The sun., 1903-05-24
THE JUDGMENT OF THE SAVAGE
CIVILIZATION AS IT APPEARS TO
= SAVAGE CRITICS.

SAVAGE CRITICS.
A Betiouin's Preference for the Desert
--sale Of Wives In EnEiand-An Abys-
sinian's Complaint OF Had Manners
Happiness In cities and In SavaSery.
Hes Just poor, unenlightened savage,
says the civilized man when he reads IN
his paper that the Akhoond Of Swat or some
black monarch Of Africa has been making
history again by opposing European arms
or customs.
There Is another side to the story-the
savage's opinion Of his critic. On the
whole he disapproves Of his critic as much
as the latter disapproves OF him.
1t is a mistake to suppos, that the average
barbarian who visits big city like New
York or London is overwhelm'd ID by what
he secs. As a rule. he ia disgustsd he
goes back to his skin tent in the desert or
his hut In the forest fully convinced that
his way Of living is the better, and that
-he that increaseth knowledge increasath
sorrow.'
One acute critic OF civilization who VS.
tied London was a Bedouin sheik named
Nicola Eyoub Tams. He was born and
brought up in the Sahara, and the life oil
the desert was bred in his bones.
AS n youth he was taken to Cairo and
educated at q Mohammedan college there.
afterwaru spending five years at the UNI
versities Of Heidelberg and Oxford He
spoke Arabic, Turkish, Greek. German.
French, English. Spanish and Persian
luently.
knowing civilization and barbarism
thoroughly, he chose the latter and re-
turned to his tribe TO spend his life in the
Sahara in preference to European cities.
At dinner in London one evening, just
before he returned to Africa, he was asked;
what do you think Of European civiiiza-
tion?"
Il would rather not say" he replied.
Il am eating your salt and dwelling in your
tents. 1t would be discourteous TO criticse
you"
But he was urged to speak,
"Oh, go ahead, old fellow" said his hosts.
"fell us of our faults. Don't mind being
candid
well. then" he began, Il came to Europe
with an open mind, expecting to see much
TO admire. have been bitterly disap-
pointed Your system of life is all wrong,
in my eyes
-How's that?' he was asked. and he
answered:
"Once, according to the legends of my
tribe, there was q wealthy sheik who said:
! will not live in tent like my fathers.
will build me mighty palace that all
men shall see and admire So he spent
his life gathering marble and stone with
vast toll and cost, and built his palace in
the middle of the desert.
1T was the work Of his whole life. and,
in order to finish it, he had to sell his slaves
and his camels. and waste all his treasure.
At last ii was finished. and h, a decrepit
old man. said: Now, l will dwell therein,
and all men shall do me honor But Allah
caused the sirocco to blow, and in the twink
ling of an eye the man and his palace were
buried forever beneath the sands of the
desert
THAT is your civilization proceeded
the sheikh, after pause. You toll al d
strive and worry and struggle and lose all
the joy and beauty Of life dwelling in smoky
cities-for what2 That you may become
wealthy or famous.
Usually you fail. II you succeed, you
find your success worth nothing. You are
too old to enjoy; you have wasted all your
power Of enjoyment.
-Your civilization is a marvel Of ingenu-
ity, | admit, but il s also a monument of
wasted effort. You do not make a machine
because it will be a wonderful piece Of
mechanism: you make II to do something.
1t is made to fulfil purpos !. and its mechan-
ical ingenuity is mt rely Incidental.
But your greatest machine, civilization,
is different. Its processes are wonderful.
no doubt, but it serves no useful purpose.
1t is q colossal waste of effort ard clever
ness. as if / were to build a steamship in
the middle Of the Sahara.
The only justification Of civilization would
be that 1t made mankind happier. 1t does
not. SO far as can Judge, the Bedouin is a
far happier man than the Londoner.
what can man know Of happiness when
he lives in tiny gaIre', tolls all Gay in a
stuffy Office or filthy workshop, and is aft aid
@ to strike i 49, bullying foreman lest he should
Civilization has made you all slaves to one
another, and therefore civilization is fail
ure. If you are not slaves to an employer
you are chained to a telephone or telegraph
wire or a stock exchange ticker.
Yesterday was asked to speak at meet
ing Of the Anti-Slav very Society, called to
protest against slavery in Africa. l could
not help laughing,
Slavery in Africa! The meanest slave
there is freer than your business man in Lon
to barbarian lands. Look around you in
your own cities. All the institutions Of civil
ization are nothing but chains and fetters
DO you remember the Frenchman who
said. n 'dm sd,oir gdrder / independence
du cGurf' A civilized man can't do that
lam going back TO my people. lam going
to become what you call barbarian again,
simply because | want to be free"
Much the same views were expressed by
King Khama. the Christian chieftian Of
South Africa, when he visited England
1T is all very wonderful" he said. Il
gaze with awe on your steamships and rail-
ways, your cities and your machines. But
what is the Use Of them? Do they make
you any happier or any better?
Il think not. They seem to me to give
you no time to think or to live. l think
our simpler way of living is better.
AT all events, We are freer than you.
We do not have to work and worry as you
The moral. social and legal features Of
civilization do not meet with barbarian
approval, and the relations maintained
between the sexes are regarded as ridicu-
lous.
An English doctor named James Alfred
Gray, who eerved for several years in
Aghanistan as court surgeon to the late
Ameer, was once surprised to hear this
remark from an Afghan nobleman named
Amin Ullah'
4 don't think 1t Is right for Englishmen
III -