and over seventy-five per cent
of the wealth of the nation, were then located in the cities. A little
later, able thinkers and writers of the Josiah Strong type, proclaimed,
that by the middle of the twentieth century, this would be a nation of
cities, with less than ten per cent of its wealth and population
remaining rural. As startling as these predictions are, I very much
fear, that the logic of events favor their fulfillment!"

"If you will give me a little more time George, I think I shall be able
to show you where these writers erred, in reasoning from wrong premises.
They have judged the trend of events and the probable results that are
to follow, from the standpoint of the competitive system. A system,
which they have accepted without question as a permanent one, never to
be replaced by another. This was the fatal error, which has robbed their
conclusions of all value.

"In discussing the status of our great cities, these writers all agree,
that they are a constant menace to the nation; centers of political
corruption, which are in every way antagonistic to the letter and spirit
of a republican form of government; aggregations of the most dangerous
elements of society, which are incapable of self-government. These
admissions have a wonderful significance. Let us examine them.

"The question of society, becomes a potent factor in the solution of
this problem. Society, like a great leviathan, covers the face of our
country. Representing the aggregate of life, it affects all lives. As
the social side of the body politic, it has the power to strangle or to
nourish, every interest which is dear to those lives. Dominant society,
is the support and inspiration of government. The excellence of any
government, may be measured by the excellence of the society upon which
that government is based. Under the standard of a republic, society may
be divided into two classes; the true and the false. Reasoning from
these premises, we may conclude, that in order to have a true republic,
we must first evolve a true society.

"The society representing the competitive system, has its centers or
units in our great cities. Its votaries, are worshippers of wealth. They
are importers of foreign fashions, and foreign ideas of government. They
believe in caste. They detest equality. They have no love and very
little respect for the equal rights guaranteed by the Constitution. They
despise honest labor. They consider it menial, as a badg