Page:The Evolution of Industrial Democracy (Woodruff).pdf/7

 command of those who came to the fire. Woman was now master and the family was established.

The discovery and use of fire is the great turning point in the history of man. It sets him completely apart from the other animals and opens the way to all the social progress he has made. No fire—no family; no family—no domestic arts, no domestication of the animals, no progress, no civilization—nothing—only just beastly conditions. No wonder the Savage worshiped the fire!

The discovery of fire and the art of cookery which followed enabled man to extend his hunting grounds to the rivers, lakes and seas. His food supply was vastly increased—his range of travel immensely broadened. He had conquered his natural environment and could no longer be starved. It was the supreme event in the life of man—he was no longer a beast. Around the fire he grouped his growing institutions—his family, his handicrafts, his councils, his religion. Even down into our own day the veneration of the fire persists in the formal parts of religious worship, for in the cathedrals the candle must ever burn before the sacred images upon the altar.

BARBARISM

Barbarism came with the invention of pottery and the domestication of the animals. At first the dog and horse were aids to the cause; afterwards they assisted in preventing the straying of the herds and flocks. Man ceased to hunt only for a living; he became a herdsman and around those herds and flocks grew up new institutions and very great changes in the old ones. Wandering was limited to mere change of pasture grounds; the fire remained longer in one place; the family relations became more settled; the man took control of the household, reducing the woman to the position of a drudge or mere bearer of children. Agriculture had its beginning; the handicrafts extended to spinning,