The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1910-05-20
MODERN CIVILLZAT q
IS o P
Interesting Lecture on "7he World
Movement" Delivered at the Uni
versity of Berlin by the Ex-Presi-
dent of the United States

States.
So much for the geographical side OF
the expansion Of modern civilization. But
only a few OF the many and intense ac-
tvities OF modern civilization have found
their expression on this side. The move
ment has been just as striking in its con
quest over natural forces, in It. searching
Inquiry into and about the soul OF things.
Conquest Over Nature.
The conquest over nature has included
an extraordinary increase In every form
or knowledge OF the world we live in. and
also an extraordinary increase In the pow
er or utilizing forces Of nature. In both
directions the advance has been very
great during the past four or I'VE cen
turtles, and in both directions il has gone
on with ever increasing rapidity during
inc last century. After the great age Of
Rome had passed. the boundaries of
knowledge shrank. and in many cases il
was not until well-nigh our own times
that her domain was once again pushed
beyond the ancient ndmar About the
year 100 A. u. Ptolemy. the geOgrapher.
published his map of central Africa and
the sources of the Nile. and this map was
more accurate than any which we had as
late ns 1850 A. ID. More was known of
physical science. and more Of the truth
about the physical world was guessed at.
In the days OF Pliny. than was known or
N''S' hiAil TX 1IlO'ltIH movement be-
gan. The case was the same as regards
military science. At the close of the Mid
die Ages tho weapons were what they
mad always becn-sword. shield. bow.
spear; and any Improvement in them was
more than onset by the loss in knowledge
or military organization. in the science OF
war and In military leadership since the
days OF Hannibal and Caesar.
A hundred years ago. when this uni
versity was founded. the methods of
transportation did not differ in the es-
sentials from what they had been among
the highly civilized nations of antiquity.
Travellers and merchandise went by land
in wheeled vehicles or on beasts OF bur
den, and by sea In boats propelled by
sails or by oars: and news was convened
as 1t always had been conveyed. A grad
uate OF your university today can go to
mid-Asia or A with far less con-
seriousness OF performing a feat OF note
IMAM would have been the case a hundred
years ago with a student who visited
Sicily and Andalusia.
Moreover. the invention and use OF ma
chfnery run by steam or electricity have
worked a revolution in industry as great
as the revolution in transportation: so
that here again the difference between
ancient and modern civilization is one not
merely OF degree but Of kind. In many
vital respects the huge modern city differs
more from all preceding cities than any
or these differed one from the other; and
the giant factory town is Of and by itself
one OF the most formidable problems OF
modern life.
Steam and electricity have given the
race dominion over land and water such
as IT never had before: and now the con-
quest Of the air is directly impending. AS
books preserve thought through time. so
the telegraph and the telephone transmit
~ rnl1O thu ~,
minds are swayed one by an
other without regard to the limitations Of
space and time which formerly forced
each community to work in comparative
1t is the same with the BODY as
with the brain. The machinery Of the fac
tory and the farm enormously multiplies
bodily skill and vigor. Countless trained
are at work to teach us how
10 avoid or counterfeit the effects Of
The advances In the realm Of pure intel
lect nave been of equal note, and they
have been both intensive and extensive.
Great virgin fields of learning and wis
dom have been discovered by the few.
and at the same time knowledge has
spread among the many to a degree never
dreamed of before. Old men among us
nave seen in their own generation the
OF the first rational science of the
or life. The astronomer and the
the psychologist and the his
and all their brethren in many diff
'erent fields of wide endeavor. work with
4 training and knowledge and method
which are in effect instruments of pre-
,ision differentiating their labors from
ne labors of their predecessors as the
'lfle is differentiated from the bow.
Inc play OF new forces is as evident in
he moral and spiritual world as in the
world Of the mind and the body.
One Danger of Civilization.
One OF the prime dangers Of civilization
has always been it's tendency to cause
he loss of the virile fighting virtues. of
ne hshting edge. When men get too COM
ortable and lead too luxurious lives there
s always danger lest the s~oftness eat like
IN ACID into their manliness of fiber. The
because OF the very conditions
II MS life. Is forced to keep and develop
hardy qualities which the man OF
lVllzation tends to lose. whether he be
Jerk, factory hand. merchant, or even a
ertain type OF farmer. Now viii. not
assert that In modern civilized society
hese tendencies have been wholly over
but there has been a mucl, more
uccessful effort to overcome them than
vas the case in the early civilizations
mis- Is curiously shown by the military
history OF the Graeco-Roman period as
with the history of the last four
- III Europe ana
.mong nations OF European descent. In
he Grecian and Roman military history
ne change was steadily from a citizen
to an army of mercenaries. In the
avs OF the early greatness Of Athens.
and Sparta. in the lays when the
Roman republic conquered what world IL
new. the armies were filled with citizen
oldiers. But gradually the citizens re-
used 10 serve In the armies. or became
lnabie to render good service. The Greek
tates described by Polybius, with but few
RECEPTIONS. hired others to do their fight
ne for them. The Romans of the DAYS of
augustus had utterly ceased to furnish
ny cavalry. and were rapidly ceasing to
urnish any infantry. to the legions and
When the civilization came 70
n end. there were no longer citizens In
ne ranks OF the soldiers. The change
rom the citizen army to the army Of
had been completed.
Modern Citizens Armies. I
Now. the exact reverse has been tho
ase with us In modern times. A few I
ago the mercenary soldier was
ne principal figure In most armies. and In
reat numbers of cases the mercenary ,
oidier was ~analAH@H-N~n~~es -. =
glon In France, in the Thirty yaor, ,