The battle-line moves
on, but new foes constantly appear; it will not be an easy road to
the millennium. On the whole, our material and intellectual advance
has outrun our moral progress; at present our chief need is to catch
up morally. [Footnote: Cf. Alfred Russel Wallace, in his last book,
Social Environment and Moral Progress (p. 50): "This rapid growth of
wealth and increase of our power over Nature put too great a strain
upon our crude civilization and our superficial Christianity; and it
was accompanied by various forms of social immorality, almost as amazing
and unprecedented."] We may note several reasons for this eddy in the
moralizing process, this counter-movement toward the development of
new sins and the renascence of old ones.
(1) With the growth of large cities and the development of individual
interests we come to live less and less in one another's eyes. In
primitive life it is almost impossible for a man to indulge in any
vice or sin without its being immediately known to his fellows; but
today millions live such isolated lives in the midst of crowded
communities that all sorts of immorality may flourish without detection.
Under early conditions foodstuffs or other goods were consumed if not
by the producer, at least by his neighbors; and any adulteration or
sham was a dangerous matter. Today we seldom know who slaughtered the
meat or canned the fruit we eat, who made the clothing or utensils
we use; shoddy articles and unwholesome food can be sold in quantity
with little fear of the consumer's anger.
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