Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
REVIEW
THE
VOL. LVI. No. 12
T
SING COPIES, 10 CENTS.
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 373 Fourth Ave., New York, March 22,1913 SINGLE
$f.oo PER STEARI
ALK about the relentless, crushing, demoralizing warfare of business competition!
. Is not life after all constant warfare?
AH of the universe seems to be organized upon the principle of fighting.
What a deep meaning in that cold, remorseless phrase: "The survival of the fittest"!
It seems-that ever since life appeared on this globe there has been a constant struggle for existence.
The plants of the field war upon each other until the weakest are suppressed. The animalculae in a
drop of water devour their kind. One sort of corpuscles in the blood eats other corpuscles, The big fish
eat the little ones and the parasites eat the whales.
Nature at times really seems to be a huge slaughter house.
Some men succeed through the adoption of brutal methods.
All of which reminds us forcibly of the saying of Shakespeare that "We may gather honey from the
weed and make a moral of the devil himself."
The development of civilization has been in spite of, and not because of, wars, although advancement
has been made by war.
Greece created her marvel of art and letters by co-operation. These things were destroyed by war.
From her art Rome was able to learn a lesson which aided in building her greatness.
Only as men have learned to get together have they advanced in the arts and inventions.
All of the vast achievements in the business world, such as railroads, banking, irrigation, manufac-
turing, wholesaling and the like are the result of uniting large numbers of men in a common, mutually
successful enterprise.
It may be, in some way not clear to us now, that the trusts and combinations which we accuse of all
sorts of evil are simply preparing the way for that universal co-operation when war shall be abolished from
the commercial world, society shall thoroughly organize its business and every man shall fill a place to help
and be helped.
In spite of all the statements of the disturbers the world is indeed better. While selfishness is not
entirely extinct, men are beginning to feel that it is quite worth while to live in this beautiful world and
enjoy the marvelous scenes of nature. The closer they get to nature the better they are, aiid the better they
understand the grand plan of the whole.
And, after all, does it pay to live a selfish life?
Does it pay to have many blessings and not to think of them and appreciate and be thankful for them?
Does it pay to neglect those who may need your presence and words of cheer and conifort?
Does it pay to live in this world and not endeavor to leave it better because you have lived in it—to be
neglectful of your duties to your fellowmen?
•
Does it pay to get out of plumb with humanity and to worry about what may never happen—to live
in the past and not improve every opportunity of the present?
I hardly think so!
Men know that while brutes progress by devouring one another, men advance by helping one another!.