The world's crisis; a scientific base of operation for the universally rising economic conscousness [!] and the moral

Introduction

L come to you knowing and caring for nothing but truth, and have no theory to support. Jf what i say in succeeding pages is unsound in principle, felicity of diction and acuteness oi ii tual stratagv can not save it; and if sound, homeliness of expression and the pov\ of darkness cannot destroy it. My purpose is to give to the universally risine economic consciousness, and to the mora',, a scientific base of operation. I have not aimed at combating any particular theory, but have conscientiously endeavored to present the truth, and to call attention to the evil only where it seemed most necessary. Observing the contradiction between the drift oi the age and the previously established moral, but not knowing, rationally, which was right, and wishing to follow the right, I set to work to disentangle it from the seemingly chaotic c< of earth's affairs. The following treatise is the result.

i

F

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 190o, by M. A. BURRIS in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, All Rights Reserved.

T ° my Mother who taught

THE WORLD'S CRISIS.

Chapter I

'1'he New Era; A Sanction of Reason f< - the Conditions of Human Progress- Conflict of Reason and Conduct, and tin' Purpose of Religion; How Society Becomes the Individual, and the Individual Alternately Becomes So ciety.

To the mind that thinks, it is evident that the world is on the verge of a new era. In fact it is no longer an opinion peculiar to the learned alone, hut even the illiterate proletarian has tor some years felt and observed that he lives in an age the like of which the world has never before witnessed, lie realizes thai temporal affairs have at last risen to such a stage that a vast change in human society is soon to be ushered in.

Until of late years the conditions of progress, m the eyes of the superficial ^server, have been those of chaos and blind wandering not marked by any definite aim. We have seen the multitudinous seas of humanity surging to and fro in the ' great flood of life; our ears ,- have 'been deafened by the thunder" of cannon and the clash of musketry; our hearts sickened by the wail of dving millions on gory and hard fought battle fields ■ our eyes blinded by the smoke of wjar and the aspect of destructive agencies brought to bear on the human or— ism : our senses have been shocked bv 3

: NEW ERA.

the blasphemies of the struggling and offended hosts; our nostrils hlleu with the stench of the loud and self-righteou-, proclamations of priest, prelate and politician ; and we seem to search in vain for any justifying motive or over-ruling providence.

When we watch the nations of earth rise to the gi< ing heights of the most advanced c ons only to toiter and

fall again at the unmerciful hand 01 a str< ower, we ponder and hesitate

and wonder what it ail can mean. And when we consider the present day affairs and liscot at after thousands i i

years oi s ing the nations seem to be

scarce!} tter than they were cen

turics ago, and are confronted by one ot the most relentless and exploiting commercial ages the human race has ever befort known, the most scientific of us have been unable to satisfactorily demonstrate what* the next step shall be. Science, whose great triumph in the nineteenth century has been the tracing of the varied steps in the evolution life up to the human organism, now stands dumb in the face of the problems presented by society. The only writers who seem to have made any serious attempt at interpretation are to be found principally in that school of social re fortm rs of which Karl Marx is perhaps the most commanding figure. And even this class of writers has been accused inharmowy, and in the main their phil-

THE WORLDS CRISIS.

osophy has been stated to be destructive

rather than constructive. Also Henr) George, Mr. Herbert Spencer, Mr. Huxley and others have failed in an attempt to tell us the whence and the whither.

The same may be said of religion. We might trace the constant struggle between science and religion in which man's reason seems forever to contradict his conduct., and point out the indecisive succession of conflicts ; but this work is necessarily too brief for such. an exposition which would be contrary to the actuating motive of the author. Several of the leading features, however, will be discussed later on.

But on close examination, there seems, after all, some system in the world's madness, which we shall at once proceed to examine.

A Sanction of Reason for the Conditions oi Human Progress.

The conditions of human progress, according to my way of thinking, haw been almost universally misinterpreted by writers on evolution . They seem on every hand to confuse the conditions of progress with the conditions of the life and existence of the creature making progress. Between the two there is a bmad distinction. The existence and life are conditioned on the infinite and unknowable. It is this condition that does not present to our minds a rational 5

A SANCTION OF REASON. ETC.

sanction, and not the conditions i ■ progress. blere is the source of the greai contusion.

\\ hy existence and life are conditioned on the infinite unknowable is a secret known only to the Infinite itself, and not comprehensible to the finite mind until it has traced it to its infinite source. It is as much a mystery as life, or the logos, i h thought word, itself.

'1 he why oi the conditions of life, thought, torni, size, being, etc., and th.- many fundamental facts of existence, such as axioms, represent those departments which offer no rational sanction for their conditions. Man) authors and thinkers observe these conditions and mistake ihe.n for the conditions of tlv progress of the being which embodies as a part of itself the life, thought, form. size, axiomatic knowledge, etc., just mentioned Once the}' clearly distinguish between progress and the thing that progresses, together with the thing's essentia] components, the difficulty will vanish.

With this short definition of terms, lei lis advance to the discussion. In this discussion r shall make tree use of the terms Imagination, Faith and Will, the different degrees of all three of which ■ in >ducts < ^ eVoluti( >n .

Herein, the time worn battle gn i tal reason and judgment will not be given much notice, first, because the stubborn prejudice which prevails;

THE WORLDS CRISIS.

and second, inasmuch as it is not neces sary to the discussion. Suffice it to say thai the moneron, at the lowest rung of animal life, manifests a considerable degree oi will power. It moves about from place to place by extending or protruding certain leg-like objects called pseu dopodia, or talse feet, with which h swims or passes through the water. If it wishes to pass through an opening too small tor its whole body, it, by an act oi will, extends a part of this body through the opening, or hole, and thus enables the remainder of its body to run through as though it were water passing through a siphon after once being started.

This is the result of an active will, as could be fully and easily supported by argument if space permitted. We have little patience with the lazy mind which attributes all it cannot understand in this respect, to instinct, and makes a comprehension of such things a power peculiar to the Absolute alone. Such conduct is to the uttermost unscientific and contrary to evolution. Such is the orthodox language of the "special creationists."

I might further note that both imagination and faith, or confidence, precede an act of will. And it matters not how crude and undefined this faith and imag ination may be.

Instinct, properly speaking, consists of tin- never ceasing workings, in some form or other, of the great fundamentals 7

A SANCTION OF REASON, ETC. ot existence, examples of winch may u said to be individualistic thought, activ ity, self-preservation, perpetuation of the species, etc. Man)- traits called instincts are not instincts at all bin merely habits, individual or racial. Onea habit is formed, however, in accord with natural law and perfection 1 , and instinctive requirements, it is no longer a habit in se, but is formerly repressed instinct asserting itself. Thus arises the distinction between good and bad habit-.

This said, let us examine progress under the three terms already usedimagination, faith and will. This process is well expressed by a certain author who puts it thus: "I see; I desire; can I ; 1 can ; 1 will." The person's imagination sees, and he desires. But reas has not yet examined the possibility of obtaining or attaining to the desired end It examines it, and if a favorable verdict is pronounced, faith, or confidence says, "1 can." Believing this, will is exercised and action taken. If this process is carried out often enough, habit or mechanical action results, and desire mav become practically the only operative function in certain instances.

"' his process mav be induced by self-observed facts, by revelation or by authoritv ; but in anv instance the reason must be satisfied and the desire strong, faith will be as a ''grain or mustard seed" and will will be weak. Reason must be convinced of the authenticity of the s revelation and the truthfulness of the authority, or faith and will may produce but lew phenomena.

And so progress proceeds— imagination opens up the way before, reason surveys it and faith does or does not ensue, and will and action follow.

And this is true of all living creatures however crude the mental processes. The body and its organs are the offspring Of the thought With this the most advanced philosophers agree.

The child sees an object it desires and, true to the instinct for consequent activity converted into more or iess perfect habit by its primitive ancestors on down to the very gates of the vegetable kingdom, it undergoes 'certain lovements of the head in nodding, and its fingers in pointing, and its arms in reaching, its legs in crawling, and its hands in grasping, until at length it no longer finds space an insurmountable obstacle, its organs become obedient servants to its kingly will, and it walks, leaps and runs, and only fails to fly because the intellect finds less intense exertion, in overcoming difficulties peculiar to man, by continuing on or near the earth — it is the way of least resistance.

And it is difficult to conceive how even a misled soul could argue that there is no rational sanction for the conditions of human progress, anci not at the same time catch frequent glimpses

\ SANCTION OF REASON. ETC.

of its fallacy. True, there are certain i i human progress which proceed, t< a certain extent, in secrel and do not blow a trumpet before them, but they arc onlv incidental and introduc- • - . as will be explained later.

It is not to be disputed that mysterious instinct plays an important i ; in progress; but it must also be r« bered thai as time rolls on and evolution of life proceeds, thus producing mort comnlex forms, instinct finds its field of operation more and more contracted: in other words, the more complex life becomes, the less powerful is the influence exerted by those instincts which formerly filled an important place. The ^reat law of Physical Selection, to^ be discussed later, carried with it an instinct so -Teat ps to cause chaos to bloom into worlds and complex forms. It exercised an instinct so stromr that tin onlv sanction necessary was that of the through-force originally protected by the First Cause, and which thought-force is necessarily as eternal athe First-Cause itself, inasmuch as this First-Cause could not exist for a single moment without projecting thought.

'\ lie First-Cause is pure and unchangeable force untrammeled by the blind wanderings of matter or materia; brain, and ever striving to impersonate itseli and reflect its qualities and likeness through, the medium of matte. intelligently organized as not only to be m

THE WORLD'S CRISES

nut also to kiiow. tience arises uie idea and toonsh controversy ol a persona. God. buitice n to say uiai .30tn scno<*o are in part correct it their ideas are drawn iron] the correct point or view. if we think ol God as an existence or a iiciii!*' apart trom and independent <; r all other existences and beings, then we have, created m our imagination an abstract existence whicn. we looiishl}" strive to give personality: i ne abstract idea underlies the doctrine o'i an impersonal god, which, indeed, would be no god at ah, inasmuch as n would lack all the Qualifications and relations of the true God ana rather., buc*, an existence could exercise no function whatever, in the unfathomable plan of eternity, and could pass for neither devil nor angel, much less our loving ana ever present God and Father.

there is, in truth, a personal God — by which 1 mean that the First-Cause has manifested itself through mareer, whether in nart or in whole: the ever active universal forces have, to a greater or less extent, budded for themselves a materia! temple through which the}- reveal themselves to the myriads oi other material temples which they have of necessity builded for the same purpose, so that, ultimately, in the course of evolution, one shall arise who can truly say in resnect to his high plane, "Whosoever hath seen me hath seen the Father I First-Cause, impersonated or incar- 11

A SANCTION OF REASON, ETC.

netted.)" Later, others shall become perfect and say the same, or "I and the rather are one."

'! hese eternal principles, when thoughi ol as by themselves, we call by the abstract term of natural laws; but when considered in relation to their mamies tation through more or less perfectly organized matter not yet possessed of seif-consciousness . in these respects we term them instincts. They constitute the First-Cause, which expression, unrelated, some thinkers erron eously use as being identical with God They laugh at the halt-blinded Christian [or believing in a far off God, but they take refuge in what amounts to the same thing. The First-Cause, unrelated. does not constitute God. !t must first create or organize creatures with whom it relates itself by reflecting" certain of its traits through them. Then it becomes God the Father who is a necessarily related being. And just in pro portion as we are in line with or under the perfect influence of these etcrna; tendencies projected on our plane by the First-Cause, so far are we the children of God (the First-Cause in part or in whole impersonated) and one with him : but in those respects in which we are not thus in line, we are children of resistance which is sometimes termed the "Devil." Realizing this, we set tin a constant search for God, and reach out after him by frequently undergQim? 12

:>S CRISIS.

strenuous endeavors (which we call prayei and comniuriion) to tit row ourselves in line with these instincts and become enrapport with him. We create an ideal to represent him, which ideal, in each individual, corresponds more or less perfectly to the degree in which God has manifested himself through and to his persori and understanding.

And now, before leading up to the point foreshadowed in the last few paragraphs, 1 shall explain the statement/ : "! "eadv made, that instinct finds its field of operation more and more contracted as the organic forms of life become more complex.

This i< true only up to a certain point, or stage in the evolution of man Broadly speaking, there are three great laws of selection and rejection in operation : viz. Physical, Intellectual, and Moral. Each has its age of predominance, and each possesses sufficient instinctive power to successfully carry on the beginning of its age without the assistance of conscious organized matter Physical selection creates order from chaos, and sends worlds and processes whirling and gyrating on down through sun, planet, and mineral and vegetable kingdoms, when, at length, it halts a moment to view the f «rst practically self-conscious material being in existence — - the moneron. But not yet satisfied, this physical instinct continues its journey on up through the intervening forms of 13

A SAxNCTION OF REASON. ETC.

life to man, where it finds the most rebellious, yet the most promising ature in existence.

Man begins on a large scale to do his own selecting. He chooses that which will best satisfy his passions, ana ;tJ\ so as long as intellectual selection does not begin to predominate. ( >nce it predominates, it is mans amy (here duty means that he should strive to act just as perfect instinct, or the will of God, would if it were no* trammeled by disobedient rleshj to select not for ing passion alone, but also for intelligence. Here man begins in earnest to oppose the will of God . quirements, so far, of the two pre^aihn^ instincts.) The new instinct spekks Loud, and he hears the voice of, and talks face to face, as it were, with his God, who commands him through the rising moral to refrain from partaking of the fruit of unbalanced instinct. But the temptation to ignore the new selection is too great for him, and he eats the forbidden frun of a one sided selection. He is yet earthy, of the earth, and allows himself to be tempted by Eve, who in turn has been tempted by virtue of her (woman s naturally less positive disposition and greater resistance to the more strenuous life. This resistance offered by matter is often called Satan.

We see, man is fast traveling away from the voice of instinct (God) and cin science, and the multitudes follow 14

E WORLDS CRISIS.

this broad way. instinct is in large part vvned out (that is the harmonious working < >f the great instincts of Physical and Intellectual selection.)

. as we became more complex the instincts were less perfectly and harmoniously exercised, and played a lesb important part as such. Herein is found the boundary of the statement, "'Mankind is always going to extremes." He max yo to extremes in either selection or both, for a third selection has long since entered the world, and man has another great instinct to satisfy: viz, t:.c Moral instinct.

t >r,ce Moral selection, truly predominates! man is no longer subject to great extremes; but previous to this time, we mid many so-called religious lunatics, which if the truth were really known, arc nothing more than intellectual lunatics. There is no moral lunatic. All is the result of lack of intellectual information.

The world, in a very large degree, moves together as one. No man can go in advance of his age of selection and reap any large number of the fruits. or attain to any high degree of the powers, of a future age. Each age must teach its lesson, and then the world oi humanity will move on.

We are at the close of the intellectual age of selection, and the Moral age is upon us and soon shall begin to predominate. Thus far, only, does my 15

A SANCTION OF REASON, ETC.

statement, that the more complex life becomes the less powerful are the manifestations of instinct, apply ; for once uu Moral instinct shall predominate (be seen to be the most in want of cultiva-

i. and the consequent application or is knowledge), all the instincts shall

restored, gradually to their normal

I perfect operation. Man shall again ar their voice, as it were the voice

l iod ; and they shall no longer be choked and smothered out because of

stubborn self-will. Then will come to pass, "Thy will be done on earth as heaven."

This being explained, we are now at the turning point. Each of the tlire.

s is a field for cultivation. These fields are given to man ready-made b) the great instincts and fundamentals of existence, as already explained. He cultivates this field of the mind as he would an actual field of land. If he would make progress (move forward) it is absolutely essential that each step taken in overcoming difficulties must have the sanction of reason — the nature of the difficulty must be reasoned out and understood or otherwise progress would be accidental. And if progress Vy T erc accidental, and the nature of the difficulty were not comprehended and its remedy reasonad out. every time this difficulty would be met by man, it would cause him to fall.

Without man understanding each diffi- 16 culiv and reasoning out the nature of every step he makes, there would be no permanent progress: no true progress cu all. lie would forever rise and fall, and travel in a circle. Whatever he would gam, he would at another time luse.

\\ e know that reason prevails in every science and art. Alan makes his own conditions of progress. The agriculturist discovers that he makes little progress by digging his ground up, and at once sets about to reason out a better method. He continues making additions and improvements until he hareached his present advanced stage, [{very step in advance has the sanction of reason or else it is brought about by reason. There are some lew advances owing their existence to accident. but nevertheless reason at once examines them and gives its sanction. Such advances offer no exception in the least.

The farmer undertakes to cultivate his held. The plow strikes an obstacle under-ground, and by the cracking an J. breaking or the grinding and scraping, he reasons that his field has stories or roots in it,, and thereafter adjusts ins methods accordingly.

The soi- grows thin, audi he procc* to search out a suitable remedy. Various things are tried and their effects noted He perciives the luxurious growth of grass at or near a manure heap, and at once reasons from the effect to the 17

\\CTiO> OF RE ^SON, ETC.

cause. He has discovered a remecij and made another step in progress.

Ln a similar manner oi observation he has emerged from a few simple metho of restoring the producing qualities oi land, to the many present-day methods.

So it is in every line oi work. Spaet will not permit further exemplification The human arranges certain conditions and unchangeable natural law brings about the inevitable effect.

But the blind vet ask if the physical and chemical laws, together with a" other natural laws, and the natural elements, do not in fact constitute the conditions of progress.

Certainly not. For example, thus say that the field which the farmer farms, constitutes one of the main conditions of progress.

I ask, progress in what?

Thev answer, "in farming."

r ask, In farm in?; what?

Thev are forced to unwillinglv answer, "The field."

By field we necessarily mean tne surface of the earth as cultivated by man.

'i he natural elements and their laws are not the conditions of progress, but of existence : conditions without which n^ object could exist. The creation of new or artificial conditions, by making use of these conditions of existence, in the form of diverse combinations and manipulations, is the secret of making pi ogress. These diverse combinations IS and manipulations arc made by the sei, conscious creature as the possessor oi free will. All evolution thus far (up Kj the self-conscious) is a necessity o 1

existence, and can not therefore be hindered except by a self-conscious free-willed creature (the only creature which car. destroy itself or disorganize its soul.)

Herein we get the artificial as distinguished from the natural. These objectors talk as though the field produces, not the clay alone, but also the * brick, iron, steel, etc., together with their various applications : as though the narural and inevitable produced the artificial. Evolution can proceed up to the "-conscious free-willed creature, but no farther, without the assistance and rational exercise and sanction of this creature in producing artificial aids.

We must be careful not to fail to distinguish between the conditions of progress and the conditions of existence The conditions of existence are self sufficient without the assistance of a rational creature ; but the conditions of progress depend for their manipulation on the creature, of self-consciousness and reason. One is a product of natural law: the other, of art. One is involuntary : the other the product of will and reason.

The goal toward which ah primitive

involution and evolution proceeded is

the creature of an extensive free-will.

AH the subjective worlds conspired, so 10

A SANCTION OF REASON, ETC.

to say, to create such a materialized oeiiifc - . ! tus done, the reins or rule an:- pio&iess were given into the hands this free-willed creature, and, in .>u i as its free-will prevailed, natural law ceased to be the determining' and invincible factor, but thereafter operated solely as a tendency. And woe to that creature, which, by means of its free-will, counteracts this tendency, and thus "sins against the Holy Ghost/ 1 and turns its soul on the backward course. It thus fails to learn the vital lessons oi its age. lives in the former age, and does not construct (and thereafter could not if it would) a bridge across the gap, an J steadily falls back into the hell of crystali/ed matter whence it came.

Primitive law could carry things to the free-willed creature, but no further. The free-will is not the end, but it is the means, inasmuch as God (the First- Cause related to material organization i would be worshipped "in spirit and Li truth" — by a free-willed creature o? intelligence, which intelligence and tin derstanding is the result of a succession of reasoned steps, the why of every one of which is ultimately seen by the pro gressing creature. God would not have a forced or necessary service as exem pliried in the natural elements, but a reasoned and voluntary service as mani tested in the so termed godly and hob. son or servant who has discovered, through reason, that godly service is th ? 20 only 'reasonable service" (by service is meant obedience to the tendency of discovered laws of our being.)

Thus' free-will and reason being tin means, and obedience, or At-one-ment the end, the reader will readily perceivi that evolution could not proceed beyond the natural elements without the assistance of the tree-willed creature.

Then, the reins of rule being given 1 . the creature of will, the conditions ot this creature's progress are studiously made and arranged, by its voluntary disposition, from the natural and necessary elements and laws (the conditions of existence) given to it ready-made. And when we say that this creature makes > step, we mean that by the exercise of its willand reason it has arranged certain conditions, artificially, which are found to e-nform to natural law and to bring about the same results as an end as does nature! law The only difference is, that -hen the results are brought about by nature in itself, there is no sanction of reason for these results as far as man is concerned ; but once man or the creature of wih 1 and reason arranges the conditions intelligently and brings about the result artificially, there is a sanction of his or its reason for the conditions of progress thas made. And so it fc with all human progress, which term, in itself means progress made by the human So, also, it is with the progress of anv free-willed creature. Additions 21

A SANCTION OF REASON, ETC.

made to it by external agencies is not progress true and lasting, since, if left to itself, and if the additions are not afterwards met by a rational sanction, it will again relapse to its former sia:e. Von cannot convert a dog into a man by learning it to do the acts of man. Noi can the parrot become the hitman in understanding by imitating his many words. Here is where that school of thinkers, most conspicuous of which is, perhaps, Benjamin Kidd, makes its error. In his book called ''Social K Union," Mr. Kidd argues against a rational sanction in such a wav as to siiccessiuiiv bl inn the thinl

?r wno dot not grasp the distinction between th? condition? of existence and the cond; : tions of the progress of the intelligent thing that exists.

This school argues that the ma humanity can offer no reason for the advanced stage of progress 'of human society. With this statement I, in par;. agree, but do not interpret it as th d^). The\- fail to carry out the thought to its just conclusion. It is true that • large proportion of humanity do n I understand or even know of the law ; of society — that they are not sociologists. Every step hurrianitv m?iVe c is M step into a new field. In this fWd "*'• laboring the philosopher, the fvnen 4 -^ 4 the artisan and toilers of all HtH* and everv one working out th* 3 det^'Ts of his particular department. 22

Wf

THE WORLDS CRISIS.

obliged tu icarn tiie details o\ ever; other department, lie womd aavc i time to progress in ins own deparcmen All that is necessary is to have a gene«« knowledge 01 these other departments and a special and practical knowledge o! his own, and no new-comer can do sue; eft e c tiv e w o r k a s he. M an y a per son finds this true, to his sorrow, who enters a new vocation which has difficulties unthought of by him. Once attempt t > display your knowledge to another in a Lent occupation and, it he has a fair _;rce of "grit." lie will find man) occasions to put you right in the course of a conversation on his line of work. No one knows so much about it as he. The millions engaged in other kinds of work can otter but tew exceptional representatives who have a rational sanction tor ab large a proportion 01 the solutions oi muse difficulties as he. W e tnen see that eacn individual makes progress more especially in his particular line of work — that he advances little by little in working out the details of his line, and has a rational sanction for every advance, in this manner are the details oi ^v^ry trade and profession worked out, which accomplishments the philosopher and reformer study, formulate their theory of the principles an I virtues of a new advance of society, which theory they present to the people for their sanction of reason and support. They are always very careful to gn e v sanction of reason, etc.