The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-19

warrington, ID. T., March IL
Thousands Of wealthy persons are
now booking trips to Hawaii and
. good many to Tahiti and other
South Sea islands. These places,
Of which you seldom heard I few
years ago, are now In all the prints.
Numerous books are written about
them. Pictures OF them are paint
ed. They are the tad.
And the romantic element in
each Of these places-the real CEN
ter Of interest-is q native p0pu-
lation which still wears pictur-
esque clothes and follows pictur-
esque native costumes. The civil
lied man seems suddenly to have
discovered that the primitive man
is an interesting chap, worth know
ing for his own sake.
When you come to think about
it, this attitude toward the Tahiti
ians and the Havaiians is probably
the beginning Of great changesin
the attitude Of civilization toward
savagery. Only consider what the
attitude toward the savage has
been in the past. First he must be
conquered. Every savage or print
tive people on the face of the globe
has been more or less shot up by
some civilized nation. Then the
savage must be civilized. He must
| be given clothes aud religion. He
must be taught to farm and make
change. Incidentally he has near
ly always been introduced to whis-
ky, morphine, cocaine, tuberculosis
and various other perquisites of
civilization.
The civjlizing process has been
almost as hard on the savage as
being conquered. The classic case
Of the Hawaiians who were in
duced by the missionaries to wear
clothes, with the result that they
all caught cold and many of them
died, is typical. It may be said
that almost no part of civilization
has really BENEFITED the savage. He
simply isn't ready for it. His only
hope Of survival is to be allowed
to go on being a savage in peace.
And that is what. at last. the civil
lied man seems inclined to let him
do.
The Case Of Gauguin.
| 1t really seems to be the artist
who has come to the rescue of the
savage. Take the case Of Tahiti.
Some years ago French painter
named Gauguin went to that re-
mote island. Ha stayed there the
rest Of his life, living with the ma
tives and painting them. He be-
came famous. He suddenly called
the attention Of the civilized world
to the fact that the Tahitians were
a most picturesque and beautiful
people, who should be preserved
as they are, like any other wonder
full nature, not converted into COM
monplace civilized persons. Then
Somerset Vaughan, an English
novelist, wrote a novel based on
the life Of Gauguin, and in this he
told most effectively how the great
artist, battered by the ugliness of
commercialism, had found beauty
and peace in the tropical island.
Third came another artist in words,
Frederick O'Brien, and wrote a
book about Tahiti and neighboring
islands which was one Of the most
popular travel books ever written
In effect all three Of these artists
were apologists for the savage as
| he is. They said, in the first place
that he is picturesque and inter
esting fellow, who is not bothering
anyone. and who ought to be al
lowed to live his life as he pleases
both for his own sake and for that
Of the rest of humanity. In the
second place. these artists intimat-
ed that perhaps civilization is not
such a blessed thing as it is crack.
ed up to 5e-that possibly the civ