The evening times., 1898-05-26

back to the control of the church. but
also of the secular arm Of the empire.
The enormous increase In the wealth OF
Spain by the discovery of America led
Charles and his degenerate son to imag-
inc that England could be conquered as
easily as they had overrun the Duchies
OF Germany. but the destruction OF the
armada and the almost total ruin Of the
Spanish naval power put a check, not
only to the growth Of Latin influence In
Europe. but to the spread of the Latin
race in America, while the revolt OF the
Netherlands and the successful resist
ance by the Lowlanders to the Spanish
arms among the flats of Holland, still
further restricted the Spanish powers.
The separation Of the Germanic states
from Spain, and the war Of the Spanish
succession did their share to reduce
the political influence of the French ana
Spanish. and correspondingiy to promote
the advancement of the Teuton IN inter-
national affairs. SO that by the miooie .,
the last century the Teutonic races hau
not only efrectually checked Latin ae
gression in Europe. bus had also hmi'eo
its growth in America
The French revolution was not only an
outburst CT popular fury against sys-
tenn. but was also the greatest revival Oh
the Latin race that ever occurred In It's
history. The wars of Napoleon were wars
of the Latin race against the Teutoh' ehe
latter being led by England. For tiihe
France. Spain, Italy and Portugai were
united against the Teutonic races anu
had thew remained SO the contest might
have been much longer protracted. but
the personal tyranny Of the emperor an
enated both Spain and Italy, the Lam.
ranks fell into disorder. and the srA"u
revival proved a failure AT the ciose vi
the Napoleonic wars the Latins "er
nrostrate. Italy, divided among horue ~
princelings, was powerless. Spain "a
anarchy, and to such an extent hau 'ne
hest blood of France been wasted ia wax
that when the government began the re-
organization of the army It was Iouho
necessary to reduce the standard oi
heighth to five feet in order 10 OBTAIN
sufficient men to fill the ranks
Since the downfall of the greatest mill
,ary genius the Latins ever produced, the
decline of the race has been steady. Dur
ing the second empire France made sew
eral efforts to begin anew a career OF
conquest but the failure In Mexico de-
stroyed all hope of founding an empire on
this side the Atlantic. and although the
Algerian experiment has been continued
L,
seem reason to believe in its permanence.
The efforts of the French to establish
foothold in Eastern Asia are not to be
regarded as attempts at colonization:
they are simply conQuests. The French
are not colonists; they do not establish
homes in foreign lands, but regard their
stay abroad as an exile. and look forward
to their return to La Belle Paris. A more
decided Indication of the Latin decline is
~ So tts ,f-t, .>aY
onies during the early years OF this GEN.
tury. The secession of the Spanish colo
mics in America was directly due to the
prevalence and spread of Anglo-Saxon in
fiuence and ideas: the triumph of the in
surgents in every American province was
victory for the Angol-Saxon race: the
battle of Chacabuce was as much a tri-
unph Of Teuton over Latin as the sur
render of the Emperor Louis Napoleon at
Sedan.
There are not lacking. however. other
evidences of decay among the Latin races
besides their failure in war. The failure
IN France in three distinct attempts to
build up system of colonies. the inabil-
ity OF Spain to retain territory when ac-
quired, the recent disgrace of Italy in
the effort to conquer Abyssinia, are all
significant. Other evidences point in the
same direction. The stationary popuia-
tion In France is a portent of mighty sig
nificance. Were it not for the constant
immigration of Germans, Italians. Swiss.
and Belgians into the country, statistics
would show marked decline in popula-
ton. The people of Italy live in state
OF degradation and misery unequaled in
other civilized countries. Crime is ram
pant There are more homicides. in pro-
portion to the population. in Italy than in
any country in the world. Even the
strong arm of a central government is not
sufficient to repress the disorders which
are constantly appearing in various parts
OF the peninsula. In Spain there is an
ignorance which to the student of socio-
logy is appalling. Almost three-fourths
of the entire population. city and country.
are unable to read or write, while Portu-
gal Is in a condition quite as deplorable
as that of Spain.
Among the debased populations of all
three the seeds of anarchy. sedition and
revolution fall into soil well adapted TO
their growth. and that France is not much
better in this respect Is shown by the
horrors of the Commune only twenty
seven years ago. The progress of the Teu-
tonic races. and especially the Anglo
Saxon. the greatest representative of the
family. is an illustration of the general
law of the survival of the fittest. a law
which governs the growth of nations as
surely as the development of the hum
blest animal