Lower coast gazette., 1910-06-11

NAV be used Tor tllItI one VI WV N''
different processes; the analogy win
what occurs in biological history being
complete. Certain tribes Of saVages' the
Tasmanlans. for instance. and various NJ
tie clans OF American Indians, have Wllhlh
the last century or two completely dieu
out; all OF the individuals have perlsh"d'
leaving no descendants, and the blood mas
disappeared. Certain other tribes OF
Indians have as tribes disappeared or
are now disappearing; but their hl"ou
remains. being absorbed into the veins or
the white intrudcrs, or Of the black men
introduced by these white intruders; so
that in reality they are merely beng
transformed into something absolutely
different from what they We're.
4 like wide diversity In fact may be
covered in the statement that a clrlllHa-
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
lied. civilized. or semi-Civilized societies.
there is need OF great caution in W
| analOCies with what has occurred IN ire
development Of the animal word. let
even in these cases 1t 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 myriadS
Of instances in the history or He on lhls
planet.
WHY do great artificial empires, whose
citizens are knit by a bond OF speech ana
culture much more than by a bond or
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. II In any such case
the centrifugal forces overcome the cen
~tripetal, the nation will OF course NY 10
pieces. and the reason for its failure TO
become a dominant force Is patent 10
every one. The minute that the spirit
which finds its healthy Development IN
local elf-government, and in the antidote
to the dangers Of an extreme centralZa-
ton. develops into mere "partlCularlSHl'
into inability to combine effectively Tor
achievement Of a common end. then it is
hopeless to expect great results. Po1anu
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
triumphed 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. it needs but little or
the vision OF a seer to foretell what must
hanpen In any community II the average
woman ceases to become the mother OF a
family of healthy children. If the average
man loses the will and the power to work
I'D to old age and to fight whenever the
need arises. If the hOmely, commonplace
virtues die out, II strength or character
vanishes In graceful self-lndulgence II the
yirile qualities atrophy, then the nation
has lost what no material prosperity can
offset.
But there are plenty Of other phenom-
ena wholly or partially ineXpliCable. 1t is
EASY to see why Rome trended downward
when great slave-tilled farms spread over
what had once been a countryside OF
peasant proprietors, when greed ana lux
urv and sensuality 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.
for their pleasures and their very livell-
hood. But this does not explain why the
forward movement stopped at different
times, so far as different matters were
concerned: at one time as regards htera-
ture. at another time as regards archltec-
ture, at another 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
a of Holland. For a period covering O
|, 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
a and population as to make 1t inevitable
a that sooner or later she must fall from the
. glorious and p~erilous eminence to which
; she had been raised by her own indomita
BILE soul. Her fall came; 1t could no
AVE been indefinitely postponed but !
came far quicker than 1t needed to come
. because of shortcomings on her part t
I which both Great Britain and the United
. States would be wise to pay heed. He
q government was singularly ineffective. tn
y decentralization being such as often t
y permit the separatist, the particulartst
U spirit of the provinces to rob the centra
+ authority of all efficiency. This was BAT
. enough But the fatal weakness was tina
so common In rich, peace-loving societies
where men hate to think OF wal as posi-
d bic, and try to justify their own reluctanc
. to face 1t either by hig~h-sounding mora
: platitudes or else by a philosophy o
- short-sighted materialism. The Dutc'
10 were very wealthy. They grew to be
B. lieve that they could hire others to d
y their fighting for them on land; and o
II sea. where they did their own fighting
/ and fought very well, they refused !
T. time of peace to make ready fleets so et
II fcient as either to insure the Dutc
" against the peace being broken or els
% to give them the victory when wa
70 came. To be opulent and unarmed Is t
Oh secure ease in the present at the almos
u certain cost of disaster In the future.
al 1t is therefore easy to see why Hollan
A. lost when she did her position among tn
IA powers: but 1t is far more difficult to e'
" plain why at the same time there shoul
70 have come at least a partial loss OF pos
" ton In the world Of art and letters. Son
" spark of divine fire burned Itself out
III the national soul. AS the line OF gref
statesmen. Of great warriors, by land an
e sea, came to an end, so the line OF II
"a great Dutch painters ended. The loss
"a pre-eminence iii the schools followed Il
loss OF pre-eminence in camp and
81 council chamber.
~ In the little republic Of Holland, as
81 the great empire Of Rome, it was NJ
~ death which came, but transformatio
~ Both Holland and Italy teach US TIL
races that fall may rise again.
~ Danger Of Race Suicide.
m There are questions which we Of IL
OF great civilized nations are ever tempted
asl, OF the future. Is our time Of grow
IS drawing to an end? Are we as nation
IT, soon to come under the rule of that gre
ad law of death, which is itself but part of Il
great law Of life? None can tell. Fore
that we can see and other forces that a
b. hidden or that can but dimly be Apr
lly hended are at work all around us, DO
W for good and for evil. The growth in lu
Ia ury, In love Of ease, in taste for vap
ed and frivolous excitement, is both evide