Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-06-08
Biological Analogies In History
by Theodore Roosevelt.

London, June 7.-Colonel Theodore
Roosevelt spoke at the oxford Uni
versity today aud took as the subject
Of his lecture biological Analogies in
History" Col. Roosevelt said:
Rome fell by attack from without,
only because the ills within her own
borders had grown incurable. What Is
true Of your country, my hearers. is
true of my own; while we should be
vigllant against foes from without. yet
We need never really fear them 50
long as we safeguard ourselves against
the enemies within our own house-
holds, and these enemies are Il "
passions ana follies. Free people can
escape being mastered by others only
by being able to muster themselves.
We Americans. and you people of the
British Isles. alike, need eVer to keep
in mind that. among the many quail
ties indispensable to the success Of Il
great democracy, and second only to
"A high and stern ems of duty. OF
moral obligation, are self-knowledge
and self-mastery. You, my hosts, n
may not agree in all u views; some
Of you would think me a very radical
democrat-as. for the matter of that.
am, and my theory of imperialism
would probably suit the anti-imperial-
lists as little as It would suit n certain
type Of forcible-fecble i~mperialist.
But there are some points on which
we must all agree If we think soundly.
The precise form of government, DEM
o%cratic or otherwise. is the instrument
the tool. with which we work. II is
important to have a good DOL. But,
oven If It IS the hest possible, il Is only
n tool. No implement can ever take
A Tic, ,I,.na TF t1aa -tuli1inn afalhEnnDn
that Yields It. a very bad tool will
ruin the work of the best craftsman;
hut q good tool in bad hands is no
better. In the last analysis the ALL
important factor in national greatness
IS national character.
"Therc arc questions that we Of the
great civilized nations are ever tempt
cd to ask of the future. Is u time
Of growth drawing to an end Are
we ns nations soon to come under the
rule Of that wrcat law Of death which
~ itself but part Of the great law Of
life2 None can tell. Forces that We
can see ana other forces that arc hid
den or that can but dimly be appre-
hendcd are at work all around us,
both for good and for evil. The
growth In luxury. i'm love Of ease. in
taste for vopid ana frivolous excite
ment. Is both evident and unhealthy.
The most ominous sign is the diminu-
ton in the birth rate. me the rate of
natural increase, now to "A larger or
lesser degree shared by most of the
civilized nations of central n vest
rrn Europe, of America ana Australia
a dimlnution so great that If 1t con-
tinucs for the mex century at the rate
which has obtained for the last TWEEN
ty-five years. all the more highly civ
ilized peoples viii be stationary or
else have begun to go backward IN
population. while many of them viii
have already gone very far back
ward.
There Is much that should give us
concern for the future. But there Is
much also which should give us hope.
No man is more ant to be mistaken
than the prophet of evil. After the
French revolution. IN 1880. Nichuhr
hazardcd tho guess that all civilization
was about To go down with n crash.
that we were all about to share the
fan Of third and fourth century Rome
respectable but painfully over
worked comparison. Tho fears once
expressed by the followers of Nautilus
ms To the future of the world have
proved groundless rs regards the civ
ili2cd portion OF the world, II Is
strangc indeed to look back NJ Car
prophecies OF some seventy years
and then hin OF the tecmtng
life OF achievement, the life Of con-
quest Of every kind. M of NOBLE ef-
fort crowned by success. which has
been ours for the two generations
since be complained 10 high heaven
that all the tales had been told and
all the songs sung. ms that all the
deeds really worth doing had been
done. I believe with all my heart that
"a great future remains for Ms; but
whether IL does or does not, our duty
is not altered. However the hattie
may go, the soldier worthy Of the
namc viii with utmost viEor do his
allotted task. and bear himself ms
Naliantly in defeat as in victory. Come
will. we belong TO people who
gone by. the great nations, the
nations that have expanded and that
have played a mighty part in the
world. have in the end grown old n
weakened and vanished. nut 50 have
the nations whose only thought was
to avoid an danger. all EFFORT. who
would risk nothing. aud who thcre-
fore gained nothing. In he end the
same fate may overwhelm al alike
bat the memory OF the n type per
with IL. while the other leaves