El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-09-15


had not been in complete rapport as
TO the idea Of which The word was
intended 10 be a sign.
Definition OF NafIonnIIsm-
Now, I am DESTROYS that we should
be in complete rapport as regards the
idea or which "uatlona4lsm' is a sign.
NatiOnalism" is the notion which
citizens have OF their own nation as
nation 1t is what they think OF
themselves collectively in their ma
tional capacity You know that the
citizen Of every nation think il
a matter OF great consequence that
they should be a nation. They think
the nation is a thing OF indispensable
worth to the individual man or wO-
man In this respect the German
citizen is no exception to the rule.
He is very sure that the German en-
pire as an empire is a thing Of great
value both TO the German individual
and to the whole world of men as
well Hence, for the most part, the
''natiOnalism' Of the German citizen
is all Of q piece with the nationalisms
Of other natiOnalities. But while the
nationalism Of the average German
citizen differs very little as to sort
from the uatiOnalism Of the average
Englshman, FrenChmans Russian OF
American, IL differs very considerably
in point Of degree. In our eXamina-
are not much concerned with the fact
that the average citizen is patriotic,
is loyal TO his government, and fights
at its behest No matter how bad the
nation may be. the average citizen,
the world around, from Sweden 10
Siam. and from Russia 10 Uruguay. is
patriotic He is loyal to the govern
ment, whatever il happens 10 be, and
he viii fight against any other gov
eminent in behalf Of the one under
which he lives. The only thing we
find to remark about the nationalism
Of the Germans in Germany is the
degree in which they glOrify their
nation. the degree in which they are
patriotic, the extent TO which they
viii employ violence, and slay at
its command regardless Of whether
the position OF the government Is
right or wrong
Puts Germany Above Mankind.
What we find TO be so essentially
bad in the German natiOnalsm is a
thing which in smaller quantities is
generally held to be good in other
people. II is not that the German Is
devoted TO the welfare Of German
citizens. il is that he is devoted to
them so exclusively that he is ready
10 sacrifice all others sorts Of citi-
Zens in the interest Of what he con-
ceives to be rhe Germans good. He
puts the good Of German citizens above
the good OF the whole human race,
and he puts the laws Of the German
empire above the essential laws Of
humanity IL is on this account that
he holds that what is necessary for
him 10 do as a German citizen must
be right. and must be right because
necessary TO German interests regard
less Of how great a crime IL may be
against mankind
Last Sunday night we examined into
the nature OF natOns-all nations.
We examined into the nature OF the
nation as a form Of human association
and collective activity. and we saw
that nation as distinguished from
all other forms Of other social or
ganiZation is the material interests OF
the whole community organized as a
corporation and dominating the com
munity's affairs. The size Of the
community and the number Of people
composing the nation in this instance
are determined by the amount Of land
pie living on that incorporated land.
Whether the nation is a monarchy. a
republic, a democracy or a theOcracy
is matter Of corporate fOrm-a mat
ter Of how the vested interests Of
the community are constituted and
limited in the articles OF incorpora-
ton as written or understood. As
they come into the purvieW OF history
IN ancient times all nations are mon
archic-theocratic, without exception.
In the case Of the Japanese nation
we have a typical specimen OF the an
cient nation brought down into the
modern world. The head OF the ma
ton as such is an incarnation of the
deity: he rules by divine authority.
Obedience to the emperor IS the su-
Dreme religious obligation. The only
becoming degree Of reverence in the
citizen as toward the divinely con-
stituted authority is a degree that
amounts to worship. The tendency Of
all modern nations as they grow and