Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-08-02
Test of Greatness.


The doctrine of the Supcrman is
simply the expression of colossal con-
ccit. Tho Germans base il on the the
DRY of the Survival of tho fittcst."
Unfortunately for the world. they ap-
piled to human life. races and nations
the theory which scientific men
thought they could prove in the ami
NAL kingdom. where. they argue. tho
beast or bird which lives is the flttest
To live; the weak die. Among man.
kind. however. this rule does not
surviving would he prize fighters. But
muscle is not the only test among
Tsee;-there il -ie,elillectp n, t:.d
the moral test. which arc immensely
more important than the physical. No
doubt. in Napolcon's army there were
100000 men physically stronger than
no, and yet nc possessed n power 10y
which nc could control and lead the
100000. The Germans, however, laid
their claims to hcinG Supcrmcn. not
merely on the physical superiority Of
their soldiers but also on the super
ior mental. qualities Of their intellcc-
best mon of science. for instance. and
they pretended that the fact that
Germans had had great poets and mu-
sicians and philosophers was further
hnt m
I'm fact. however, all the great Ger
man pocts-from Goethe and Schiller
TO TIrinc: all the great German mu-
sicians-from Bach and Beethoven to
Wagner: and all the great German
philosophcrs-from Lcibnitz and Kant
to Hcgcl and Schopenhauer. lived
and worked before tho mad dream of
German world domination had been
suggested, and Wagner. tho only ono
Of them who lived after the rise Of
Prussia. dctcstcd Prussia and Prus-
slams and lost no opportunity to ridi-
culC or to dcnouncc them.
Germans Follow.
In science itself. the Germans have
bccn and are extraordinarily patient
investigators and very nimblc applicrs
of other mems inventions and discov-
cries. Run over the list OF the truly
great modern scientists. Who are tho
men who have announced fundament-
nj principles? Darwin. who gave tho
keynote OF modern thought and mod
crn science. was an EnElishman: LOU
is pastcur. who showed the true
method Of biology. was Frcnchman:
Michael Farraday. an Englishman,
was the master of all students OF
electricity. and Joseph Lister. anoth-
or Englishman, led the way in anti
scptics. Morton. an American, first
demonstrated the usefulness OF ether
as IN anaesthctic. and Sir James
Simpson. Scot. popularized the use
of chloroform. Three Englishmcn
one Scot. one American. one French
man and no German. When we come
to the most important inventors, the
appliers OF science to invention. what
do we find? Fulton. m American
invented the steamboat: Stevenson
an Englishman. the railroad locomo-
tive: Morse. an American. the tele-
graph; Marconi. an italian. with an
Irish mother. wireless telegraphy:
Bell. an American. the telephone. And
in the field OF war itself. to which the
Germans have devoted more time and
attention than have all the other na-
tions. the leaders have not been Ger
man. Holland, an American. put the
first submarine into the water and
devised the first submarine torpedo;
two American brothers. the Wrights
set flying the. first practical airplancs:
Maxim. another American. invented
the machine gun; Bessemer, an Eng