The state herald., 1910-05-13
MODERN CIVlLLZAHON
is ROOSEVELTS TOPIC
Interesting Lecture on ''The World
Mouenent" Delivered at the Uni
uersity of Berlin by the Ex-P Presi-
dent of the United States

the expansion or modern civilization. But
only few of the many and intense ac-
| tivities 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 its searching
| inquiry into and about the soul of things.
Conquest Over Nature.
Tho conquest over nature has included
an extraordinary increase in every form
| OF knowledge OF the world we live in and
also an extraordinary Increase In the pow
er Of utilizing forces OF nature In both
| directions the advance has been very
great during the past four or five CEN
| turtles. and In both directions It has gone
| on with ever increasing rapdity during
| the last century. After the great age OF
| Rome had passed, the boundaries of
knowledge shrank. and in many cases II
was not until well-niGh our own times
| that her domain was. once again pushed
| beyond the ancient landmarks. About the
| year $50 A. d. 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 as 1850 A. d. 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
| guessed until the modern movement be-
| gan. The case was the same as regards
military science. At the close of the Md
| die Ages the weapons were what they
had always been-sword, shield bow,
| spear; and any Improvement In them was
more than offset by the loss In knowledge
OF military organization. In the science OF
war. and in military leadership since the
days OF Hannibal and Caesar.
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 conveyed
as II always had been conveyed. grad
| unte of your university today can 20 TO
mldAsia or mid-Afrca with far less con-
sciousness of performing feat Of note
than would have been the case a hundred
years ago with a student who visited
Sicily and Andalusia
Moreover. the invention and use OF ma
chinery run by steam or electricity have
worked revolution in industry as great
ns 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
OF 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
ms II never had before: and now the con-
| quest OF the air is directly impending. As
books preserve thought through time. 70
the telegraph and the telephone transmit
II through the space they nnnihllnte, and
therefore minds are swaycd one By an
other without regard TO the limitations of
space nnd time which formerly forced
each community to work In comparative
Isolation. II is the same with the body as
with the brain. The machinery OF tho fac
tory and tho farm enormously multlplles
bodily skill and vigor. Countless trained
intoliigcnces are at work 20 teach US how
TO avoid or counteract the effects OF
waste.
The advances In the realm OF pure intel
l"et have 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 degree never
dreamed OF before. Old men among us
have seen In their own generation the
rise of the first rational science OF the
| evolution OF life. The astronomer and the
| chemist. the psychologist and the his
torian. and all their brethren In many diff.
ferent fields OF wide endeavor. work with
training and knowledge and method
| which are In effect Instruments OF pre-
/ cision difrerentlating their lnborr from
the laborH OF their predecessors as the
rliie Is differentiated from the bow
| The play OF new forces Is Ms evident in
the 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 Its tendency 10 eaus,
IN. loss OF the viriis fighting virtues Of
the fighting edge. when men get too com.
Portable and lead too luxurious lives there
II always danger lest IN. sof,ness eat like
an acid into their maniinesa OF fber The
| barbarian. because OF III. very conditions
OF his life. IN forced to keep and develop
certain hardy qualities which IN. man OF
| civilization tends TO lose, whether h. he
clerk, factory hand merchant. or even a
certain type OF farmer. Now I will not
assert that In modern civilized society
these tendencies have been wholly over.
come; but there has been much more
| tucc"Hrful effort 10 overcome them than
was the case In the early civilizations
| This In eurioualy shown by IN. military
history OF III. Graeco. Roman period as
compared with tho history OF tho last four
or nvo centuries here In Europe and
hmonT nations Of European descent. In
the Drecian and Roman military history
l
army TO an army OF mercrnarics. In the
days OF the early greatness OF Athens
Th.bes. and Sparta. In the days when ihe
Roman republic conquered what world /,
know. the armies were filed with citizen
soldiers. But gradually tho citizen. TO.
fused to serve In tho armies, or becnm.
unnbi. TO render good service. Tn. Greek
states described by PolybiuH. with hut Few
exceptions. hired others 20 do their nEht,
inE for them, The nomann of the days .,
Augustus had utterly ceased 10 furnish
any cavalry, and were rapidly c-asinE IA
furnish any Infantry, 10 the ieEions and
cohorts. when tho civilization came Il
hn end, there were no longer citizens In
the ranks Of tho soldiers. Tho chang,
from the citizen army TO tho army OF
msrcnnarics bsd been completed
Modern Citizens Armies.
Now, tho exact reverse has been IA,
ease with Us In modern times fsn
centuries ago tho mercrnary soldier wA,
III. principal nEure IN most armies, and IL
great numbers Of cases tho mnrrenAt,
soldier was an alien. In the wars Of Il.
ilulon In France, In the Thirty Years
war In uefmanY In the wars that imms
diately marked the beginning of IN.
hfeahsup OF the great Polish Kingdom. N,