The Arena, Volume 18, No. 93, August, 1897

In Short

This volume is an influential August 1897 issue of The Arena, a major radical American monthly magazine featuring essays by prominent educators, social reformers, and political theorists. Addressing pressing national crises, the contributors weigh in on evolutionary science, currency reform, corporate monopolies, and prison design. Through sharp debate over gold monometallism, government-run telegraphs, and economic equity, the issue captures the Populist and Progressive era's ideological battles. It endures as an authentic, unvarnished portrait of Gilded Age intellectual ferment and the enduring American struggle between human rights and concentrated private wealth.

The Story

The issue opens with an intellectual reexamination of scientific progress by Dr. David Starr Jordan, President of Stanford University. Jordan dismantles popular misapprehensions surrounding evolutionary theory, arguing that evolution is neither a godless threat nor a simple claim that humans descended from modern apes. Instead, it is a rigorous method of investigation and a theory of organic development that demands a constantly evolving human philosophy.

From abstract science, the focus rapidly shifts to concrete economic and legal anxieties facing late-nineteenth-century America. Writers sound the alarm over the rising supremacy of corporate wealth over human life. They point to legislative moves—such as attempting to clear United States Supreme Court dockets of criminal cases to accommodate high-priced corporate litigation—as evidence that property is becoming sacred while liberty becomes cheap.

Currency policy forms the central battleground of the issue. George H. Lepper presents a proposal for bimetallism using a sliding-scale ratio, but editor John Clark Ridpath swiftly attacks the premise, asserting that true monetary reform requires treating both gold and silver as independent primary money rather than measuring silver against a gold standard. Ridpath explicitly frame this debate as a conflict between the working democracy and an oppressive "Dynasty of Robbers."

Beyond currency, contributors present radical structural solutions for national reform. Penologists propose replacing traditional overcrowded penitentiaries with penal agricultural villages to humanize punishment and reduce mob violence. Social reformer B. O. Flower argues that the federal government should eliminate involuntary idleness by employing the unemployed on massive public works, such as reclaiming useless land, funded by greenback currency or land bonds. Professor Frank Parsons builds a extensive case for nationalizing the telegraph system under civil service rules to dismantle private corporate monopolies like Western Union and integrate communication directly into the Post Office.

The issue broadens its scope to international geopolitics, examining the legitimacy of the provisional government of Cuban revolutionaries fighting Spain. It then turns to cultural and spiritual reflections, offering an appraisal of the ethical ministry of Boston preacher Minot J. Savage, a literary analysis of Shakespeare's The Tempest as a vision of spiritual divinity, and accounts of mesmeric and telepathic experiments. The volume closes with a prose-poem on the American eagle as a symbol of intellectual freedom rather than predatory conquest, followed by news of upcoming articles on urban land speculation.

How It Unfolds

Defining the scientific boundary Dr. David Starr Jordan clarifies the proper scope of evolution, debunking popular myths about human descent to establish a scientific foundation for understanding organic change.

Exposing corporate legal privilege Commentators highlight growing legal inequities in the United States, pointing to legislative attempts that prioritize high-priced corporate property cases over the life and liberty of criminal defendants.

Clashing over currency policy A heated debate erupts over monetary standards, where proposed compromises on silver and gold ratios are denounced by radical editors as covert attempts to entrench gold monometallism.

Reimagining human rehabilitation Penal reformers advocate abandoning traditional prison models in favor of structured penal villages, aiming to make punishment swift, humane, and resistant to mob violence.

Mobilizing the unemployed B. O. Flower outlines a government-funded initiative utilizing paper greenbacks to employ idle workers in large-scale land reclamation, drawing direct historical parallels to Civil War financing.

Dismantling communications monopolies Professor Frank Parsons argues for nationalizing the telegraph system, placing it under postal authority and strict civil service rules to protect public democracy from private corporate power.

Re-evaluating national symbols The volume concludes with cultural, religious, and literary critiques, culminating in an impassioned plea to view the American eagle as a symbol of free thought rather than violence and conquest.

The People

• Dr. David Starr Jordan: The President of Stanford University, who seeks to strip evolutionary theory of popular misconceptions and establish it as a scientific method requiring flexible human philosophy.
• John Clark Ridpath: A fierce, outspoken editor who aggressively attacks corporate interests, gold monometallists, and political compromises that betray the working public.
• George H. Lepper: A monetary writer whose proposed sliding-scale bimetallic ratio is criticized as a subtle defense of gold monometallism.
• B. O. Flower: A passionate social reformer who champions public works programs and greenback currency to end forced unemployment and restore dignity to working people.
• Prof. Frank Parsons: A dedicated policy analyst advocating for public ownership of the national telegraph network to break corporate monopolies.
• Rev. Minot J. Savage: An influential Boston and New York preacher who overcomes widespread ecclesiastical hostility by preaching an intense, personal, and ethical form of religion.

In Its Own Voice

"Property is becoming sacred, human life profane."

Dr. David Starr Jordan highlights how legal and political institutions in the United States increasingly prioritize corporate wealth over individual liberty.

"A popular system of bimetallism is simply bimetallism--neither more nor less."

John Clark Ridpath dismisses complex political compromises on monetary policy, insisting on a direct return to equal currency standards.

"It is high time that some race of men should rise to the height of discarding violence and blood as the beginnings of fame and power."

An editorial essay calls on the American republic to abandon aggressive, beast-born symbolism in favor of intellectual freedom and social progress.

What It's Really About

This issue is a direct critique of unbridled industrial capitalism and the political systems that protect it. Underneath its varied topics—from currency reform and telegraph nationalization to evolutionary biology—lies a single fundamental question: does a democratic republic exist to safeguard human wellbeing and personal liberty, or to expand corporate property and concentrated wealth? The contributors argue that true progress requires aligning scientific understanding, public infrastructure, and economic policy with moral and ethical democracy. By proposing public employment, postal telegraphs, and prison reform, the writers articulate a vision of "fraternal government" designed to prevent economic exploitation from destroying the democratic fabric of the nation.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers a raw, immediate view into the Gilded Age intellectual movement that paved the way for twentieth-century reform. Readers interested in economic history, political philosophy, and the roots of American Populism will find its arguments surprisingly modern. The debates over wealth inequality, corporate sway over government legislation, and public ownership of vital infrastructure directly mirror contemporary political disputes.

Reading a nineteenth-century periodical requires some patience. The prose style is formal and rhetoric-heavy, and sections dealing with hyper-specific political battles—such as the complex 16-to-1 silver ratio debates—demand familiarity with the era's monetary controversies. Certain entries, such as discussions on mesmeric sleep, reflect nineteenth-century fringes of scientific inquiry. However, the passion, clarity, and intellectual courage of its writers make it an invigorating read. It leaves you with a vivid sense of an era when Americans fiercely debated the fundamental purpose of their society.