The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1910-05-18
MODERN CIVILIZATION
is ROOSEVELT'Sj TOPIC
Interesting Lecture on 1.-THE World
Movement" Delivered at the Uni
uersity of Berlin by the Ex-Presi-
dent of the United States

must know what b accomplished In thu
laboratories OF Tokyo. just - he must
| know the details Of that practical applica-
ton OF science which has changed the
Isthmus OF Panama from . death-trap
! into what b almost health resort. Every
progressive in China Il striving to intro
!! duce western methods Of education and
administration. and hundreds Of European
and American books are now translated
governmental principles b striklngly u.
Illustrated by the fact that admiration for
them has broken down the iron barriers Of
Moslem conservatism. % that their intro
duction has become Q burning question In
Turkey and Persia: while the very unrest.
the impatience OF European OF American
control. In india. Egypt. or tho Philip.
pines. takes the form Of demanding that
the government be assimilated more close
~ to what Il b In England or the United
States.
So much for the geographical side Of
the expansion OF modern civilization. But
only q few Of the many and intense ac.
tivtties Of modern civilization have found
their expression on this side. The move
ment has been just a striking In It's con-
quest over natural forces. In its searching
inquiry into and about the soul Of things.
Steam and electricity have given the
race dominion over land and water such
AZ II never had before: and now the CON-
quest OF the air Is directly impending. As
books preserve thought through time. 40
the telegraph and the telephone transmit
II through the space they annihilate. and
therefore 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
Isolation. II IS the same with the body a.
With the brain. The machinery Of the fac
tory and the farm enormously multipiies
bodily still and visor. Countless trained
intellicences are at work to teach US how
to avoid or counterfeit the effects Of
waste
The advances In the realm OF pure intel.
Iect 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 q 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
torfan. and all their brethren In many tiif.
ferent fields Of wide endeavor. work with
q training and knowledge and method
which are In effect instruments OF pre-
cision diferentiating their labors from
SHV idUOIS Oh tNeIt PREDECESSORS ~ tho
rife II differentiated from the bow
The play Of new forces Il a. evident IN
the moral and spiritual world - 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 to cause
the loss OF the viriIe lighting virtues. OF
the fighting edge When men get too com.
Portable and lead too luxurious lives there
ID always danger lest the softness eat like
an ard into their manl'ness OF fiber The
because Of the very conditions
OF his life. Is forced to keep and develop
certain hardy qualities which the man of
tends to lose whether he be
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.
rome: but there has been q much more
effort to overcome them than
was the case In the early civilization
This IL curiously shown by the military |
history OF the Graeco-R Roman period "a |
with the history OF the last four |,
,r i've centuries here In Europe and |
among nations Of European descent. In |
he Grecian and Roman military history /
he change was steadily from q citizen |
army to an army OF mercenaries. In the
laws OF the early greatness Of Athens.
rhebes. and Sparta. In the days when the
Roman republic conquered what world Il
snew. the armies were filed with citizen
'oldiers- But gradually the citizens re.
used to serve In the armies. or became
Unable to render good service The Greek |
tafes described by POlybius. with but few
hired others to do their fight
ns for them. The Romans Of the days Of
augustus had utterly ceased to furnish
my cavalry. and were rapidly ceas;ng to !
urnish any infantry. to the lesions and
ohorts When the civilization came to |
m end. there were no longer citizens in
he ranks OF the soldiers. The change
rom the citizen army to the army of |
bad been COMPLETED.
Modern Citizens Armies,
Now. the exact reverse has been the |
ase with Us in modern times. A few |
ago the mercenary soldier was |
he principal figure In most armies. and in |
reat numbers OF cases the mercenary |
older was an alien. In the wars Of re-
Gion in France. in the Thirty Years. ]
ar In Germany. in the wars that imme. I
latsly marked the beginning Of the
reak-up OF the great Polish kingdom, the !
esinents and briGades Of foreign SOL
iers formed a striking and leading fea-
IRE In every army. Too often the men !
the country In which the fighting took !
lace played merely the isnoble part OF
ictins. the burghers and peasants an. |
caring In but limited numbers in the
lercenary armies by which they were |
numbered. Gradually this has all changed.
ntil now practically every army is a
t!zen army. and the mercenary has al
lost disappeared. while the army exists
4 q vaster scale than ever before In his. ,
Try. This is SO among the military mon ,
rchies OF Europe.
In our own Civil war OF the United ,
Iates the same thing occurred. peaceful
eop!e as We are. At that time more than
70 generations had passed since the :
ar Of Independence. During the whole :
that period the people had been en- :
aged in no Hfe-and-death struggle: and I
4. when the Civil war broke out, and / 8
ter some costly and bitter lessons at | g
lie beginning. the fighting sp!ri; OF the Z
cpl. was shown to better advantage I