COMMERCIALISM. 307 



honesty and ambition. Their union would per- 

 haps be a most favorable one ; but commercialism 

 has so distorted public sentiment that if she mar- 

 ries this poor man she is severely criticised for her Consideration, 

 choice, whereas, if she marries a man of wealth, 

 she is said to have married well and receives the 

 congratulations of her friends. The question of 

 compatibility, the personal habits and the moral 

 character of the man are secondary considera- 

 tions. 



Commercial unions are seldom happy ones. 

 Thousands behind gilded walls are silently tread- 

 ing the wine-press of their own misery, vainly 

 wishing to recall the halcyon days of youth in 

 which to consummate a lovematch. Children born Unions? 7 

 from such parents are seldom as well endowed 

 physically, mentally or morally as their parents; 

 moreover, the social inharmony that usually ob- 

 tains, or the desire for other associations, fre- 

 quently produces most undesirable tendencies in 

 offspring. 



Commercialism tends to concentrate capital. 

 The evil effects of this on posterity are so varied 

 and far-reaching that they are difficult to esti- 

 mate. The greatest obstacle in the way of prog- 

 ress in every country is that most of the popula- 

 tion is born from the lower, overworked, poorly 

 fed, illiterate classes. 



The concentration of capital has a tendency to 

 drive the dependent classes to the cities where 



children are born under more unfavorable con- Where Crimin- 

 ... . 111 -ii'i a k are Born* 



ditions than would be possible in the country. 



The overcrowded centers of our large cities are 

 the incubators of the vicious and criminal classes. 



