Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-12-08
lMER|CA BEGAN A
CIVILIZATION
LECTURER CONTRASTS AMERICA
WITH EUROPE AND SAYS NEW
JUDGMENT STANDARDS NECES-
SARI TO KNOW Us.
BEING DEVOTED SOLELY TO
III SAYS THAT AMERICANS ARE
~ FAX FROM BEING DEVOTED
SOLELY TO PURSUIT OF WEALTH
by Associated Press

tBy Associated PresS.l
Paris, Dec. S.-America has started
a new current of civilization in the
world, according to Guglielmo Ftrrcro.
the Roman historian. Prof. Fcrrcro. in
a lecture before the Socictc Dcs Confer
ences ~Etrangcrcs i'm Paris. contrastpd
America and Europe and declared that
new standards of Judgment m st BE-
formed if Europe is t. understand Am.
erica ut its true value.
w are accustomed. said he. ito re.
gard things solely i'm terms of quality.
we Took upon the riches of America.
for Instance with a kind of disdain.
AheS are Otter regarde'. n Europe j..
the same light as the riches of Il bar
DarouS p oplc which. to acquire them.
mas forsaken mans superior spiritual
activities. 1t is not necessary to spend
much time in America to see that Am
orleans are very far from being tccotcd
solely TO tn, pursuit of wealth
Il have also heard il said that Am
orleans are without taste for art; that
thelr cities are hidcous. They are pie
turcd as paving large prices for any
thing that is antique or passes as such.
without distinguishing tn. beautiful and
the authentic from the mediocre and
the false. 1t is unjust to say that the
American is Indifferent 10 beauty. More
over, who would dare to affirm that the
progr, SIS of the arts. letters and Scicnc
es is at this moment the principal pre-
occupation of the old world? Listen to
what is said about us. We hear nothing
but talk of pcrfccting economic equip
mcnt. the exploitation of iron and coal
mines, industrial development ana how
to increase trade. If all this is .Nmrri
can. then Europe must be undergoing
characterization at an amazingly rap
i'll pace"
NJ. Fcrrera sees in this new spirit.
which has developed since the diScov-
cry of America, an immense historical
movement which threatens to overthrow
the very foundations of the present civ
iliZatiOn. II is founded on the idea of
progress. which, born at the end Of the
seventeenth or the beginning Of the
eighteenth injury. now dominates our
civilization.
The idea of this progress is as vague
and indefinite in its meaning" said VI.
Fcrrcro. "aS il is popular and powerful
in action. But it is a strange phcnom-
cna~ that just in this G injury Of Socallcd
progress everyone seems to be complain
ing of the decadcnce of things. Are we
progressing or are We not? Can it uc
that this progress for which w Sacri-
flee cur rcposc. orr tranquility and
sometimes even our lives. is only an il
fusion? This is the supreme problem
which presented itself to me as the re
suit of all ] saw and learnt durin" my
travels in North and South America,
I'm former times quality was NOR
important than quantity. We have now
reversed the world in which our anccS-
tors lived. piling up riches has become
our aim. We lav,. Won liberty. destroyed
almost all Inc limitations Of the past.
but we have had in the process to aban-
don almost all the ideals Of artistic
moral or religious perfection held in
ycn2ratOn by our ancestors. Nowadays
we must everywhere sacrifice quality to
quantity.
Thus there are two standards by
which we may Judge civilization. the
standard of quality. One is typiGid by
the civilization of America and the 9th
cr by the past civilization of Europe.
Either. Judged by the others standard,
will appear defici Mt. lou cannot re-
proach IA presidential candidate ~ the
United States who is compelled TO max,
half Il dozen speeches during the LAY
if his STYLE is not SO polished nor his
phrases 50 nicely turned as those Of Il
Zero. Nor would YOU expect such gems
of o~ratory from Cicero if he had been
called upon to comlpy with the same dc
mands as arr made upon the modern or
atOr.