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

p r the forces OF union had not
IrIumphed in the Civil war So the
/ growth Of soft luxury after II has
reached z certain point becomes q ma
( I1on41 danger patent to all Again. II
needs but lutte Of the vision Of z seer
70 rOrereu what must happen IN any
community II the average wouGu
1 ceases to become the mother Of 4 fam
tly Of healthy children, II the average
man loses the viii and the power 70
work up 70 old age and 20 fight when
ever the need arises II the honey,
( commonplace virtues die cut II
strength OF character vanishes IN
{ graceful seE-induIgence. II the vfriIe
qualities atrophy- then the ration has
lost what no material prosperity can
Offset
But there are plenty Of other phe-
/ Honeu7 wholly or partially fnexpIic-
able II Is easy To see why Rome
lre1Ged downward when great slave
L titled farms spread over what had
1 once been a countryside Of peasant
proprtetors. when greed and luxury
and senSuaIIty ate ike acids into the
/ nber OF the upper classes, while the
mass Of the citizens grew to depend,
not upon their own exerrzOnS but UPON
the state. for their pleasures and their
very livelihood But this does not ex-
plain why the forward movement
[ stopped at dfEerent times. 50 far as
IdIrer61t matters were concerned. at
one time as regards literature at an
oCner time Is regards architecture at
another time as regards city building
There Is nothing mysterious about
I ROme'S dissolution at the time OF the
barbarian tnvasiouS; apart from the
IupoverIshmenr and depopuIat1ou of
the empire. it's fall would be quite suf-
nc1ently explained by the mere fact
/ that the average citizen had lost the
lighting edg-au essential even under
z Gz[DGrI=r7 Nd Ez-
essential IN free self governing com
nun1ties such as those Of the English
speaking peoples of today The u1ys-
I terry Is rather that out of the chaos
and corruption Of Roman society dur
ING the last days Of the 0IiEarCHfc re-
public there should have sprung an
empire able To hold things with rea-
souzbIe steadiuess for three OF four
centuries But why for instance
should the higher kinds Of literary
productIveuess have ceased about the
DeSIunIng Of the second century
whereas the following centuries wit
uessed Z great outbreak Of energy in
the shape Of city building in the prov-
LnceS. not only IN western Europe but
N Africa We can not even guess
why the springs Of one kind Of en-
ergy dried up while there was vet no
cessation Of another kind
Fall OF Holland
TAKE another and smaller instance
that Of Holland For & period cover
ing little mere than the =+svzrtz,arT+Fr
century Holland like some Of the
Italian city states at an early period
stood on the dangerous heights Of
greatness beside nations 50 vastly her
superior IN territory and population as
TO make it Inevitable that sooner OF
later she must fall from the glorious
and perfIous smfnencs TO which she had
been raised by her own frdoruftabIe
SOUL Her fall came IL could not have
been Indefinitely postponed but It
came far quicker than II needed TO
come because Of shortcomings On her
part 10 which both Great Britain and
the United States would be wise to uay
heed Her Eovernment was sfuzuIsrfy
-fu6E=ctfVe, TIA deeeHtrEEzatfo benz
the partcuIar1stA spirit Of the provinces
10 rob the CENTRAL authority Of al ef-
dctsncy- This was bad enough But
the fatal weakness was that 50 con-
mon IN rich peace loving societies.
where men nate to think Of war as pos
sTbIe. and try to Justify their own re-
IUct7ncs TO face it either by high
sounding moral plztiLu66s or else by Z
PHILOSOPHY OF shOrr-sighted material
ism The Dutch were very wealthy.
They grew To believe that they could
hire others to 10 their fighting for them
on land, and on sea. where they did
their own fighting and fought very
well they refused in time Of peace 20
Z
TO insure the Dutch against the peace
being broken OF else TO give them the
. victory when war came To be 0puIsut
and uu4rmed IS TO secure ease IN the
present at the almost certain cost Of
disaster in the future
It Is therefore easy to see Wtv HoI-
land lost Wheu she did her position
among the powers, but It Is far more
difficult &c explain why At the same
time there should have come At least 4
art and letters Some spark Of divine
fire burned Itself cut in the national
soul As the line Of great statesmen.
Of great warriors, BY land and sea.
came To an end. 50 the line of the great
Dutch painters ended. The loss of pre-
eufneucs in the schools followed the
loss Of pre-emfrence IN camp and in
council chamber
In the little republic Of Holland As IN
the great empire Of Rome, IT was not
Both Holland and Italy teach Us that
races that faH may rise again In EOt-
land as IN the Scandinavian kingdoms
OF Norway and Sweden there was. in Z
sense no deczdence at al There was
nothing analogous TO what has befaIIen
50 many countries no lowering Of the
/ general standard Of well being 10 gen
+ eraI loss of vitality, no depopuIztfou-
WI hat happened was first Towering
time IN which the cOuutETS man q
+ action and men Of thought gave it 4
commanding position among the na-
( ttOus Of the day. then this period Of
I command passed and the state re-
voIved IN an eddy. aside from the
sweep Of the mighty current Of woEf6
I life and yet the people themselves II
I their internal relations remained Suo-
stzntiaIIy unchanged and in many
fields Of eudeavOr have now recovered
themselves and play again Leading
/ part
/ Decadeuce Of Rome
L In Italy where history l. recorded for
/ q far longer tire the course Of affairs
I was dfTersnt- When the Roman En-
pre- that was really Roman went down
Z m ruin there fol lowed Al interval 81
I centuries when the gloom was almost
! unreIieved- Every form Of Iuxury aE.t
I flfvoIitv. Of eouteruptuouS reP'Igu@zncs