho growth of so much sordid feeling and so many fierce passions, that it may well be questioned whether tho mental and moral status of our population has not, on the average, been lowered, and whether tho evil has not ovorbalanoed the good. ' And if wo continue to devoto our chief energies to the utilising of our knowledge of tho laws of nature, with tho view of still further extending our ooramerco and our wealth, the evils which necessarily accompany these, when too largely pursued, may increase to such gigantic dimen sions as to bo beyond our power to alleviate. Our vast manufacturing system, our gigantic commerce, our crowded towns and oitioa, suport and constantly renew a mass of human misery alwolutely greater than ever ex istod before. They create and maintain in lifelong la bor an ever increasing army whoso lot in life is the more hard to liear by contrasts with tho pleasures, tho oniu forts and tho luxury which they see everywhere around them, but which they can never hoie to enjoy, and who, in this rosoct, are worse off than the savage in the mliUt of his tribe. Until thero is a more general recognition of this failure of our oivilixation, resulting mainly from our neglect to train and develop more thoroughly tho sympathetic feelings and tho moral faculties of our na ture, and to allow them a larger share in our legislation, our ootnrueroa and our whole social organisation, we shall never, as regard tho whole community, attain to any real or lmxrtnnt superiority over the better elaas of savages." With a similar view, but more cynical tone, Mr. Locky says, "The time will doubtless coma whim the man who lays tho foundation stone of a mauufantory will be able to predict with assurance in what proxr tion the drunkenness and unchaatity of his city will be increased by his enterprise. Yet he will still pursue that enterprise, and mankind will still pronounce It to be gixxl" A tragic Incident occurred in Nw York a few years ago which illustraU tho selfish immorality which the public takes for granted as one of the constituents of our oivilixation. A yacht was wrecked off Htnten Island, and a young, generous and wealthy merchant perished while endeavoring to rescue his wife. For some tims after ward the nelghlxa-hofxl was porvadml by a aeutimnnt