Better days; or, A Millionaire of To-morrowFitch, Thomas
Philosophy
Better days; or, A Millionaire of To-morrow
Fitch, Thomas
Utopias -- Fiction; West (U.S.) -- Fiction
“What thoughtful man does not? There is in every large city of our land
a multitude unindustrious, unfrugal of life, uncurbed of spirit,
undisciplined, uneducated, fretful of small gains, accustomed to freedom
of speech and action, jealous of anything which looks like oppression or
class rule, unaccustomed to restrictions of any kind, irrreligious,
materialistic, discontented, idle, envious, and often drunken.”
“In brief, a powder magazine,” said the doctor. “Great cities have
always presented the same problem to rulers, yet civilization lives,
nevertheless.”
“Because,” rejoined the professor, “in monarchial Europe the magazine is
guarded by trained armies and watchful sentinels, while in our country
it is left open and unguarded, and anarchists with lighted torches pass
to and fro. In Europe the train of government is built of
carefully-selected materials, it is officered by experienced engineers,
and at every station the testing hammer rings against the wheels. Here
we put in any piece of crystallized iron for wheel or axle, and give the
control of the engine to any loud-voiced braggart who can climb into the
cab, or any ambitious dotard who chooses to hire the tricksters of the
caucus to hoist him there. Then we throw the brakes off, the
throttle-valves open, and go screaming down the grade.”
“And how do you propose, John, to avoid a smash-up?” queried the doctor.
“We shall have passed the danger point,” replied the professor, “and
entered upon an era of safer and better life for the republic, only when
the great millionaires of America shall elect to consider themselves not
merely as conquerers on the field of finance, entitled to the spoils of
victory, but as trustees for humanity, as suns whose mission it is to
draw the waters of affluence from overflowing lake and stream, not to
hold those waters above the earth forever, but to distribute them in
bounteous and fertilizing showers.”
“And do you suppose, John Thornton, that the people would either
appreciate or respond to such seraphic unselfishness on the part of your
regenerated and beatified millionaires?
“Dr. Eustace, let me tell you that when the great, industrious,
intelligent, patriotic body of workers shall be made to feel that there
is no necessary conflict between labor and capital, —when they shall be
made to know that any considerable number of our millionaires are
seeking further wealth not merely to add to their personal luxury and
power, but in order that labor may be helped in turn to higher planes of
life, when it can be said truthfully—
“‘Then none was for a party,
Then all were for the State;
Then the great man helped the poor
And the poor man loved the great’—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account