So far as prophetic vision sees through the mists of time, the aim of the twentieth century is to live the effective life.

The simple life has been preached, the strenuous life has been lauded, but, as William Barclay Parsons recently stated it:[1] “We need force, we need a vigorous force; we need that direction and avoidance of the unnecessary which is simplicity, but with either one alone there is something lacking.  Instead of latent force and great energy without control, instead of quiet gentleness, of power of control without vigor to be controlled, what we need is force and energy applied where necessary and always under control, always working to a definite purpose, and at the same time avoiding complications and unnecessary friction.

[Footnote 1:  William Barclay Parsons, N.E.A., Asbury Park, 1905. Eng.  Record, Aug. 12, 1905.]

“That is to have a life whose great underlying motive is effectiveness.  Instead of speaking of the strenuous life or the simple life, let us have as a doctrine ‘the effective life.’

“What we need is not merely a man who acts, but one who does; that is, one who will do what he has to do regardless of intervening obstacles.  Efficiency and effectiveness are the key-notes of success in actual life.  They are also the lessons taught by every parable in the New Testament, even if that work is regarded as a code of ethics, and they form the spirit of that stirring definition of engineering[1] which is based on the direction of the vital forces of nature and the doing of things for mankind.”

[Footnote 1:  “Ability to do and the doing, efficiency, and the use of it all for mankind.”—­Tredgold’s definition of Engineering.]

Manufacturing concerns have found it pays them to provide decent tenements for their workers, but society has not yet awakened to the fact that the rank and file of the great army of salaried employees is left to fend for itself in a world only too prone to take advantage of its necessities.  There is danger in this neglect of wholesome living surroundings, because from this stratum develops normally the intelligence of the future, and how can mentally active children grow up under the prevailing unsightly and unsanitary conditions?

Of course with the passing of pioneer conditions will pass in a measure the courage and adaptability which braced itself to meet and overcome obstacles.  The salaried position in a great combine, instead of work for one’s self in an independent business, tends to magnify the value of mere money-income gained through smartness rather than by ability.  If life is made too easy, men will settle into indolent sterility, just as animals and plants degenerate with too much food.