Rocky Ford enterprise., 1910-05-13
MODERN CIVlLLZA7 TON
is ROOSEVELT'S TOPIC
Interesting Lecture on Ft7he World
MoUenaent" DeliDered at the Uni
I Dersity of Berlin by the Ex-Presi-
dent of the United States

= - - "hot ~ u III Gn1lano or the united
So much for the geographical side of
the expansion Of modern civilization. But
only few of tho many and intense ac-
tvities Of modern civilization have found
their expression on this side. The move
ment has been Just as striking in its con-
quest over natural forces. in Its searching
inquiry into and about the soul of things.
Conquest Over Nature.
Tho conquest over nature has Included
an extraordinary increase in every form
Of knowledge of the world we live in, and
also an extraordinary increase in the pow
er OF utilizing forces OF nature. In both
directions tho advance has been very
great during tho past four or nve CEN
turtles. and in both directions It has gone
on with ever increasing rapidity during
the last century. After the great age of
Home had passed. the boundaries of
knowledge shrank. and in many cases It
was not until well-pigh our own times
that her domain was once again pushed
beyond the ancient landmarks. About the
year $50 A. d. Ptolemy. the geographer.
published his map of central Africa and
tho sources Of the Nile. and this map was
more accurate than any which We had a.
late us 1850 A. D. More was known of
physical science. and more of the truth
about the physical world was guessed at,
in the days Of Pliny. than was known or
guessed until tho modern movement be-
gan. The case was the same as regards
military science. At the close of the Md
die Ages the weapons were what they
had always been-sword, shield. bow.
spear: and any Improvement in them was
more than offset by the loss in knowledge
OF military organization, in the science of
war. and In military leadership since the
days OF Hannibal and Caesar.
A hundred years ago. when this uni
versity was founded. tho methods Of
transportation did not differ in the es-
sentials from what they had been among
the highly civilized nations of antiquity.
Travellers and merchandise went by land
In wheeled vehicles or on beasts Of bur-
den. and by sea in boats propelled by
sails or by oars: and news was conveyed
rs II always had been conveyed. A grad
uate of your university today can go to
mid-Asic or mid-Africa with far less con-
sciousness of performing q feat of note
than would have been the case n hundred
years ago with q student who visited
Sicily and Andalusia-
Moreover. tho invention and use Of ma
chincry run by steam or electricity have
worked . revolution In industry as great
a. the revolution in transportation: so
that here again the difference between
ancient and modern civilization Is one not
merely of degree but of kind. In many
vital respects the huge modern city differs
more from all preceding cities than any
of these differed one from tho other: and
the giant factory town Ii of md by itself
one Of the most formidable problems Of
modern life.
Steam and electricity have given tho
race dominion over land and water such
m II never had before: and now the con-
quest of tho air Is directly impending. As
books preserve thought through time. so
the telegraph and the telephone transmit
II through the space they annihiiate. and
therefore minds are swayed one by an
other without regard to the limitations of
space and time which formerly forced
each community to work in comparative
isolation. 1t Is tho same with the body as
with the brain. The machinery Of the fac
bodily skill and vigor. Countless trained
inteliigences are at work to teach US how
to avoid or counteract the effects of
wnste.
The advances in the realm of pure intel
iect have been of equal note, and they
have been both Intensive and extensive
Great virgin Fields of learning and wis
dom have been discovered by the few,
and at the same time knowledge has
spread among the many to n degree never
have seen in their own generation the
rise of the first rational science Of the
evolution of life. The astronomer and the
chemist. the psychologist and the his
torfan. and all their brethren in many dif-
fercnt fields of wide endcavor. work with
training and knowledge and method
which are In effect instruments of pre-
cision dinerentiatng their labors from
the lnbors Of their predecessors as the
rife Is differentiated from the bow.
The play Of new forces Is as evident in
the moral and spiritual world as in the
world Of the mind md the body.
One Danger Of Civilization.
ons of the prime dangers of civilization
has always been Its tendency to cause
the loss of the .virile fighting virtues. of
the fighting edge. When men get too COM
Portable and lead too luxurious lives there
IN Q1Ua da n 30 last the RnffnnRn m
an acid into their manliness of nber. The
barbarian. because Of the very conditions
of his life. IL forced to keep and develop
certain hardy qualities which the man Of
clerk. factory hand. merchant. or even a
certain type of farmer. Now will not
assert that In modern civilized society
these tendencies have been wholly over
come: but there has been a much more
successfui effort to overcome them than
was the case in tho early civilizations.
This Is curiously shown by the military
history of the Graeco-R Roman period as
compared with the history of the last four
or nve centuries here in Europe and
among nations Of European descent. In
the Grecian and Roman military history
the change was steadily from q citizen
army to an army of mercenarfes. In the
days Of the early greatness Of Athens.
Thebcs. and Sparta. In the days when the
Roman republic conquered what world II
knew. the armies were filled with citizen
soldiers. But gradually tho citizens re-
fused to serve in tho armies. or became
unable to render good service. The Greek
states described by Poiybius. with but few
exceptions. hired others to do their fight
ing for them. The Romans of the days OF
Augustus had utterly ceased to furnish
any cavalry. and were rapidly ceasing to
Furnish any infantry. to the legions and
cohorts. When the civilization came to
an end. there were no longer citizens In
the ranks of the soldiers. The change
from the citizen army to the army of
mercenaries had been completed.
Modern Citizens Armies.
Now, the exact reverse has been the
case with US In modern times. A few
centuries ago the mercenary soldier was
the principal figure in most armies. and In
great numbers OF cases the mercensry
soldier was an alien. In the wars Of re-
iigion in Franco in the Thirty Years