Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-23
CRITICS CRITICISED
What Our Barbarian Friends
Think of Us.
NOT so VERY MUCH
OUR CIVILIZATION DOES NOT AP-
PEAL TO THEM.
Disapproves Of Us Every Bit as Much
as We Do Of
Them.
NOT so VERY M UGH
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
| Hes just poor. unenlightcned saw
| age" says the civilized man when he reads
| in his paper that the Abound of Swat, or
| some black monarch of Africa, has been
| making history again by opposing Euro
pean arms or customs. Then he launches
| into a stream Of criticism of savage and
| barbaric races that, to say the least, is
| not 1s.ttering.
There is another side to the story-the
| savaSes opinion of his critic. On the
whole. he disapproves of his critic as much
os the latter disapproves OF him.
| 1t Is mistake to suppose that the aver
age barbarian who visits big city like
| New York or London Is overwhelmed by
| what ne sees. AS rule. he IL disguised
Hs goes back to his skin tent in the desert
or his hut in the forest fully convinced
| that his way Of living Is the best, and
| that me that increaseth knowledge in
| creaseth sorrow"
| One Of the most acute critics Of ciyiliza-
| ton who ever visited in London was q
| BcdouIn sheikh named Nicola EyoLb Tams.
/ He was born and brought up in the Sa-
| hara, and the fierce, free life of tho desert
| was bred in his bones. But a youth he
| was taken to Cairo and educated at Mo
haJnmedan college there. afterward spend
| ing Ave years at the universities of tleidle-
! berg and Oxford. He spoke Arabic. Turk.
| isli, Greek, German French, English, Span
| Ism ana Persian fuently. and nowhere could
| cleTerer or more versatile man be found.
| Kno wing civilization and barbarism thor
| Cughly he chose the latter and returned to
| his t.ibe to spend his life in the Sahara in
preference to European cities.
At dinner in London one evening. just be-
| fore he returned to Africa, he was asked
What do you think of European civili-
| xaticn?"
/ Il would rather not say" he replied. 81
| am eating your salt and dwelling in your
| tents. 1t would be discourteous to criticise
| you"
But he was urged to speak.
"Oh, go ahead. old fellow" said his hosts.
| Tell us of our faults. Don't mind being
| candid"
well, them" he began, IT came to Eu-
| rope with an open mind. expecting to see
much to admire. have been bitterly DIS
appointed Your system of life is all wrong.
| in my eyes,
| ''How's that?" he was asked and he an
| swered:
| A Story Of the Desert.
'Once. according to the legends of my
| tribe, there was a wealthy sheikh who
said: I will not live in tent like my faith
ers. I will build me a 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. It was the work
| of his whole life, and, in order to finish 1t.
| he had to sell his slaves and his camels and
| waste all his treasure.
| Eat last 1t was finished. and he a de-
| crepit old man, said Now l will dwell
But Allah caused the sirOcco to blow and
in the twinkling of an eye the man and his
palace were buried forever beneath the
sands of the desert.
| HThat Ia civilization T" nrOcaoded the
| sheikh. after pause. You toll and strive
and worry and struggle and lose all the
| joy and beauty of life dwelling In smoky
cities-for what? That you may become
| wealthy or famous. Usually you fail If
| 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 it is also a monument of
| wasted effort. You do not make a machine
| because 1t will be wonderful piece of
| mechanism; you make it to do something.
! 1t Is made to fulfil purpose, and Its me-
chanical ingenuity Is mere incidental.
Serves No Useful Purpose.
"But your greatest MISREPRESENTATION
is different It's processes are wonderful.
1t is colossal waste Of effort and clever
ness-as If I were to build a steamship in
| the middle of the Sahara.
|
would be that 1t made mankind happier. 1t
does not So far as I can Judge, the Be-
| douin Is far happier man than the Lon
| doner. What can man know OF happi-
ness when he lives In tiny garnet, tolls all
| day in a stuffy Office or a filthy workshop.
and is afraid to strike q bullying foreman
| lest he should lose his Jub?
| "Civtlization has made you all slaves to
one another. and therefore civilization Is
failure. If you are not slaves to an en-
| ployer you are chained to a telephone or a
| telegraph wire, or stock exchange ticker.
| yesterday I was asked to speak at
meeting of the And-Slavery 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 London. If you want to
see slavery, don't go to barbarian lands.
Look around you in your own cities. All
| the institutions Of civilization are nothing
| but chains and letters
do you remember the F'renchman who
said IL faut savoir garden Independence
1 du coeur.' A civilized man can't do that
| I am going back to my people: am going
| to become what you call a barbarian again,
| simply because want to be free"
An Afghan,s Criticism Of Divorce.
| Much the same views were expressed by
King Khama, the famous Christian chief
| tain of South Africa, when hs visited
England.
'Tt is all very wonderful" he said 81
gaze with awe on your steamships ana rail-
ways. your cities and your machines. But
| what is the use Of them? Do they make you
any happier or any betterf I think not.
They seem to me to give you no time to
think or to live. I 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 do"
The moral social and legal features OF
civilization do not meet with barbarian APP
prevail and the relations that are main
tanned between the sexes are regarded as
ridiculous. -
An English doctor named James Alfred
Gray, who served for several years In
Afghanfstan as court surgeon to the late
ameer. had an Afghan nobleman named
Amin UIlah, when discussing English Gus
toms with him one day, say:
IT don't think 1t is right for Englishmen
to sell their wives"
"But they DON'T" exclaimed DR.. Gray, In
surprise.
Pardon me. my friend" said the Afghan.
reproachfully. but you know they do, and,
moreover. 1t is published in the newspapers
when they do So"
What on earth do you mean?" asked the
doctor.
ST mean this. An English woman be-
comes tired Of her husband and prefers
another to him. The man who is preferred
is called the correspondent Straightway
the three Of them go before the kasi (mag-