The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-26
10 the British Empire Stricken with
Decay?

In the January number of the COntem-
po1ury Rerie1o there is a striking article
In which the ~well!known historian Mr..
THOMAS HoDeKIN deduccs the lessons
which the fall of the Roman Empire has
for Englishmen. There is no doubt that
there are points of likeness between the
British and the Roman empires, and some
observers have thought that they can trace
In the present condition of the United
Kingdom the same indications of decay
that in the fourth century Of our era fore
told the doom of Rome.
Dir. HoDsKIN enumerates five principal
causes of the downfall of the Roman EN-
pire in the West, Among these there are
two which clearly are not operative in Eng
land, namely, the fact that the imperial
diadem was In the gift of the soldiery and
Chat Roman civilization was built upon
human slavery. 1t is otherwise with three
agencies, which. taken by themselves,
would have brought about the ruin of
Rome, and which either are, or threaten
to become, active in the British Empire.
Mr.. HopGKIN reminds us that, in the
days of Roman glory, Italy grew sufficient
grain to feed itself, and the came thing
could be said of Great Britain during the
wars against NAPOLEON. But it turned out
presently that grain could be imported
from Egypt or North A frica more cheaply
than it could be grown in Italy. The result
ant deluge Of cheap grain meant destruc-
tIon to the Italian ag~riculturist. The petty
farmers of Italy rapidly disappeared and
arabic land was turned into pasture. We
are witnessing an analogous change in
England to-day. 1t Is cheaper for her to
import grain from beyond the ocean han
to grow IL on her own soil; consequently
the demand for farming land is decreasing,
the prices Of such land are falling, and the
area of land under the plough b. is dwindling.
In the disappearance of her peasantry Eng
land is bound to suffer, as Rome suffered, q
loss which the agglomeration of workmen
in manufacturing towns will by no means
make good.
Mr.. HoDGKIN and another and q capital
source Of the di~sintegration of the Roman
Empire in the financial oppression to
which the middle classes were subjected.
by the close of the fourth century after
CHRIST 1t had become almost dan
gerous to be .skilful, industrious, and
thrifty, for the possessor of such qualities
was exposed to extra exactions on the part
OF the tax-gatherer. The State had tended
more and more to become q crowned social
ism. The tacit compact between CESAR
and the mob meant ruin for all the inter
vening classes, for upon these fell the
whole weight of taxation, which became
crushing as the years rolled on. 1t would
be easy to prove, by a review of British
legislation during the present century. that
socialistio tendencies are gathering head
in England. The disposition to con-
centrate all the burdens of organized
society upon those who have been success
ful in the struggle for life, hat Is to say,
on those who have the ability and the will
ingness to work and to save, is exhibited
In the income tax, in death duties. in the
methods Of adjusting poor rates and other
rates, in the Compensation for Accidents
bill, which lately became a law, and in the
old-age pension project, which will be
presently submitted to Parliament. If
such principles Of taxation are carried to
their logical conclusion, we may expect to
witness In the United Kingdom the same
encouragement n discontinuance of pro-
ductive energy and fruitful economy which
brought about the collapse, first, of Roman
industry, and then of Roman dominion in
Western Europe.
A third cause of the fall of Rome was the
recruitment of her armies among bar
barians. 1t had always been the policy of
the Roman republic to lean on its allies to
. considerable extent In war, but, In the
great days Of the Roman State, there was
always In the legions a nucleus of. dis
eiplined italian peasants around whom the
auxiliary troops could cluster. In the
fourth century of our era, the italian peas
ant had vanished and the allies made up
the mass of the army. Now England, like
wise, has been long accustomed to employ
the soldiers Of other nations, nay, of other
races, in her armies. In the wars of the
last century, abe employed Germans and In.
dams; now she employs negroes in the West
Indies and West Africa Egyptians and
eoudAnese on the Nile; Ghoorkas, Sikhs,
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