is achieved the invention makes its appeal on the score of
economy of material or of effort; and then "labor" often awaits with
crushing and tyrannical spirit to smash the apparatus or forbid its very
use. Where both capital and labor are agreed that the object is worthy
of encouragement, there is the supreme indifference of the public to
overcome, and the stubborn resistance of pre-existing devices to combat.
The years of hardship and struggle are thus prolonged, the chagrin
of poverty and neglect too frequently embitters the inventor's scanty
bread; and one great spirit after another has succumbed to the defeat
beyond which lay the procrastinated triumph so dearly earned. Even in
America, where the adoption of improvements and innovations is regarded
as so prompt and sure, and where the huge tolls of the Patent Office and
the courts bear witness to the ceaseless efforts of the inventor, it is
impossible to deny the sad truth that unconsciously society discourages
invention rather than invites it. Possibly our national optimism as
revealed in invention--the seeking a higher good--needs some check.
Possibly the leaders would travel too fast and too far on the road
to perfection if conservatism did not also play its salutary part in
insisting that the procession move forward as a whole.

Edison and his electric light were happily more fortunate than other men
and inventions, in the relative cordiality of the reception given them.
The merit was too obvious to remain unrecognized. Nevertheless, it was
through intense hostility and opposition that the young art made its
way, pushed forward by Edison's own strong personality and by his
unbounded, unwavering faith in the ultimate success of his system. It
may seem strange that great effort was required to introduce a light so
manifestly convenient, safe, agreeable, and advantageous, but the
facts are matter of record; and to-day the recollection of some of the
episodes brings a fierce glitter into the eye and keen indignation into
the voice of the man who has come so victoriously through it all.

It was not a fact at any time that the public was opposed to the idea of
the electric light. On the contrary, the conditions for its acceptance
had been ripening fast. Yet the very vogue of the electric arc light
made harder the arrival of the incandescent. As a new illuminant for the
streets, the arc had become familiar, either as a direct substitute
for the low gas lamp along the