The Ordway new era., 1910-06-10

States, are all new nations. compared
with the nations OF Europe: but with
whatever changes In detail. their civiliza-
ton IL nevertheless of the general Euro
pean type. as shown in Portugal: Spain.
and England. The differences between
these new" American and these "old"
European nations are not az great as those
which separate the new" nations ono
from another and the ''old" nations ono
from another. There are In each case
very real differences between the new and
the old nation-dinsrences both for good
and for evil; but In each case there 10
tho same ancestral history to reckon with.
the same type OF civilization. with its at
tendant benefits and shorteominss; ana:
after the pioneer stages are passed. the
problems to be solved. in spite Of supern-
cial differences. are In their essence the
same: they are those that confront all
civilized peoples. not those that confront
peoples struggling from barbarism into
civilization.
30. when We speak Of the death" Of
. tribe. = nation or . civilization. the term
may be used for either one or two totally
different processes: the analogy with
what occurs In biological history being
complete. Certain tribes Of savaEes. the
Tasmanians. for instance. and various lit
tie clans OF American Indians. have within
tho last century or two completely died
out: all OF tho individuals have perished.
leaving no descendants. and the blood has
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 civiliza-
tion 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
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 sec
how some OF the phenomena in the
growth and disappearance OF these COM
plex. 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
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 yet even guess what the proper
the centrifugal forces overcome the GEN.
tripetal. the nation will OF course ny to
pieces. and the reason for Its failure to
become a dominant force IL 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-
tion. develops into mere particularism.
into inability to combine effectively for
achievement OF a common end. then II 10
IN
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
dcrision. II the forces Of union had not
triumphed in the civil war. 80 tho
growth OF soft luxury after II has reached
a certain point becomes a national danger
patent to all. Again. It needs but little OF
the vision OF q seer to foretell what must
happen in any community 4 tho average
woman ceases to become the mother OF .
family OF healthy children. II the average
man loses the will and the power to work
UP to old age and to nght Whenever the
need arisss. II the homely. commonplace
virtues die out. II strength OF character
vanishes In graceful acknowledgement. II the
virile 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. It II
easy to see why Rome trended downward
when great slave-tilled farms spread over
what had once been a countrywide Of
peasant proprietors when greed and lux
nber OF tho upper classes. while tho mass
Of the citizens grew to depend. not upon
their own sxertions. but upon the state.
for their pleasures and their very llvsli-
forward movement stopped At different
times. 10 far a. different matters were
concerned: at one time a. regards Mtera-
ture. at another time a. regards architec-
ture. At another time a. regards city
building. We cannot even guess why the
springs Of ono kind Of energy dried up
while there was yet no cessation Of an
other kind.
Holland 40 an Example.
Take another and smaller instanc>. that
Of Holland. For . period covering .
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 a. to make II Inevitable
that sooner or later she must fall from the
glorious and perilous eminencs to which
she had been raised by her own indomita-
BILE soul Her fall came: It could not
have been indefinitely postponed: but It
came far quicker than II needed to come,
because Of shortcomings on her part to
which Dotn 9reat Britain ana the United
States would be wise to pay heed. Her
government was singulariy ineffective, the
decentralization being such as often to
permit the sepnratist. 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. peace-loving societies.
where men hate to think of war as possi-
Bile. and try to Justify their own reluctance
to face It either by high-sounding moral
platitudes or else by a philosophy of
short-sighted materialism. The Dutch
were very wealthy. They grew to be-
lieve that they could hire others to do
their fighting for them on land: and on
sea. where they did their own fighting.
and fought very we'll. they refused In
time of peace to make ready fleets so ef-
ficient as either to insure the Dutch
against the peace being broken or else
to give them the victory when war
came To he onulenf and unarp,sd q, to