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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1906)
LA RMS heralding, the decadence" "6f national LcililyJiaTebeen late, and nave attracted more or less at tention. ' - ' f Ono of the latest is that trumpeted by the British Medical Journal, a paper which cornea nearer -eKprewiiig tho-Jiighest-professional view "of Europe than;any other,- "There is one other matter," states this paper . in a recent issue, "upon which we all look as such , very serious one.' ;' ... "The problems cf physical deterioration u-d the regeneration" of tho race are now discussed everywhere -in the drawing room as on tho plat- form. ' : - "We! all profess, to be anxious about posterity, -j but the truth is, we havd tomewhat suddenly awakened to the fact that physical degeneracy . means dancer to the nation in tho present as well - as in the future. r :- .' - - - ; v -. 7" ;r"lt may, perhaps,-be doubtful if physical dote- rioration, at least in any way that can bo tested by measurement, is yet widespread, but there an be uo .doubt that it is an evil which becomes more and . more threatening'." --r-- t ' - -r. ' '' ' ;" ' ' ' ' : ' . . . . Waning In Power. , ,:. Here the1 paper refers to the vast and growing luxuries which tho wealth of today provides, and continues,! regarding tho. conditions in England alone t, . ' ' --rTT -r.-T-- ,-:r:--t. ; - -"The history of recent wars has shown that In! the qualities of brute courage and staying power . we are appreciably, inf jrjor to tho men who ought under Nelson and 'Wellington! This is tho, inevi table result of the more luxurious habits and finer sensibilities which ", the ; advanco ; of f civilization brings in its train ' . ' "To many observers our people- seem to pre sent many of tho social features which, marked the beginning of the dway of Rome. Now, as then, luxury and effeminacy have taken the place of tho robust, if coarse; virilitv of an older time. "The .ravening passion . for advertisement by crime, if it. can be had in no other way; the love of'publirt way -which publio manners breed; tho-; VuUt V J WW..J vr w suit MiiiiuiiiuiBi w -A ''EROfiddlchileRomeTbumed.m i i i . -t- , . I - I . . into decadence as thes thoughtlessly follow the ignis , fatuits of fashion and lux- of present conditions, y -- uriou? living?"; - ; .' t " ' ' J. '-Its.isz not? so -mucHfr for- instance,- that - 'Is vast wealth,- orrathei ' the-vast-misuse-i mericansspend-Jiearly$ 50,000,000 a year of it; undermining racial stability and national finthpurchaseof automobiles; that a' family progress? ' Are' the artificial Pastes being' ere-' in Newport society cannot, get' along' on' less ated bound to result in disaster? Can a na- r than . $1060 a day,' or' that. $15,000 may be .tionbe true to' its highest ideals whett dollar- spent upon a single ball. Tlie last-mentioned chasing shoulders even,patriotism aside; when , .sum is.said.Jo have been 'the.cost.of a New-dollar-spending engages attention to ; the ex- port hop, while fashionable functions there elusion of civic pride and virtue? ..?-.. frequently demand the' expenditure of , $ 10,"; Af any ' thoughtful observers of the -trend" 000 or $12,000. ' ' of events' answer-the first three of these qnes- lions in the affirirtatke.' JI'Luxury is killing 1 fierce rago for. gambling and the sacrifice of every duty to pleasure; tlw vulgar display of wealth and the cynical indifference-to anything that cannotibe estimated in terms of 'money, which are. among the marks of modern society, recall to some pessimists the time when Nero the real originator of the doctrine of art for art's sake burnt Rome to mnke- a r 'grand spectacular display', representing the downfall of Trov town. - 'The .vitality ot.tho. natipn.whieh issome- thing altogether different irom the vitality of the individuals'composing it, is being sapped by these causes and by others that need not be named." . ' . Continuing its analysis, ' the medical paper -asks:- , r- ... - -' --Jg this -an inevitable fate that overtakes all nations as the end of their natural term of life! Or is it an evil against which we may strive with , hopo of success. ' ' .: . . '1 vv - "'It is demonstrable,', says Dr. T. If. Hyslop, . 'that our acquisitions and attainments, derived as 'they are. from the artifices of civilization, are not only impediments to true mental evolution, but tend to submerge and render less vital the human mental 'faculties.'. . .' '"' ' . " ' ; "Civilization brings with it evils which render .. .. ..iyrr?): .. . : , , . . j i - - - . j- r - r . - eminent medical and philosophical students - In season New York alone spends in the neighborhood of , $1,000,(00 a night - for decay inevitable." Like other nations .which have lived and died, we have known freedom and glory. Wealth, vice, .corruption and barbarism are but the ' sequel. t - -1; rr v -- "The strength and jrreatneaiof" a nation do not ; lie . in the. sinews of . its people, nor in the moneybags of its traders, nor in the glibness of its orators, but in the devotion of its citizens to, a lofty ideal -( public and private duty; in their love for all. that is true and good and beautiful, and in their hatred for all that . isf al8e,evil,mean-and rfgly;' in their strenuous pursuit of knowledge and their readiness to apply, it to" the making of life larger, fuller and happier for all." .. ,"?r : ;: Problems; of Wealth c: It must be-borne in mind that the acquisition and the spending of wealth are two entirely differ ent propositions, so far as they bear upon national life and character. . s . , . " . Virility, ' business ' acumen, that enterprise .which turns the, forests and the virgin fields into gold-producing centres, are necessary : and - mani fest in wealth acquirement.' ' " . r ' Such characteristics usually attend ' the first Sof ter-theatre supper ; wealthy;me - known - to f urnish -thein palatiahhomes at a ; cost Of $1,000, OOO-ne of them paid 300r OOO for fhree tapestries to hang tpo-- -walls.t- America imports something-like $25, ooa,ooo-worthiofidhmdndsand.otherjpre- chus. Stones' annually.-. " , ' ' - TTNonibngTago t onriNewK: York - dealer t j i:..r. j:r-.. ... . ' .-i- jouna lunc ainnuuj ,n iccuTing.a purenner for a single ruby at $100,000..: :u ' 1-- The question that prises is "Da: modern . extravagance and luxury, tend to jhe deterio - . , fa c t .At ration of the indnual?:?For, when thetn- dividual deteriorates, sqctety in general strikes . thi sliding scale that has its end in decadence, . : ' ' or second generations of a money-making family. ' It is the prodigality, the shif tlessncss-and the utter -subservience of everything to tho pleasures to be - purchased by .money, too often marking later gen- V - erations, that rings the note of alarm. . . . .... .. A resident of Newport; remarked not long ago ; ' that ""it devoted itself to pleasure,, regardless of . expense." ' A hearer corrected him.- "What these. , people really do. he said, "is to devete therosel.os v to expense regardless of pleasure." In thatmonstraTice.Jprobflbly. lies the key- note of the warning which urges that modern civil- :, ization and practices are tending to lower mankind into decadence. 7 The expenditure of, money alone does not threaten the safety of a people. "The real danger lies in the' increasing. demand; for such luxury as .. money can 'bring. . regardless ' of every other de- mand or comimon.. . . - - It is. nerhans. a fact thatrcfut.. disnut. that home ' life . .apartment . Uuring vam nmiAS inn f imiiv hftto in h va anptini nn th cities. Of course. ,tle-servant nrohlem hsj - had much to do" with the success 'of this fancy, or is grsdusliy giving way to, hotel and . Tuw ,lul ' ' (aistehco. America. . . - . the wife with an income amol.nting to the last few years thousands of apart- eciarei in court tnai mey coma no uvn r 1 i .1 a - . .akiMA.Aiio hwiMit itntt at rs y"i r, 1 wt. 1 v - jTIf dSo ATe"jj!" women t( mnn" ' , Philosophers assert that when a woman dodgei th-responsibility of homo life she ia materially , nneher:ati.on-on; its .toboggan slide toward 000 a. year for her apartments.-Not far away m ; a.nd PV; "' tenm jot . bum rooms, a . m to havo.the place redecorated to their liking. .These are but a 'few of -the many examples o expenditure, for-what comes far from being tht W -ioned home. .--w r ,foomo years ago a writer recalled the old Idea . , o pitrlot defending V their-.hearthstone -from! foreign invasion. "At prestnt," ; ;ho continued; "we could present thepectacle of a nation-called to defend a 'hole in tho floor,'," meaning that the: modern heat register ha3auicr3edcdjthe. old opetl . fircplacev; ' ' -': '.' '. ; ' ' Today "h-,"would probably depict,' the sationl gntherinabout tho iron radiators of a' hot .wates plant that warms an apartment house :. - ;:-U ; S.-1 Romance Is . Lacking uX To a eer.tain extent poetic inspirations always "animate the huninn heart, but can one imagine a neonle cnthr rinir ith the same eaeerncss to de- fend a steam radiator in an apartment as the would "the heartbstonesjsf their sires"! "Easy come, easy gp,? is a maxim the present generation has applied to money. Extravagancy - seems tho keynote of the age: . '. " V" J.bh A,lcn; P'mtor of a ;turdy and pa- tr0.t,J hl bride, Trwcina, to a roodctj cb.,n uno1 tho floors of whirh the only carpet waj .-u. ,.. . r.. - ' 1 Not long ago a fasluonablo couple in the 2,0 or of nesrly flOOO a day. .' v ' ; conti.sc ed on inrjpe paoe in iMr win t:mLnipiiiiiu ui"" wihuuim . 7