The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1910-06-09

| these new American anu b'NSN
European nations are not as great as those
| which senarete the new" nations one
| from another and the "old' nations one
| from another There are In each case
| very real differences between the new al.
| the old nation--differences both TOT eoou
and for evil; but in each case there 10
the same ancestral history to reckon wit,i'
the same type of civilization, with It's at
| tendant benefits and shortcomings; ano'
| after the pioneer stages are passed, the
problems to be solved. In spite OF superh-
cial differences, are in their essence tne
| same; they are those that confront an
| civilized peoples. not those that cohlron.
peoples struggling from barbarism INTO
civilization.
So, when we speak OF the death OF
a tribe, nation or a civilization, the term
! may be used for either one or two totaily
| different processes the analogy with
| what occurs In biological history being
complete. Certain tribes of savages, the
| Tasmanians. for instance. and various lit
| tie clans of American Indians, have within
| the last century or two completely dieu
out; all of the individuals have peiished'
leaving no descendants. and the blood has
| disappeared. Certain other tribes OF
| Indians have as 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 are merely being
| transformed into something absolutely
different from what they were.
A like wide diversity in fact may be
| covered In the statement that a civiliza-
ton has died out"
Phenomena That Puzzle.
In dealing, not with groups of human
| tptupc I'm nd rrintiva relations
but with highly complex, highly special
ized civilized or semi mi-civilized 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 1t Is curious to see
how some of the phenomena in the
growth and disappearance of these COM
plex, artificial groups of human beings
resemble what has happened in myrlads
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 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 centrifugal forces overcome the CEN
tripetal, the nation will OF course fly to
| pieces. and the reason for Its failure to
become dominant force is patent to
| every one. The minute that the spirit
which finds its healthy development in
| local self-government, and in the antidote
TO the dangers of an extreme centraliza-
| ton, develops into mere particularism,
into inability to combine effectively 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 have ranked with them, and its
name would have become byword OF
derision. II the forces of union had not
triumphed in the civil war SO the
growth of soft luxury after 1t has reached
a certain point becomes national danger
patent to all. Again, II needs but little of
the vision of a seer to foretell what must
happen In any community IL the average
woman ceases to become the mother of a
family of healthy children, IL the average
man loses the will and the power to work
up to old age and to fight whenever the
need arises. II the homely, commonplace
virtues die out, IL strength of character
vanishes in graceful self-indulgence. II the
virile qualities atrophy. then the natior
has lost what no material prosperity car
offset.
But there are plenty of other phenom
ena wholly or partially inexplicable 1t 1.
easy 10 see why Rome trended downward
when grea. slave-tilled farms spread owe,
what had once been a countryside OF
peasant proprietors. when greed and lux
ury and sensuality ate like acids into TN,
flber OF the upper classes, while the mas,
or the citizens grew to depend. not upo,
their own exertions, but upon the state
Tor their pleasures and their very liveli
| fe n
forward movement stopped at differen
times, so far as different matters wer
concerned; at one time as regards litera
ture, at another time as regards architec
ture, at another time as regards cit,
building. We cannot even guess whv th
springs of one kind OF energy dried III
while there was yet no cessation of an
other kind
Holland as an Example.
rake another and smaller instance. tha
OF Holland. For period coverine
little more than the seventeenth century
Holland. like some of the Italian cit
states at an earlier period, stood on tn
dangerous heights of greatness beside no
tons so vastly her superior In terr,tnr
and population as to make IL nevitaLI
that sooner or later she must fan frorn ~
glorious and perilous eminence IN yyhto
she had been raised by her own indor,t,a
pie soul Her fall came; 1t could mo
have been indefinitely postponed. but
came far quicker than 1t needed IN cor,,
hecause OF shortcomings on her part :
which both Great Britain and the ITn,,o
/ States would be wise to nav heed ~
government was singularly Ineffective 81
decentralization being such as often =
permit the separatist, the partIcnIaria
spirit OF the provinces to rob the car',n,
authority of all efficiency. This was ha
enough But the fatal weakness was tha
, so common in r'ch. peace loving socjotia'
Where men hate to think of war as n1s.
ple and try to justify their own rcIur,os'l
To race 1t either by high-sounding ,,,''u,
plattudes or else by nbiIo,l',t IT,. y
! short-sishted materlalism The n,,o
were very wealthy. They grew 10 ~
/ ueve that they could hire Others ~ =, y
, their hghtlng for them on land anS y
sea, where they did their own 6ghttr'
, ana Fought very we'll thew rar,Isa5
time OF peace to make ready fleets go -
nclent as either to insure the D,tn
! against the peace being broken or ~,
TO give them the victory when ,,,s
came To be opulent and unarned ,s
secure ease in the present M tba ai,
certain cost OF disaster in the f,,turo
II Is therefore easy to see WHY Hill.
, lost when she did her position amono, ~
powers but 1t is far more dif1ouIt 70 ~ =,
pam why at the same time there 80, uI
| nave come at least a martial to.. 'N'