The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1910-06-10

loss or pre-eminence In camp and IN
council chamber.
In the little republic of Holland, as in
the great empire of Rome. 1t was not
death which came, but transformation.
Both Holland and Italy teach US that
races that fall may rise again.
Danger of Race Suicide.
There are questions which we OF the
great civilized nations are ever tempted to
ask of the future. Is our time of growth
drawing to an end? Are We as nations
soon to come under the rule of that great
law Of death, which is itself but part of the
great law of life? None can tell. Forces
that we can see and other forces that are
hidden or that can but dimly be appre-
hended are at work all around US, both |
for good and for evil. The growth in lux |
ury, in love OF ease, in taste for vapid |
and frivolous excitement, is both evident |
and unhealthy. The most Ominous sign
Is the diminution in the birth-rate, in the
rate of natural increase, now to larger
or lesser degree shared by most or the
civilized nations Of central and western
Europe, Of America and Australia; am
mutton so great that if it continues Tor the
next century at the rate which has Cd
tanned for the last % years, all the more
highly civilized people will be stationary
or else have begun to go backward IN
| population. while many of them will nave
| already gone very far backward.
There is much that should give US con-
| Germ for the future. But there is much
| also which should give US hope NO man
| is more apt to be mistaken than the
| prophet of evil. I believe with all my
heart that a great future remains Tor u.s.
| but whether it does or does not, our
duty is not altered. However the pat
tie may go, the soldier worthy Of the
| name will with utmost vigOr do his al
loted task, and bear himself as valiant
| ly in defeat as in victory. Come What
will. we belong to peoples who have not
yielded to the craven fear Of being great
In the ages that have gone by. the
great nations, the nations that have eN-
banded and that have played mighty
part in the world, have In the end
grown old and weakened and vanlshed'
but so have the nations whose only
thought was to avoid all danger all Ell
fort, who would risk nothing, ana VINO
therefore gained nothing. In the END the
same fate may overwhelm all alike; out
the memory Of the one type perlShes with
it while the other leaves its mark deep
on the history of all the future OF man
kind.
A nation that seemingly dies may be
born again; and even though In the
, physical sense 1t die utterly, it may vel
hand down a history Of heroic achieve
ment. and for all time to come may pro
foundly influence the nations that arise II
it's place by the impress of what II MAJ
, done Best Of all is it to do our part well
and at the same time to see our blood 1--WE
Young and vital in men and women MT u
| Low
p so shall our seed inherit the earth. Blu
q If this which is best, is denied us, thel
+ at least it Is ours to remember that II w
choose we can be torch-bearers, as ou
q fathers were before us. The torch ha
: been handed on from nation to nation
@ from civilization to civilization through
q out all recorded time, from the dim year
G before history dawned, down to the ola
zing splendor of this teeming century o
ours 1t is dropped from the hand OF tn
y, coward and the sluggard, OF the ma
- wrapped in luxury or love OF ease, IN
. man whose soul was eaten away by sell
y Indulgence: it has been kept aight onl
8 by those who were mighty Of heart an
= cunning Of hand What they worked a
providing 1t was worth doing at ALL wa
= Of no less matter than how they WORKED
% whether in the realm Of the mind or IN
= realm of the body. If their work wa
~ good, If what they achieved was or SUI
~ stance, then high success was reail
T.. theirs.
~ In the first part Of this lecture / Dire
70 certain analogies between what had o.
a. Cured to forms Of animal life throus
!, the procession of the ages on this plane
49, 49, and what has occurred and is occurrir
T., to the great artificial civilizations Whit
"a have gradually spread over the world
~ surface during the thousands OF yea
- that have elapsed since cities of tempt
- and palaces first rose beside the Nile al
90 the Euphrates. and the harbors
20 NIinoan Crete bristled with the masts
~ the Aegean craft. But Of course L
~ parallel is true only in the roughe
"a and most general way. Moreover, ev
az between the civilizations of today al
20 the civilizations of ancient times the
~ are differences so profound that we mu
w be cautious in drawing any conclusio
% for the present based on what has ha
on pened in the past. While freely adm
q, ting all of our follies and weaknesses
be today, It Is yet mere perverslty 10 relu
90 to realize the incredible advance III
W has been made in ethical standards.
~ not believe that there is the slightest ne
tle essary connection between any weake
Va ing Of virile force and this advance
OH the moral standard, this growth OF t
sense of obligation to ones neighbor a
M of reluctance to do that neighbor wrol
IS We need have scant patience with u
'rd silly cynicism which insists that klnc
yer ness of character only accompan
OF weakness of character. On the contra
lX- inst AS in private life many of the m
the of strongest character are the very II
ass of lOftiest and most exalted morality,
ION 7 believe that in national life as the a.
tie, 90 nv we shall find that the perman
ell national types will more and more Il
the towards those in which, while the I'M
ent lect stands high, character stands high
ere in which rugged strength and coura
ra- rugged capacity to resist wrongful
&c gression by others, will go hand in NJ
'lty with a lofty scorn of doing wrong 10 0
the ers. This Is the type or Ilmoleoh'
up Hampden. Of Washington and Llnc(
an These were as good men, as dislnteres
and unselfish men. as ever served
state: and they were also as strong r
&C ever founded or saved state. SUI
nat such examples prove that there Is nc
ing Utopian in our effort to CONT
ny, Justice and strength in the same nat
Guy The really high civilizations must TN
tne selves supply the antidote to the sell
ma dulpence and love of ease when [
~ tend to produce.
the the Problems of Modern Nations.
,ich Everv modern civilized nation has m
tia end terrible problems to solve WITHIN
not avn borders. problems that arise
: II merely from juxtaposition Of poverty