,,some ,,causes ,,of ,,the ,,prevailing 
,,discontent  ,by ,charles ,dudley      
,warner  ,the ,declaration of           
,independence opens with the statement  
of a great and fruitful political truth4
 ,but if it had said3--,we hold these   
truths to be self-evident3 that all men 
are created unequal2 that they are      
endowed by their ,creator with certain  
inalienable rights2 that among these are
 life1 liberty and the pursuit of       
happiness1 it would also have stated the
 truth2 and if it had added1 ,all men   
are born in society with certain duties 
which cannot be disregarded without     
danger to the social state1 it would    
have laid down a necessary corollary to 
the first declaration4 ,no doubt those  
who signed the document understood that 
the second clause limited the first1 and
 that men are created equal only in     
respect to certain rights4 ,but the     
first part of the clause has been taken 
alone as the statement of a self-evident
 truth1 and the attempt to make this    

unlimited phrase a reality has caused a 
great deal of misery4 ,in connection    
with the neglect of the idea that the   
recognition of certain duties is as     
important as the recognition of rights  
in the political and social state--that 
is1 in connection with the doctrine of  
laissez faire --this popular notion of  
equality is one of the most disastrous  
forces in modern society4  ,doubtless   
men might have been created equal to    
each other in every respect1 with the   
same mental capacity1 the same physical 
ability1 with like inheritances of good 
or bad qualities1 and born into exactly 
similar conditions1 and not dependent on
 each other4 ,but men never were so     
created and born1 so far as we have any 
record of them1 and by analogy we have  
no reason to suppose that they ever will
 be4 ,inequality is the most striking   
fact in life4 ,absolute equality might  
be better1 but so far as we can see1 the
 law of the universe is infinite        
diversity in unity2 and variety in      

condition is the essential of what we   
call progress--it is1 in fact1 life4    
,the great doctrine of the ,christian   
era--the brotherhood of man and the duty
 of the strong to the weak--is in sharp 
contrast with this doctrinarian notion  
of equality4 ,the ,christian religion   
never proposed to remove the            
inequalities of life or its suffering1  
but by the incoming of charity and      
contentment and a high mind to give     
individual men a power to be superior to
 their conditions4  ,it cannot1 however1
 be denied that the spirit of           
,christianity has ameliorated the       
condition of civilized peoples1         
cooperating in this with beneficent     
inventions4 ,never were the mass of the 
people so well fed1 so well clad1 so    
well housed1 as today in the ,united    
,states4 ,their ordinary daily comforts 
and privileges were the luxuries of a   
former age1 often indeed unknown and    
unattainable to the most fortunate and  
privileged classes4 ,nowhere else is it 

or was it so easy for a man to change   
his condition1 to satisfy his wants1    
nowhere else has he or had he such      
advantages of education1 such facilities
 of travel1 such an opportunity to find 
an environment to suit himself4 ,as a   
rule the mass of mankind have been spot 
where they were born4 ,a mighty change  
has taken place in regard to liberty1   
freedom of personal action1 the         
possibility of coming into contact with 
varied life and an enlarged             
participation in the bounties of nature 
and the inventions of genius4 ,the whole
 world is in motion1 and at liberty to  
be so4 ,everywhere that civilization has
 gone there is an immense improvement in
 material conditions during the last one
 hundred years4  ,and yet men were never
 so discontented1 nor did they ever find
 so many ways of expressing their       
discontent4 ,in view of the general     
amelioration of the conditions of life  
this seems unreasonable and illogical1  
but it may seem less so when we reflect 

that human nature is unchanged1 and that
 which has to be satisfied in this world
 is the mind4 ,and there are some       
exceptions to this general material     
prosperity1 in its result to the working
 classes4 ,manufacturing ,england is an 
exception4 ,there is nothing so pitiful1
 so hopeless in the record of man1 not  
in the ,middle ,ages1 not in rural      
,france just before the ,revolution1 as 
the physical and mental condition of the
 operators in the great manufacturing   
cities and in the vast reeking slums of 
,london4 ,the political economists have 
made ,england the world's great         
workshop1 on the theory that wealth is  
the greatest good in life1 and that with
 the golden streams flowing into        
,england from a tributary world1 wages  
would rise1 food be cheap1 employment   
constant4 ,the horrible result to       
humanity is one of the exceptions to the
 general uplift of the race1 not        
paralleled as yet by anything in this   
country1 but to be taken note of as a   

possible outcome of any material        
civilization1 and fit to set us thinking
 whether we have not got on a wrong     
track4 ,mr4 ,froude1 fresh from a sight 
of the misery of industrial ,england1   
and borne straight on toward ,australia 
over a vast ocean1 through calm and     
storm1 by a great steamer1--horses of   
fire yoked to a sea-chariot1--exclaims3 
,what1 after all1 have these wonderful  
achievements done to elevate human      
nature8 ,human nature remains as it was4
 ,science grows1 but morality is        
stationary1 and art is vulgarized4 ,not 
here lie the 'things necessary to       
salvation1' not the things which can    
give to human life grace1 or beauty1 or 
dignity4  ,in the ,united ,states1 with 
its open opportunities1 abundant land1  
where the condition of the laboring     
class is better actually and in         
possibility than it ever was in history1
 and where there is little poverty      
except that which is inevitably the     
accompaniment of human weakness and     

crime1 the prevailing discontent seems  
groundless4 ,but of course an agitation 
so widespread1 so much in earnest1 so   
capable of evoking sacrifice1 even to   
the verge of starvation and the risk of 
life1 must have some reason in human    
nature4 ,even an illusion--and men are  
as ready to die for an illusion as for a
 reality--cannot exist without a cause4 
,now1 content does not depend so much   
upon a man's actual as his relative     
condition4 ,often it is not so much what
 ,i need1 as what others have that      
disturbs me4 ,i should be content to    
walk from ,boston to ,new ,york1 and be 
a fortnight on the way1 if everybody    
else was obliged to walk who made that  
journey4 ,it becomes a hardship when my 
neighbor is whisked over the route in   
six hours and ,i have to walk4 ,it would
 still be a hardship if he attained the 
ability to go in an hour1 when ,i was   
only able to accomplish the distance in 
six hours4 ,while there has been a      
tremendous uplift all along the line of 

material conditions1 and the laboring   
man who is sober and industrious has    
comforts and privileges in his daily    
life which the rich man who was sober   
and industrious did not enjoy a hundred 
years ago1 the relative position of the 
rich man and the poor man has not       
greatly changed4 ,it is true1 especially
 in the ,united ,states1 that the poor  
have become rich and the rich poor1 but 
inequality of condition is about as     
marked as it was before the invention of
 labor-saving machinery1 and though     
workingmen are better off in many ways1 
the accumulation of vast fortunes1      
acquired often in brutal disregard of   
humanity1 marks the contrast of         
conditions perhaps more emphatically    
than it ever appeared before4 ,that this
 inequality should continue in an era of
 universal education1 universal         
suffrage1 universal locomotion1         
universal emancipation from nearly all  
tradition1 is a surprise1 and a         
perfectly comprehensible cause of       

discontent4 ,it is axiomatic that all   
men are created equal4 ,but1 somehow1   
the problem does not work out in the    
desired actual equality of conditions4  
,perhaps it can be forced to the right  
conclusion by violence4  ,it ought to be
 said1 as to the ,united ,states1 that a
 very considerable part of the          
discontent is imported1 it is not       
native1 nor based on any actual state of
 things existing here4 ,agitation has   
become a business4 ,a great many men and
 some women1 to whom work of any sort is
 distasteful1 live by it4 ,some of them 
are refugees from military or political 
despotism1 some are refugees from       
justice1 some from the lowest conditions
 of industrial slavery4 ,when they come 
here1 they assume that the hardships    
they have come away to escape exist     
here1 and they begin agitating against  
them4 ,their business is to so mix the  
real wrongs of our social life with     
imaginary hardships1 and to heighten the
 whole with illusory and often debasing 

theories1 that discontent will be       
engendered4 ,for it is by means of that 
only that they live4 ,it requires       
usually a great deal of labor1 of       
organization1 of oratory to work up this
 discontent so that it is profitable4   
,the solid workingmen of ,america who   
know the value of industry and thrift1  
and have confidence in the relief to be 
obtained from all relievable wrongs by  
legitimate political or other sedate    
action1 have no time to give to the     
leadership of agitations which require  
them to quit work1 and destroy          
industries1 and attack the social order 
upon which they depend4 ,the whole case1
 you may remember1 was embodied         
thousands of years ago in a parable1    
which ,jotham1 standing on the top of   
,mount ,gerizim1 spoke to the men of    
,shechem3  ,the trees went forth on a   
time to anoint a king over them2 and    
they said unto the olive-tree1 ',reign  
thou over us4'  ,but the olive-tree said
 unto them1 ',should ,i leave my fatness

 wherewith by me they honor ,god and    
man1 and go to be promoted over the     
trees8'  ,and the trees said to the     
fig-tree1 ',come thou and reign over    
us4'  ,but the fig-tree said unto them1 
',should ,i forsake my sweetness and my 
good fruit1 and go to be promoted over  
the trees8'  ,then said the trees unto  
the vine1 ',come thou and reign over    
us4'  ,and the vine said unto them1     
',should ,i leave my wine1 which        
cheereth ,god and man1 and go to be     
promoted over the trees8'  ,then said   
the trees unto the bramble1 ',come thou 
and reign over us4'  ,and the bramble   
said to the trees1 ',if in truth ye     
anoint me king over you1 then come and  
put your trust in my shadow2 and if not1
 let fire come out of the bramble1 and  
devour the cedars of ,lebanon4'  ,in our
 day a conflagration of the cedars of   
,lebanon has been the only result of the
 kingship of the bramble4  ,in the      
opinion of many1 our universal education
 is one of the chief causes of the      

discontent4 ,this might be true and not 
be an argument against education1 for a 
certain amount of discontent is         
essential to self-development and if1 as
 we believe1 the development of the best
 powers of every human being is a good  
in itself1 education ought not to be    
held responsible for the evils attending
 a transitional period4 ,yet we cannot  
ignore the danger1 in the present stage1
 of an education that is necessarily    
superficial1 that engenders conceit of  
knowledge and power1 rather than real   
knowledge and power1 and that breeds in 
two-thirds of those who have it a       
distaste for useful labor4 ,we believe  
in education2 but there must be         
something wrong in an education that    
sets so many people at odds with the    
facts of life1 and1 above all1 does not 
furnish them with any protection against
 the wildest illusions4 ,there is       
something wanting in the education that 
only half educates people4  ,whether    
there is the relation of cause and      

effect between the two ,i do not pretend
 to say1 but universal and superficial  
education in this country has been      
accompanied with the most extraordinary 
delusions and the evolution of the      
wildest theories4 ,it is only necessary 
to refer1 by way of illustration1 to the
 greenback illusion1 and to the whole   
group of spiritualistic disturbances and
 psychological epidemics4 ,it sometimes 
seems as if half the ,american people   
were losing the power to apply logical  
processes to the ordinary affairs of    
life4  ,in studying the discontent in   
this country which takes the form of a  
labor movement1 one is at first struck  
by its illogical aspects4 ,so far as it 
is an organized attempt to better the   
condition of men by association of      
interests it is consistent4 ,but it     
seems strange that the doctrine of      
individualism should so speedily have an
 outcome in a personal slavery1 only    
better in the sense that it is          
voluntary1 than that which it protested 

against4 ,the revolt from authority1 the
 assertion of the right of private      
judgment1 has been pushed forward into a
 socialism which destroys individual    
liberty of action1 or to a state of     
anarchy in which the weak would have no 
protection4 ,i do not imagine that the  
leaders who preach socialism1 who live  
by agitation and not by labor1 really   
desire to overturn the social order and 
bring chaos4 ,if social chaos came1     
their occupation would be gone1 for if  
all men were reduced to a level1 they   
would be compelled to scratch about with
 the rest for a living4 ,they live by   
agitation1 and they are confident that  
government will be strong enough to hold
 things together1 so that they can      
continue agitation4  ,the strange thing 
is that their followers who live by     
labor and expect to live by it1 and     
believe in the doctrine of              
individualism1 and love liberty of      
action1 should be willing to surrender  
their discretion to an arbitrary        

committee1 and should expect that       
liberty of action would be preserved if 
all property were handed over to the    
,state1 which should undertake to       
regulate every man's time1 occupation1  
wages1 and so on4 ,the central committee
 or authority1 or whatever it might be  
called1 would be an extraordinary       
despotism1 tempered only by the idea    
that it could be overturned every       
twenty-four hours4 ,but what security   
would there be for any calculations in  
life in a state of things in expectation
 of a revolution any moment8 ,compared  
with the freedom of action in such a    
government as ours1 any form of         
communism is an iniquitous and          
meddlesome despotism4 ,in a less degree 
an association to which a man surrenders
 the right to say when1 where1 and for  
how much he shall work1 is a despotism1 
and when it goes further and attempts to
 put a pressure on all men outside of   
the association1 so that they are free  
neither to work nor to hire the workmen 

they choose1 it is an extraordinary     
tyranny4 ,it almost puts in the shade   
,mexican or ,russian personal           
government4 ,a demand is made upon a    
railway company that it shall discharge 
a certain workman because and only      
because he is not a member of the union4
 ,the company refuses4 ,then a distant  
committee orders a strike on that road1 
which throws business far and wide into 
confusion1 and is the cause of heavy    
loss to tens of thousands who have no   
interest in any association of capital  
or labor1 many of whom are ruined by    
this violence4 ,some of the results of  
this surrender of personal liberty are  
as illegal as illogical4  ,the boycott  
is a conspiracy to injure another       
person1 and as such indictable at common
 law4 ,a strike1 if a conspiracy only to
 raise wages or to reduce hours of      
labor1 may not be indictable1 if its    
object cannot be shown to be the injury 
of another1 though that may be          
incidentally its effect4 ,but in its    

incidents1 such as violence1            
intimidation1 and in some cases injury  
to the public welfare1 it often becomes 
an indictable offense4 ,the law of      
conspiracy is the most ill-defined      
branch of jurisprudence1 but it is safe 
to say of the boycott and the strike    
that they both introduce an             
insupportable element of tyranny1 of    
dictation1 of interference1 into private
 life4 ,if they could be maintained1    
society would be at the mercy of an     
irresponsible and even secret tribunal4 
,the strike is illogical4 ,take the     
recent experience in this country4 ,we  
have had a long season of depression1 in
 which many earned very little and labor
 sought employment in vain4 ,in the     
latter part of winter the prospect      
brightened1 business revived1 orders for
 goods poured in to all the factories in
 the country1 and everybody believed    
that we were on the eve of a very       
prosperous season4 ,this was the time   
taken to order strikes1 and they were   

enforced in perhaps a majority of cases 
against the wishes of those who obeyed  
the order1 and who complained of no     
immediate grievance4 ,what men chiefly  
wanted was the opportunity to work4 ,the
 result has been to throw us all back   
into the condition of stagnation and    
depression4 ,many people are ruined1 an 
immense amount of capital which ventured
 into enterprises is lost1 but of course
 the greatest sufferers are the         
workingmen themselves4  ,the methods of 
violence suggested by the communists and
 anarchists are not remedial4 ,real     
difficulties exist1 but these do not    
reach them4 ,the fact is that people in 
any relations incur mutual obligations1 
and the world cannot go on without a    
recognition of duties as well as rights4
 ,we all agree that every man has a     
right to work for whom he pleases1 and  
to quit the work if it does not or the  
wages do not suit him4 ,on the other    
hand1 a man has a right to hire whom he 
pleases1 pay such wages as he thinks he 

can afford1 and discharge men who do not
 suit him4 ,but when men come together  
in the relation of employer and         
employed1 other considerations arise4 ,a
 man has capital which1 instead of      
loaning at interest or locking up in    
real estate or bonds1 he puts into a    
factory4 ,in other words1 he unlocks it 
for the benefit partly of men who want  
wages4 ,he has the expectation of making
 money1 of making more than he could by 
lending his money4 ,perhaps he will be  
disappointed1 for a common experience is
 the loss of capital thus invested4 ,he 
hires workmen at certain wages4 ,on the 
strength of this arrangement1 he accepts
 orders and makes contracts for the     
delivery of goods4 ,he may make money   
one year and lose the next4 ,it is      
better for the workman that he should   
prosper1 for the fund of capital        
accumulated is that upon which they     
depend to give them wages in a dull     
time4 ,but some day when he is in a     
corner with orders1 and his rivals are  

competing for the market1 and labor is  
scarce1 his men strike on him4          
,conversely1 take the workman settled   
down to work in the mill1 at the best   
wages attainable at the time4 ,he has a 
house and family4 ,he has given pledges 
to society4 ,his employer has incurred  
certain duties in regard to him by the  
very nature of their relations4 ,suppose
 the workman and his family cannot live 
in any comfort on the wages he receives4
 ,the employer is morally bound to      
increase the wages if he can4 ,but if1  
instead of sympathizing with the        
situation of his workman1 he forms a    
combination with all the mills of his   
sort1 and reduces wages merely to       
increase his gains1 he is guilty of an  
act as worthy of indictment as the      
strike4 ,i do not see why a conspiracy  
against labor is not as illegal as a    
conspiracy against capital4 ,the truth  
is1 the possession of power by men or   
associations makes them selfish and     
generally cruel4 ,few employers consider

 anything but the arithmetic of supply  
and demand in fixing wages1 and         
workingmen who have the power1 tend to  
act as selfishly as the male printers   
used to act in striking in an           
establishment which dared to give       
employment to women typesetters4 ,it is 
of course sentimental to say it1 but ,i 
do not expect we shall ever get on with 
less friction than we have now1 until   
men recognize their duties as well as   
their rights in their relations with    
each other4  ,in running over some of   
the reasons for the present discontent1 
and the often illogical expression of   
it1 ,i am far from saying anything      
against legitimate associations for     
securing justice and fair play4         
,disassociated labor has generally been 
powerless against accumulated capital4  
,of course1 organized labor1 getting    
power will use its power 7as power is   
always used7 unjustly and tyrannically4 
,it will make mistakes1 it will often   
injure itself while inflicting general  

damage4 ,but with all its injustice1    
with all its surrender of personal      
liberty1 it seeks to call the attention 
of the world to certain hideous wrongs1 
to which the world is likely to continue
 selfishly indifferent unless rudely    
shaken out of its sense of security4    
,some of the objects proposed by these  
associations are chimerical1 but the    
agitation will doubtless go on until    
another element is introduced into work 
and wages than mere supply and demand4  
,i believe that some time it will be    
impossible that a woman shall be forced 
to make shirts at six cents apiece1 with
 the gaunt figures of starvation or a   
life of shame waiting at the door4 ,i   
talked recently with the driver of a    
street-car in a large city4 ,he received
 a dollar and sixty cents a day4 ,he    
went on to his platform at eight in the 
morning1 and left it at twelve at night1
 sixteen hours of continuous labor every
 day in the week4 ,he had no rest for   
meals1 only snatched what he could eat  

as he drove along1 or at intervals of   
five or eight minutes at the end of     
routes4 ,he had no ,sunday1 no holiday  
in the year4  ,between twelve o'clock at
 night and eight the next morning he    
must wash and clean his car4 ,thus his  
hours of sleep were abridged4 ,he was   
obliged to keep an eye on the passengers
 to see that they put their fares in the
 box1 to be always1 responsible for     
them1 that they got on and off without  
accident1 to watch that the rules were  
enforced1 and that collisions and common
 street dangers were avoided4 ,this     
mental and physical strain for sixteen  
consecutive hours1 with scant sleep1 so 
demoralized him that he was obliged once
 in two or three months to hire a       
substitute and go away to sleep4 ,this  
is treating a human being with less     
consideration than the horses receive4  
,he is powerless against the great      
corporation2 if he complains1 his place 
is instantly filled2 the public does not
 care4  ,now what ,i want to say about  

this case1 and that of the woman who    
makes a shirt for six cents 7and these  
are only types of disregard of human    
souls and bodies that we are all        
familiar with71 is that if society      
remains indifferent it must expect that 
organizations will attempt to right     
them1 and the like wrongs1 by ways      
violent and destructive of the innocent 
and guilty alike4 ,it is human nature1  
it is the lesson of history1 that real  
wrongs1 unredressed1 grow into          
preposterous demands4 ,men are much like
 nature in action2 a little disturbance 
of atmospheric equilibrium becomes a    
cyclone1 a slight break in the levee 'a 
crevasse with immense destructive power4
  ,in considering the growth of         
discontent1 and of a natural disregard  
of duties between employers and         
employed1 it is to be noted that while  
wages in nearly all trades are high1 the
 service rendered deteriorates1 less    
conscience is put into the work1 less   
care to give a fair day's work for a    

fair day's wages1 and that pride in good
 work is vanishing4 ,this may be in the 
nature of retaliation for the           
indifference to humanity taught by a    
certain school of political economists1 
but it is1 nevertheless1 one of the most
 alarming features of these times4 ,how 
to cultivate the sympathy of the        
employers with the employed as men1 and 
how to interest the employed in their   
work beyond the mere wages they receive1
 is the double problem4  ,as the        
intention of this paper was not to      
suggest remedies1 but only to review    
some of the causes of discontent1 ,i    
will only say1 as to this double        
problem1 that ,i see no remedy so long  
as the popular notion prevails that the 
greatest good of life is to make money  
rapidly1 and while it is denied that all
 men who contribute to prosperity ought 
to share equitably in it4 ,the employed 
must recognize the necessity of an      
accumulated fund of capital1 and on the 
other hand the employer must be as      

anxious to have about him a contented1  
prosperous community1 as to heap up     
money beyond any reasonable use for it4 
,the demand seems to be reasonable that 
the employer in a prosperous year ought 
to share with the workmen the profits   
beyond a limit that capital1 risk1      
enterprise1 and superior skill can      
legitimately claim2 and that on the     
other hand the workmen should stand by  
the employer in hard times4             
,discontent1 then1 arises from absurd   
notions of equality1 from natural       
conditions of inequality1 from false    
notions of education1 and from the very 
patent fact1 in this age1 that men have 
been educated into wants much more      
rapidly than social conditions have been
 adjusted1 or perhaps ever can be       
adjusted1 to satisfy those wants4       
,beyond all the actual hardship and     
suffering1 there is an immense mental   
discontent which has to be reckoned     
with4  ,this leads me to what ,i chiefly
 wanted to say in this paper1 to the    

cause of discontent which seems to me   
altogether the most serious1 altogether 
the most difficult to deal with4 ,we may
 arrive at some conception of it1 if we 
consider what it is that the well-to-do1
 the prosperous1 the rich1 the educated 
and cultivated portions of society1 most
 value just now4  ,if1 to take an       
illustration which is sufficiently      
remote to give us the necessary         
perspective1 if the political           
economists1 the manufacturers1 the      
traders and aristocracy of ,england had 
had chiefly in mind the development of  
the laboring people of ,england into a  
fine type of men and women1 full of     
health and physical vigor1 with minds   
capable of expansion and enjoyment1 the 
creation of decent1 happy1 and contented
 homes1 would they have reared the      
industrial fabric we now see there8 ,if 
they had not put the accumulation of    
wealth above the good of individual     
humanity1 would they have turned        
,england into a grimy and smoky         

workshop1 commanding the markets of the 
world by cheap labor1 condemning the    
mass of the people to unrelieved toil   
and the most squalid and degraded       
conditions of life in towns1 while the  
land is more and more set apart for the 
parks and pleasure grounds of the rich8 
,the policy pursued has made ,england   
the richest of countries1 a land of the 
highest refinement and luxury for the   
upper classes1 and of the most misery   
for the great mass of common people4 ,on
 this point we have but to read the     
testimony of ,english writers           
themselves4 ,it is not necessary to     
suppose that the political economists   
were inhuman4 ,they no doubt believed   
that if ,england attained this          
commanding position1 the accumulated    
wealth would raise all classes into     
better conditions4 ,their mistake is    
that of all peoples who have made money 
their first object4 ,looked at merely on
 the material side1 you would think that
 what a philanthropic statesman would   

desire1 who wished a vigorous1          
prosperous nation1 would be a strong and
 virile population1 thrifty and         
industrious1 and not mere slaves of     
mines and mills1 degenerating in their  
children1 year by year1 physically and  
morally4 ,but apparently they have gone 
upon the theory that it is money1 not   
man1 that makes a state4  ,in the       
,united ,states1 under totally different
 conditions1 and under an economic      
theory that1 whatever its defects on    
paper1 has nevertheless insisted more   
upon the worth of the individual man1 we
 have had1 all the same1 a distinctly   
material development4 ,when foreign     
critics have commented upon this1 upon  
our superficiality1 our commonplaceness1
 what they are pleased to call the weary
 level of our mediocrity1 upon the      
raging unrest and race for fortune1 and 
upon the tremendous pace of ,american   
life1 we have said that this is incident
 to a new country and the necessity of  
controlling physical conditions1 and of 

fitting our heterogeneous population to 
their environment4 ,it is hardly to be  
expected1 we have said1 until1 we have  
the leisure that comes from easy        
circumstances and accumulated wealth1   
that we should show the graces of the   
highest civilization1 in intellectual   
pursuits4 ,much of this criticism is    
ignorant1 and to say the best of it1    
ungracious1 considering what we have    
done in the way of substantial          
appliances for education1 in the field  
of science1 in vast charities1 and      
missionary enterprises1 and what we have
 to show in the diffused refinements of 
life4  ,we are already wealthy2 we have 
greater resources and higher credit than
 any other nation2 we have more wealth  
than any save one2 we have vast         
accumulations of fortune1 in private    
hands and in enormous corporations4     
,there exists already1 what could not be
 said to exist a quarter of a century   
ago1 a class who have leisure4 ,now what
 is the object in life of this great1   

growing class that has money and        
leisure1 what does it chiefly care for8 
,in your experience of society1 what is 
it that it pursues and desires8 ,is it  
things of the mind or things of the     
senses8 ,what is it that interests      
women1 men of fortune1 club-men1        
merchants1 and professional men whose   
incomes give them leisure to follow     
their inclinations1 the young men who   
have inherited money8 ,is it political  
duties1 the affairs of state1 economic  
problems1 some adjustment of our        
relations that shall lighten and relieve
 the wrongs and misery everywhere       
apparent2 is the interest in            
intellectual pursuits and art 7except in
 a dilettante way dictated for a season 
by fashion7 in books1 in the wide range 
of mental pleasures which make men      
superior to the accidents of fortune8   
,or is the interest of this class1 for  
the most part1 with some noble          
exceptions1 rather in things grossly    
material1 in what is called pleasure8   

,to come to somewhat vulgar details1 is 
not the growing desire for equipages1   
for epicurean entertainments1 for       
display1 either refined or ostentatious1
 rivalry in profusion and expense1 new  
methods for killing time1 for every     
imaginable luxury1 which is enjoyed     
partly because it pleases the senses1   
and partly because it satisfies an      
ignoble craving for class distinction8  
,i am not referring to these things as a
 moralist at all1 but simply in their   
relation to popular discontent4 ,the    
astonishing growth of luxury and the    
habit of sensual indulgence are seen    
everywhere in this country1 but are most
 striking in the city of ,new ,york1    
since the fashion and wealth of the     
whole country meet there for display and
 indulgence1--,new ,york1 which rivals  
,london and outdoes ,paris in           
sumptuousness4 ,there congregate more   
than elsewhere idlers1 men and women of 
leisure who have nothing to do except to
 observe or to act in the spectacle of  

,vanity ,fair4 ,aside from the display  
of luxury in the shops1 in the streets1 
in private houses1 one is impressed by  
the number of idle young men and women  
of fashion4  ,it is impossible that a   
workingman who stands upon a            
metropolitan street corner and observes 
this ,bacchanalian revel and prodigality
 of expense1 should not be embittered by
 a sense of the inequality of the       
conditions of life4 ,but this is not the
 most mischievous effect of the         
spectacle4 ,it is the example of what   
these people care for4 ,with all their  
wealth and opportunities1 it seems to   
him that these select people have no    
higher object than the pleasures of the 
senses1 and he is taught daily by       
reiterated example that this is the end 
and aim of life4 ,when he sees the value
 the intelligent and the well-to-do set 
upon material things1 and their small   
regard for intellectual things and the  
pleasures of the mind1 why should he not
 most passionately desire those things  

which his more fortunate neighbors put  
foremost8 ,it is not the sight of a     
,peter ,cooper and his wealth that      
discontents him1 nor the intellectual   
pursuits of the scholar who uses the    
leisure his fortune gives him for the   
higher pleasures of the mind4 ,but when 
society daily dins upon his senses the  
lesson that not manhood and high        
thinking and a contented spirit are the 
most desirable things1 whether one is   
rich or poor1 is he to be blamed for    
having a wrong notion of what will or   
should satisfy him8 ,what the           
well-to-do1 the prosperous1 are seen to 
value most in life will be the things   
most desired by the less fortunate in   
accumulation4 ,it is not so much the    
accumulation of money that is           
mischievous in this country1 for the    
most stupid can see that fortunes are   
constantly shifting hands1 but it is the
 use that is made of the leisure and    
opportunity that money brings4  ,another
 observation1 which makes men           

discontented with very slow             
accumulation1 is that apparently1 in the
 public estimation it does not make much
 difference whether a man acquires      
wealth justly or unjustly4 ,if he only  
secures enough1 he is a power1 he has   
social position1 he grasps the high     
honors and places in the state4 ,the    
fact is that the toleration of men who  
secure wealth by well known dishonest   
and sharp practices is a chief cause of 
the demoralization of the public        
conscience4  ,however the lines social  
and political may be drawn1 we have to  
keep in mind that nothing in one class  
can be foreign to any other1 and that   
practically one philosophy underlies all
 the movements of an age4 ,if our       
philosophy is material1 resulting in    
selfish ethics1 all our energies will   
have a materialistic tendency4 ,it is   
not to be wondered at1 therefore1 that1 
in a time when making money is the chief
 object1 if it is not reckoned the chief
 good1 our education should all tend to 

what is called practical1 that is1 to   
that which can be immediately           
serviceable in some profitable          
occupation of life1 to the neglect of   
those studies which are only of use in  
training the intellect and cultivating  
and broadening the higher intelligence4 
,to this purely material and utilitarian
 idea of life1 the higher colleges and  
universities everywhere are urged to    
conform themselves4 ,thus is the        
utilitarian spirit eating away the      
foundations of a higher intellectual    
life1 applying to everything a material 
measure4 ,in proportion as scholars     
yield to it1 they are lowering the      
standard of what is most to be desired  
in human life1 acting in perfect concert
 with that spirit which exalts money    
making as the chief good1 which makes   
science itself the slave of the         
avaricious and greedy1 and fills all the
 world with discontented and ignoble    
longing4 ,we do not need to be told that
 if we neglect pure science for the     

pursuit of applied science only1 applied
 science will speedily be degraded and  
unfruitful2 and it is just as true that 
if we pursue knowledge only for the sake
 of gain1 and not for its own sake1     
knowledge will lose the power it has of 
satisfying the higher needs of the human
 soul4 ,if we are seen to put only a    
money value on the higher education1 why
 should not the workingman1 who regards 
it only as a distinction of class or    
privilege1 estimate it by what he can   
see of its practical results in making  
men richer1 or bringing him more        
pleasure of the senses8  ,the world is  
ruled by ideas1 by abstract thought4    
,society1 literature1 art1 politics1 in 
any given age are what the prevailing   
system of philosophy makes them4 ,we    
recognize this clearly in studying any  
past period4 ,we see1 for instance1 how 
all the currents of human life changed  
upon the adoption of the inductive      
method2 no science1 no literature1 no   
art1 practical or fine1 no person1      

inquiring scholar1 day laborer1 trader1 
sailor1 fine lady or humblest           
housekeeper1 escaped the influence4     
,even though the prevailing ethics may  
teach that every man's highest duty is  
to himself1 we cannot escape community  
of sympathy and destiny in this         
cold-blooded philosophy4  ,no social or 
political movement stands by itself4 ,if
 we inquire1 we shall find one          
preponderating cause underlying every   
movement of the age4 ,if the utilitarian
 spirit is abroad1 it accounts for the  
devotion to the production of wealth1   
and to the consequent separation of     
classes and the discontent1 and it      
accounts also for the demand that all   
education shall be immediately useful4  
,i was talking the other day with a lady
 who was doubting what sort of an       
education to give her daughter1 a young 
girl of exceedingly fine mental         
capacity4 ,if she pursued a classical   
course1 she would1 at the age of        
twenty-one1 know very little of the     

sciences4 ,and ,i said1 why not make her
 an intellectual woman8 ,at twenty-one1 
with a trained mind1 all knowledges are 
at one's feet4  ,if anything can correct
 the evils of devotion to money1 it     
seems to me that it is the production of
 intellectual men and women1 who will   
find other satisfactions in life than   
those of the senses4 ,and when labor    
sees what it is that is really most to  
be valued1 its discontent will be of a  
nobler kind4