The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-06-07

| efatlons back how artificial most GREAT
ttlsIlonant1es are, and how loose is the
| eei sdAifoiogy usually employed to de-
| scrlDe them. There is ar element Of
unconscious ana rather pathetic hurnor
IN the simplicity of half century ago
M Mnlcn spoke of the Aryan and the
/ if ~ WIN reVerential admiration, as
| II TIE WorcS denoted, not merely some
| thing defn1te, but something ethnoloei-
| cstlly sacred; thu writers having mich
me same pride and faith in their own
| eiiu lIieir 1elioW-countrymen purity OF
descent from these imaginary Arvan or
| Teutonic- ancestors that was felt feg,
| generations earlier by the various no.
pie families who traced their lineage
| ulrect TO Ooin, Aeneas, or Noah Now
80 ol course, all students recognize
tLdt mere may not be, and often is not.
| tho slightest connection hetwaen Lin
| sbip III tongue. In America we find
| tnree races, white, red, and black. and
S erIee tongues. English, French, and
| Hhes OF cleavage of race continuaIlv
run at right angles to the lines Of
cIeaVage Of speech; there being COM
nlunltles practically of pure blood OF
,.aera iace tound speaking each lang
Sase. Aryan and Teutonic are terms
| having very definite linguistic mean
lnss; out whether they have anv s1ch
etnnlcal meanings as were forr- erIv
az a.,riouted TO them is so doubtful that
we cannot even be sure whether the
ancestors of most of those we caIi
1eutons originally spoke an Arvan
tongue at ALL The term Celtic acain
perfectly clear when used line1Iisti
II put When used to des tribe a race
means almost nothing until we find
cut Which one Of several totally fiifear-
| eht tern1nologies the writer or sneaLer
is adopting. If, for instance. if Is Ised
20 ueslgnate the shcrt-headed, medium
21Neo type common throughout middle
| Europe, from east to wtSsf II 5anota
som ething entirely different from what
| - meant when the name is applied 10
G sle tan, yeilow-haired opponents of the
nolians ard the later Greeks; while if
lsSeo 10 designate any modern nation
| ajlty, 1T becomes about as loose ana
| itself. 'eio-0dAoh
National Unity.
Most of the great societies which
nave developed high civilization and
have played a dominant mart IN e the
world nave been-and are-artificiaI
not merely in social structure hut in
the sense of including totally differan+
iace types great nation rarely be-
longs to any one race, though it's citi-
zens generally have one essentiaiJ,,
hatlonal speech. Yet the curious fact
remains that these great artificial so
cletles acquire such unity that in each
one all the parts feel a subtle svm-
r p@ris, ana move back, all together, in
response TO some stir or throhhinp
very powerful, and yet not to he dis,
cerneu Dy our senses. National unity
Is iar more apt than race unitv to he
Iact TO reckon with; until indeed We
come to race differences as fun6amano
| tai as those which divide from ona 81
other the half-dozen great ethnic III
visions OF mankind, when thew became
SO important that differences of ma
tionallty speech, and creed sink into
littleness. -ii'o
An chronological map of Eurone in
Whlch the people were divided accord
ing to their physical and racial char
acter1stlcs, such as stature, coloration
ana shape OF head, would bear no
resem blance whatever to a map Civ
ing the political divisions, the nation
alities, of Europe; while, on the con
trary, linguistic map would show
general correspondence between
speech and nationality. The northern
Frenchman is in blood and physical
type more nearly allied to his Ger
transporting neighbor than to the
Frenchman of the Mediterranean sea
board; and the latter, in his turn, is
who dwells beside the Channel or
along the tributaries of the Rhine
But in essential characteristics, in
the qualities that tell in the makeup
or nationality, all these kinds of
Frenchmen feel keenly that they are
one and are different from all out
siders, their differences dwindling in
to insignificance compared with the
extraordinary, artificially produced
resemblance which bring them to-
gether and wall them off from the
outside world. The same is true when
we compare the German who dwells
where the Alpine springs of the DAN
ube and the Rhine interlace, with the
physically different German of the
Baltic lands. The same is true of
Kentishman, Cornishman and York
shireman in England.
In dealing, not with groups of hui
L. 4
lations, but with highly complex, high
ly specialized. civilized or semi-civi-
lized 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 it is curious to see how
some of the phenomena in the growth
and disappearance of these complex,
artificial groups of human beings re-
semble what has happened in myriads
Of instances in the history of life on
this planet.
why Nations Fail.
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 growth, and again of
sudden or lingering 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- If in any such case the centrifu-
gal forces overcome the centripetal, |
the nation will Of course fly to pieces, |
and the reason for it's failure to be-
come a dominant force is patent to |
every one. The minute that the spirit |
which finds its healthy development in |
local self-governme nt, and is the anti |
dote to the dangers of an extreme CEN |
tralization, develops into mere particu- |
larism, into inability to combine eff |
fectively for achievement of a common |
end. then it 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 |