The Elbert County tribune., 1910-06-10

states. arc all new" nations. compared
with the nations of Europe. but with
whatever changes in detail. their civiliza-
ton Is nevertheless. OF the general Euro
pean type, as shown in Portugal. Spain.
and England. The differences between
these new American and these odd
European nations are not great as those
which separate the new nations one
from another and the 'old" nations one
from another. There are In each case
very real differences between the new and
the old nation-difference both for good
and for evil: but in each case there Is
the same ancestral history to reckon with.
the same type of civilization. with Its at
tendant benefits and shortcomings: and.
after the pioneer stages are passed. the
problems to be solved in spite of superb
cial differences. are In their essence the
same. they are those that confront all
civilized peoples. not those that confront
peoples struggling from barbarism into
civilization.
So. when we speak of the death Of
q tribe, nation or civilization, the term
may be used for either one or two totally
different processes; the analogy with
what occurs in biological history being
complete. Certain tribes of savages. the
Tasmanfans. for instance. and various lit
tie clans OF American Indians. have within
the last century or two completely died
out: all of the individuals have perished.
leaving no descendants. and the blood has
disappeared. Certain other tribes of
Indians have as tribes disappeared or
are now disappearing. but their blood
remains. being absorbed into the veins of
the white intruders of the black men
introduced by these white intruders; SO
that in reality they are merely being
transformed Into something absolutely
different from what they were.
A like wide diversity in fact may be
covered In the statement that civiliza-
tion has died OUT
Phenomena That Puzzle.
In dealing. not with groups of human
beings in simple and printing relatiops,
but with highly complex. highly special
lied. civilized, or semi-civilized societies,
there Is need Of great caution In drawing
anaiogies with what has occurred In the
development OF tho animal world Yet
even in these cases It Is curious to SEE
how some of the phenomena in the
growth and disappearance of these COM
plex. artificial groups of human beings
resemble what has happened in myriads
of instances in the history OF life on this
planet.
Why do great artificial empires. whose
citizens are knit by n bond of speech and
culture much more than by bond of
blood. show periods of extraordinary
growth. and again of sudden or lingering
decay? In some cases we can answer
readily enough: in other cases we cam
not as yet even guess what the proper
answer should be. II in any such case
the centrifugal forces overcome the CEN
trfpetal. the nation will Of course ny to
pieces. and the reason for its failure to
become a dominant force is patent to
every one. The minute that the spirit
which finds its healthy development in
local self-Eovernment. and In the antidote
to the dangers of an extreme centraliza-
tion. develops into mere particularism,
Into inability to combine effectively for
achievement of common end. then 1t is
hopeless to expect great results. Poland
and certain republics OF the western
hemisphere are the standard examples of
failure of this kind: and the United States
would have ranked with them. and Its
name would have become a byword of
derision, II the forces of union had not
triumphed in the civil war. So the
growth of soft luxury after II has reached
certain point becomes a national danger
patent to all. Again. It needs but little of
the vision of a seer to foretell what must
happen In any community II the average
woman ceases to become the mother of a
family of healthy children, II the average
man loses the will and the power to work
up to old age and to fight whenever the
need arises. II the homely. commonplace
virtues die out. II strength OF character
vanishes in graceful self-indulgence, II the
virfle qualities atrophy. then the nation
has lost what no material prosperity can
Offset.
But there are plenty of other phenom-
ena wholly or partially inexpicable. 1t Is
easy to see why Rome trended downward
when great slave-tiiled farms spread over
what had once been countryside of
peasant proprietors. when greed and lux
ury and sensuality ate like acids into the
fiber Of the upper classes, while the mass
OF the citizens grew to depend, not upon
their own exertions. but upon the state,
for their pleasures and their very liveli-
hood. But this does not explain why the
forward movement stopped at different
times. so far as different matters were
concerned; at one time as regards litera-
ture. at another time as regards architec-
ture. at anothe; time as regards city
building. We cannot even guess why the
springs of one kind of energy dried up
while there was yet cessation of an
other kind.
Holland as an Example.
Take another and smaller Instance. that
of Holland. For period covering a
little more than the seventeenth century.
Holland. like some of the Italian city
states at an earlier period, stood on the
dangerous heights of greatness beside ma
tions SO vastly her superior In territory
and population as to make It Inevitable
that sooner or later she must fall from the
glorious and perilous eminence to which
she had been raised by her own indomita-
BILE soul. Her fall came; 1t could not
have been indefinitely postponed. but II
came far quicker than 1t needed to come.
because of shortcomings on her part to
which both Great Britain and the United
States would be wise to pay heed Her
government was singuiarly Ineffective. the
decentralization being such as often to
permit the separatist. the particularist.
spirit OF the provinces to rob the central
authority of all efficiency. This was bad
enough But the fatal weakness was that
SO common In rich. peace-loving societies.
where men hate to think OF war as possi-
BILE. and try to Justify their own reluctance
to face 1t either by high-sounding moral
plautudes or else by a philosophy of
short-sishted materialism The Dutch
were very wealthy. They grew to he
iieve that they could hire others to do
their fighting for them on land; and on
sea. where they did their own fghting
and fought very well. they refused in
time of peace to make readx fleets 30 a.