20 THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 
evident to every thoughtful student that in this question the 
coming century is to receive its most trying legacy. When 
we consider that in a city so prosperous even as our own there 
will scarcely be found, perchance, one citizen in ten who is 
wholly free from the heart-wasting effort of supporting a 
dollar civilization on a ninety cent income, is it not time for 
civilization herself to ask why such a burden exists ? 
While recognizing the presence of the evil, we are not of 
those, however, who despair of the social future. If (as we 
believe to be the case) the social fabric is a vital organism in 
which individuality is to secure its perfection, then surely this 
organism will possess the power of purging from itself these 
poisonous excretions. Nor is there any good reason, perhaps, 
to consider the present inequality between the rights of labor 
and capital as more than temporary. It must be evident to all 
that through the introduction of labor saving machinery there 
has resulted not only a great disturbance for labor itself, but 
that capital has likewise been exalted into a temporary master. 
The centralizing of industry and the lengthening of the 
process of production, (both incident upon machinery) have 
called for a larger relative use of capital and have thus empha- 
sized its present importance. 
While taking this hopeful outlook for the future, it 
nevertheless behooves society to be on the alert. We must 
not forget that there was a time when society was told that 
the noble and the serf were essential to its vital existence. 
Our own nation has taught the old world how little truth was 
contained in this easy maxim. Is it beyond hope that we 
may yet show the world that golden chains are not essential to 
a free manhood ? 
Turning briefly to the political world, we are here struck 
with the phenomenal growth of the imperialistic idea within 
our own empire and people. Our fathers freely sacrificed their 
blood to build up a firm and enduring nation. It is becoming 
apparent that no less zeal will be displayed by their children 
in an effort to render these blessings cosmopolitan. May we 
prove equal to the labor that this high task must involve ! 
