The Washington herald., 1922-01-15
Inside Disorders Endanger
Nations, Says Admiral Fiske'
Machinery of Civilization Not Always Handled
By Men Who Are Trained for the
Responsibility.
~ REAR ADMIRAL BRADLEY 4
FIskE. u. .. n.

By REAR ADMIRAL BRADLEY A.
FIskE- U. .. n.
President Of the United States
Naval Institute. :
(The Fifteenth OF a series Of tr-'
ticies he has written for
Universal seryice.)
Noting the unfortunate effects Of
having gone into the world war en-
tirely .nnprepared. some OF the in
telligent people Of our country
realize that they ought always to
keep II reasonably prepared.
They realize that by doing this
they will remove a great tempta-
tion from other nations. aud that
IL war nevertheless unfortunately
occurs, they will be able not only
to fight the war more effectively
but to return TO a state, OF peace
more quickly. They realize that
unpreparedness for war Is simple
inefficiency and unpreparedness for
peace IL Its twin brother.
But we should keep prepared for
other things besides war. War IL a
great evil, but there are other evils
worse. War is a combat with foes
outside; brit IL Is better for ma
ton las well as for a mani 10
have foes outside than inside More
people and more nations die from
Internal disease than from external
violence. Rome fell not because
the bsrbarians had become strong.
but because the Romans had be-
come efeminate. and therefore
weak.
II any one will turn his attention
for a few moments to affairs en-
tirely external TO. himself, and will
then reflect on the general condi-
tions OF the world, he will realize
that IL has become extremely COM
! plicated.
.Msekine of Civilization
The best illustration is. OF course.
city. Nearly all of US are SO i'm
mersed in our individual concerns,
and concentrate our efforts so fixed
ly on making a living, that we fail
| TO note what an enormous machine
and yet what a delicate machine
this world has grown 10 be.
| In a recent book. called "Inven-
ton" ! pointed out that ciyilizs.
ton has been gradually built up by
a great number OF inventions OF
many kinds and that these have
gradually developed a veritsble
Machine Of Civilization"
One Of the definitions of a ma
chine in the Standard Dictionary Is
the organization OF the powers OF
any complex body; as the machine
| OF government"
Most people have fallen into the
I habit Of thinking that a machine is
necessarily dixie a steam enginel
made only Of inanimste parts. such
as iron and brass: but this defni-
ton shows that this is only one
kind OF q machine. A machine may
be made Of human parts only. For
instance. a company Of soldiers Is
a machine, just as a steam engine
Is. Certain machines are composed
| OF parts some Of which are human
and some Of which are iron and
brass. A ship is a machine OF thi:
kind.
Clearly then, every organized hu-
man society, for instance. every
city, is as truly a machine as a
steam engine is. IT is composed OF
different parts which are entirely
| independent OF each other. but
which are nevertheless interde'
pendent: and all the parts work to-
gether for a common purpose.
Unframed Executives.
Now one OF the most significant
| things about a machine is the fact
that an injury TO any part of II sf-
fects the whole: a great injury even
TO a minor part may stop the work
| ing of the machine itself. A So
| 600 II. p. engine may be stopped by
a few grains Of sand in one Of the
bearings: a 4o.ooo-ton battleship
costing forty million. may be sunk
| IL even a small hole is blown, say
/ by a torpedo or mine, in her outer
skin.
But the most complicated ma
4 chine that We know of. and the
! finest in every way. is man himself
Yet the strongest man may be
killed by a germ too small TO sec
getting under his skin.
Similarly. our wonderful machine
| Of civilization. the development OF
! the ages. is dependent for its sue
cessful working on the successful
working of every part. An injpry
/ to one part affects the whole: and
! the whole machine may be stopped
or even destroyed by a cause rela'
lively small. The machine OF civ.
! iliZation was so destroyed in Baby
, lon, in Assyris, in Rome and In
| Russia.
But not only are the parts OF
tho machine in any one country de-
| pendent on each other, the machine
| in every country is dependent in
considerable measure on the ma
| chine In every other country. Since
the war we have seen many in
stances in which a serious strike in
one country aroused alarm, not only
in that country, but in all the other
countries also.
Now Il is a disquIeting fact re-
gardinG the machine OF civilization
that while IN every civilized coun-
try the individual parts OF the ma
chine are handled by men trained 10
handle them, the machine itself il
handled by men who have not been
trained to handle It
I l mean by the parts OF the ma
chine" the various professions and
vocatlons in which men are en-
gagged. such as engineering, law,
medicine. business, the army and
navy, etc, etc.
Statesmen and CiytIIzntio
In every one of these parts or de-
partments. the mon occupying the
| high positions are the men who
have been fitted for them by special
training. But In the machine, as a
whole. the men occupying the high
positions have not been So fitted.