The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1910-06-10
States, are all new" nations, compared

States. are 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 "old"
European nations are not as 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 acknowledgements 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
tribe. nation or a civilization. the term
may be used for either one two totally
different processes: the analogy with
what occurs in biological history being
complete Certain tribes of savages the
Tasmanians, for instance. and various 1T
tie clans Of American Indians. have within
the last century two completely died
out; all OF the individuals have persisted.
leaving no descendants, and the blood has
disappeared. Certain other tribes of
Indians have 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 merely being
transformed into something absolutely
different from what they were.
like wide diversity in fact may be
covered In the statement that 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
tied, civilized, or semi-civlized 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 Il is curious to SEE
how some of the phenomena in the
growth and disappearance of these com
pick. artificial groups of human beings
resemble what has happened in myrtads
of instances in the history of life on this
planet.
Why do great artificial empires. whose
citizens are knit by bond of speech and
culture much more than by a bond of
blood show periods Of extraordinary
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. II 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 a dominant force is patent TO
every one. The minute that the spirit
which finds its healthy development in
local self government. and in the antiaote
to the dangers of an extreme Centraliza-
ton, develops into mere particula rism.
into inability to combine effectively for
achievement of a common end, then # 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
trumphed In the civil war So the
growth Of soft luxury after IT has reached
a certain point becomes a national danger
patent to all Again. II needs but little Of
the vision Of a seer to foretell what must
happen In any community If the average
woman ceases to become the mother of a
family OF healthy children. If the average
man loses the viii and the power TO work
up 10 old age and to fight whenever the
need arises. II the hemelv. commonplace
virtues die out, If strength 81 character
vanisHes in graceful self-indulgence, II the
3irIle qualities atrophY. then the nation
has lost what no material prosperity can
Offset.
But there are plenty of other pnenom-
ena wholly or partially mex plicahle II Is
easy 70 see WHY Rome trended downward
when great slaVe-tilled farms spread over
what had once been a countryside OF
peasant propriCtors. when greed and lux
ury and seusuaIity ate Ike acids into the
fiber OF the upper classes. while the mass
Of the citizens grew 10 depend. not upon
their own cNertions, but upon the state.
for tair pleasures and their very Iiveli-
hood Bat tbs does not explain why the
forward movement stopped at different
times. SO far IS different matters We're
concerned; at one time as regards litcra-
turo. at auot her time as regards architec-
ture. NJ anCthes 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 50 vastly her superior In territory
and population as to make Il inevitable
that sooner or later she must fall from the
glorious and perf'ous eminence TO which
she had been raised by her own indomita-
tie soul Her fan came; it could not
have been indefinitely postponed but It
came far quicker than Il needed To come.
because Of shortcomings on her part to
which both Great Britain and the United
States would be Use 70 pay heed Her
gov eminent was sirgulariy Ineffective the
decentralization being such as often to
pCImt the scparatist the partlcularist
spirit of The provinces 10 rob tie central
authority 81 all efficiency. This was bad
enough Pit the fatal weakness was that
So eoaton Ia rich. peace loving societies.
where men hate to think Of war as posi-
BILE and Try = Justify their own reluctance
To face il either by AlEh-souoding moral
platitulcs or else hv a philosophy Of
stort-sieht,G Inater.alsm The Dutch
7 were &e}Y wealthy They grew Ia b.
love ttat tHcy could hire Others tn do
/ their fCitins far them on land, and on
sea wlerc taey did their own lighting.
and feseAt very Vel. teY refused III
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