Gilpin observer. (Central City, Colo.) 1897-1921, 1910-06-09


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 "old'
European nations are not great as those
which separate the new" nations one
from another and the ''od" nations one
from another. There are in each case
very real differences between the new and
the old Acknowledgement 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
a 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
Tasmanians 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, persisted.
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. or 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 a civiliza-
ton has died out"
Phenomena That Puzzle.
In dealing. not with groups of human
beings in simple and primitive relations.
but with highly complex. highly special
lied. civilized, or semi-civilized societies,
there is need of great caution In drawing
analogies with what has occurred in the
| development of the animal world. Yet
even in these cases It is curious to sec
how some of the phenomena in the
growth and disappearance of these COM
pick. 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 a 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 can
not as yet even guess what the proper
answer should be. If In any such case
the centrifugal forces overcome the CEN
tripetal. the nation will Of course fly to
pieces. and the reason for its failure to
become dominant force Is patent to
every one. The minute that the spirit
which finds its healthy development in
local self-government. and in the antidote
to the dangers of an extreme centraliza-
ton. develops into mere particularism.
into inability to combine effectively for
achievement Of a 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 1t has reached
a 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
virile qualities atrophy. then the nation
| has lost what no material prosperity can
offset.
| But there are plenty of other phenom-
ena wholly or partially inexplicable. 1t is
easy to see why Rome trended downward
| when great slave-tilled farms spread over
| what had once been a 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 different matters were
concerned: at one time as regards litera-
| ture. at another time regards ARCHITECT
| ture. at another time as regards city
building. We cannot even guess why the
| springs of one kind of energy dried up
while there was yet no 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
| lions so vastly her superior in territory
| and population as to make II inevitable
that sooner or later she must fall from the
| glorious and perlous eminence to which
| she had been raised by her own indomita-
| BILE soul. Her fall came: It could not
have been indefinitely postponed. but 1t
| 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 singularly ineffective, the
| oecentraizaioh peins 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 posi-
BILE. and try to Justify their own reluctance
to face 1t either by hgh-sounding moral
platitudes or else by a philosophy Of
short-sighted materalism. The Dutch
were very wealthy. They grew to be-
hnv rAYtA
their fighting for them on land; and ON
sea. where they did their own fighting.
and fought very well. they refused in
time of peace to make ready fleets so eff
hcient as either to insure the Dutch
against the peace being broken or else
to give them the victory when war
came To. be opulent and unarmed Is to
secure ease In the present at the almost