The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1910-06-08
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 sern!-Civi!:Z"i so"!etics.
there is need Of great caution in drawing
analoci"S with what has occurred la the
Development OF the animal world. Yet
even In these cases II ia curious To sec
how some ~ the phenomena in the
growth and disappearance nf these com
pix. 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 answer
readily enough: in OTHER cases cam
not as Yet even guess va; the proper
answer should he. II I'm any such case
the centrifugal forces overcome the CEN
trp"tal. the nation will OF course fly To
pieces. AMI The reason for its failure TO
become u d"uinant force is patent To
every one. Tie. minute that the spirit
which finds its h"H;fhy Development In
local self covrrnnl..rtf. and in the antidote
to the dangers ~ ,.NrTcrn" CcntraliZa-
ton. develops into nrr. pariicularism.
into inability 90 combine effectively for
hopeless to expect great results. Poland
and certain republics of the western
hemisphere are the standard ,.NarIr.'.-S Of
failure OF this kind: and the United States
would have ranked w,th them. ana i;s
name would have become a bywofd OF
derisinn. IL the forces Of union had not
,riumphed in the civil war. So the
growth Of soft luxury after IL has reached
4 certain point becomes a national danger
patent TO all. Again. IL needs hut little OF
the vision Of a seer TO foretell what must
happen I'm anv 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. If the homely commonplace
Virtues die out. II strength 81 character
vanishes I'm graceful self-indulSence. II the
virIle qualities atrnphy. then the nation
has lost what no material prosperity can
offset.
But there are plenty Of other phenom-
ena wholly or partially ineNp!iCable II is
easy to See why Rome trendcd downward
when great slaye-tilled farms sprca" over
what had once been countryside OF
peasant proprietors. when greed and lux
urv and S.nSuality 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.
-
hood. But this does not explain why the
forward movement stopped at different
times. so far 40 different matters were
concerned At one time regards litera-
ture. at another time as regards architec-
ture. at another time regards city
building. We cannot even guess why the
springs Of one kind OF energy dried up
while there war yet no cessation OF An
other kind.
Holiand as an ExarnIe
Take another and smaller instanc> that
Of Holland. For a 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
tions SO vastly her superior in territory
and population as 10 make IL inevitable
that sooner or later she must fail from the
glorious and pCrilous eInncnce 10 which
she had been raised by her own indonita-
Bile soul Her fall came: il could not
have been indefinitely postponed but IL
came far quicker than il needed TO come
because Of shortcomings on her part to
which both Great Britain ard the United
States would he wise 10 pay heed Her
go, eminent was sinsularlv ineffective. the
decentralization being such as often TO
permit the seraratist. 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. psaCe-lnvin- societies.
where men hate 10 think OF Wal as posi-
bic. and try 10 justify their own reluctance
10 face il either by hiSh-sounding moral
platitudes or else bv philosophy Of
short-siShted rnaterialism The Dutch
were very wealthy. They grew 10 be-
ueve that they could hire others 10 do