The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1910-03-25
DOES CIVILIZATION WEAKEN US?

to be humane and considerable OF the
rights of others; to be concerned
about those things which upbuild and
uplift rather than those which merely
disrupt and destroy. The really civ
ilized mantle one you picture in
your ideals-is absorbed with tremen.
dous energy in giving larger oppor-
tunities to larger number; in re-
lieving want and disease and despair;
in encouraging saner living, healthier
Sports, better methods of doing bust
ness, higher conceptions of the re-
sponsibilties of citizenship, a wider
vision of what "neighbor' means, a
sympathy broad enough to know Meth
er race, color or nationality; pas
sion for peace and good will manifest
ing itself in an eager endeavor to
supplant the rule of gold and brute
strength by the golden rule and the
strength which comes from human
brotherhood. The program is very
large one and its undertaking fraught
with so many hindrances and difficult
ties that it is little wonder that men
are timid in regard to its ultimate
triumph.
CHANGING over the history of the
ages which are past there is little
to inspire us with positive notes of
victory and much to dismay us by
the overpowering testimony that
brute force, the iron will and the abil-
ity too fight in mortal combat to the
bitter end, has been the test of in
dividual or national supremacy.
Leaving aside the conquests of those
who have secured thrones and sub
dued whole peoples by "wading
through rivers of blood" and exploit
ing themselves in the most barbaric
ways as unworthy of notice, we still
find ourselves up against the same
problem of the necessity of great vi
rifle physical ability on the part of any
man or nation who is to dominate and
control affairs largely.
Anglo Saxon christendom has done
great things for the freedom of the
race. But whether under Alfred the
Great, Cromwell, William of Orange
in the old world, or under Washington
or Lincoln or Mckinley in the new,
it has always been done by the call to
arms and the sacrifice of thousands
of precious lives. Our heroes today,
as ever, are mostly those whose
names are closely identified with his
toric battlefields. Here it is that very
largely we find the immortal names
that were not born to die" The world
has always had in every age some
cause which men could rally to the
support of and give up their lives if
need be-and it generally has been
that it might triumph.
Now civilization, in the best and
highest sense, in free and enlightened
America today means doing away
with warfare along with the other
great evils in the bygone years. Is
it any wonder that men pause and
query what the result will be? Here
| tofore, war has acted like a tonic and
| the call of the fife and drum to fight
| for chief, or fatherland or liberty has
given courage to the thousands who
| left home and business and every
thing they held dear that they might
go to do and dare" for leader, coun-
| try or principle. If these incentives
shoulde be taken away and reign OF
peace prevail for long years over the
face of the earth would not men grow
cowardly and timid and heroism and
devotion merely a tradition?
| We have to face the stern and I'M
deniable fact that the history of the
world shows again and again that the
more civilized countries like Egypt
and Greece and Rome would have
gone down into utter oblivion long
before they did had it not been for
the hardy barbarians who conquered
and reinvigorated them. Even in our
own America, it is conceded that the
descendants of the first colonists have
been greatly aided and strengthened
by the newer immigrants from Eu
rope. Those who were first feared are
now welcomed as the very salvation
of the race. II the less cultured but
more sturdy human forces are sub
merged in a more gentle and peaceful
era, what will be the result?
The argument, however, does not
hold as securely as it might seem
There is no plea in a more considerate
civilization for men who are one whit
less forceful than were their fore
bears. It is a mistaken notion. Never
did the world want more manly and
courageous men than it seeks in the
more fraternal era which every
thoughtful observer recognizes as al
ready begun. That this is true is
found in the attention now being paid
to the great subject of the conserva