The Boise citizen. (Boise, Idaho) 1906-1910, 1908-08-07
IS CIVILIZATION THREATENED?

which was supervene between the extinction faith and the ad
ment of society the conditions and new standards which
re science necestae The article was distinctly pesnstc
and what this moral nterregnum turns be- described the
Hilbert Journal ondon) by French of distinction advo
cate at the of Appeal Lege who age of nsra
to aspiration and deals rapidly vanishing and we are threat
ed by duge of banaty and medocracy fatal the highest civil
uahon
Mr. Renee l. begins by pointing out that the profound
transformations which present being undergone by civikd
humanity without their dangers There striking process
Of emg going National distinctions physical and in
ectua being abolished by intercourse emigration The
various social classes sharply differentiated by their life
their education their dress being blended through the
influence Democratic pressure and material progress Human
qualities gradually disappearing with the disappearance
everything made human civilization real and lasting This
da ng results social uniformity first from the material point
ofvew Mr. Gerard remarks
"a stranger arriving Europe for the first time would surely BE
unable to distinguish among the crowds which hrohg
Sunday from rulers from ruled Diversity of
tune served indicate diversity of condition. and made
possible distinguish at glance for example the soldier from
the LAWYER peasant from the bourgeois almost completely eff
laced of society clothed ndscrmnatey garments
one type even the country districts where until
recently of the past still survived the uniform dress oil
has reduced originality and diversity to the rank Of
souvenir"
The low price manufacturers brought about that there
essential difference between the furnishing of an azans paror
nancier AS varied with the classes
tem today there public entertainments
universal Cultivate those who whether they have made
special study of knowledge entirely ignorant
Of any, are becoming extinct Thus are told
Education having mark of superiority has ceased
also be weapon the daily struggle for existence The state OF
being ignorant that of possessing modern endowment
of general knowledge advantage comparison with the
real whom according to the saying OF Lnur4
writer, Nothing human is alien
80 produce such men was the object education of the past
Speaking generally it may therefore be said that the cultivated
Individual develops along the path he has chosen as the means
his end the level of general knowledge descends through ee "a
Of opportunity Henceforth culture is to be luxury even ue III
eecta toiers no longer possess the leisure demanded by cu
which they despise Even the graltdes OF
outside their own special subject oed deficient IN
curiosity and the power of comprehension !,
More serious still is the moral which spreading Dot
among individuals and nations. OtltaaliSh ldS O0oO ~
of the world This writer remarks:
GOOD indeed 70 love life and the whole life For the crowd
the idea of happiness never extends beyond limited circle OF
ate and tangible satisfactions which can be bought WI"
Success under its most brutal FORM which monetary
most become exclusive object of universal endea'o, -
first time history that utiltaranism has transformer ~
dogma and become dominant everywhere Uaran interests W
even the politics of nations.
He sums up his contention in the following WORDS.
ITO up we may say that in material respects w
society especially evident in slow ascent OF the masses
conditions In moral and intellectual respects on the contrary
being realized by the lowering OF the elite to uniform '
the rest H.
THE consequence Of has been described Is t
appearance after relatively interval OF every N
superiority Indeed governing class never aliases ss Which +
pun an arsocracy whose superiority to the masses
processes lead is that of money IS doole ,+;or must
The remedy for the threatened collapse OF human ~,
lie in the hands of the intellectual and mora CIV
this point Mr. Gerard speaks as follows t ore the so
The arstocracy the intellect, artists "o ced c,1,
cal forces which may combine for the defense o. W re
ture Of mankind The time has not yet come " essence have
Civilization Art and beauty which constitute Us , ,bL
still too anp lovers to be regarded objects Of fatal tFed ed
None the less need to be on our 9uaisi'
Gated very real and thy from day 70 Gay an BY