San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-03-11
SAYS AMERICA
SH|RKS WORLD
RESPONSIBILITY.
Judge Willard H. Vande-
vier, Wilson Appointee,
Talks to Academy.
WHAT HISTORY SHOWS
Says Anglo Saxon Races
Are in Seat of Power
With England Leading.

The old Aristotle theory that SUI
preme power shall not be given t,
the one, the few or the many. but ST
distributed that neither shall oppres
the other is the principle upon which
the government of the United Statei
is founded, Judge Willard II. Van
devier, former assistant secretary o
the treasury under the Wilson ad
ministration, declared in an address
before the Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Friday evening at the Men
ger Hotel.
After discussing government as ar
inductive science, based on history
the speaker told of the experiments
that have Seen made in government
IN ancient and modern times.
"We have seen that government is
an inductive science; that Aristotle
was its best exponent among the an.
clients; that he wrote the history Of
100 different governments before he
undertook to lay down the princi-
pies by which a nation should be
governed; and that he reached the
conclusion from these experiments
that we must not give supreme pow
er TO the one. the few and the many
but so distribute it among the one,
the few and the many that neither
shall Cypress the other" said Judge
Nandevier.
Points Out Descendants.
"This is the Aristotelian maxim OH
which rests the foundation of our
government, and constitutes the germ
of our constitution. dividing the pow
ers of government into legislative. ex-
ecutiye and judicial branches. thus
securing liberty, efficiency and jus
tice. We have examined some of the
most powerful examples in past his
tory. We found that for perhaps a
thousand years the mightiest agency
for the government of human beings
was in Egypt: but it was a selfish
and pitiless tyranny. Society was
bound in iron-clad castles; the priest
ly castles and the military castles with
the sovereign ruled the country and
millions of slaves had to do their
bidding.
"This accounts for their stipend
Gus works in stone. Their system
might produce the pyramids OF Disa
the temples of karnak and Thebes
the Sphinx and the Obelisis. but il
could not produce n civilization wortl
preserving. 1t was stolid and sta
tionary. Their degenerate descendn
ants still used forked limb of q
tree for a pillow drawn by n camel
or buffalo. After the pharaohs
came David and Solomon and the
Israelites and Jerusalem, but we
must pass them by.
Why Greece Fell.
"Then. for perhaps two centuries
the brightest spot on the globe was
Athens. the flower of Greece. Here
an entirely different form of civil.
cation sprang up. 1t was marked
not by massiveness in stone nor ex'
tent Of territory; but by splendor OF
intellect and beauty of art. The in
tellectual conquect of the world by
the philosophers, poets, orators and
artists of Greece is the most pleas
ing event in the annals of mankind
Of their monuments in stone we cal
trace the ruins of the Temple of Jupi
ter and the Parthennon which crown:
the Acropolis at Athens, the most per
feet piece of architectural art every
put together: at once the glory Of
Greece and the shame of the rest oi
the world. But Greece fell a prey
to internal dissention and then TO tn,
envy of foreign foes. She was de-
stroyed by Mars, the War God 4; hel
political power lasted only two cen
turtles and covered less territory thar
one-quarter of the state of Texas
and her golden age lasted only &C
years; but her art and her philosophy
have ruled the world for % centuries
Greece had to surrender to more
powerful but less cultivated race
Then the political center of the an
cient world moved westward. to tn,
banl2, of the Tiber, and for some fiv,
centuries Rome was the dominating
power among men; but Rome. Xix,
Athens, fell n prey to internal dis
sention instigated by envy and ambi
ton among her leaders; and tber
enervated by luxury and divided BY
jealousy. she became an easy prey Il
the still more hardy hordes of tn,
north. Here again the war god tri
umphed over refinements of culture
and art. Barbarism eat down civil
zation, and then barbarism and su
perstition together held the word IN
darkness for another thousand years
the blacklist page in human history
And now passing over all epochs ant
experiments, the high peaks and thu
dismal swamps in mans career, whert
is the great high power engine of civ
ilization today and what is the grea
world movement that seems to shak'
the whole earth? Only eight ant
one-half years ago civilization wa.
again imperiled and was again res
cued by a young and more viril
race; and again also the seat of pow
er has moved westward. Where il
it today?
England Takes Lead.
al answer boldly it is on both side
of the Atlantic. 1t is the Anglo
Saxon race. / have the warmest sym
patty for the French and admiration
for their courage, nor would L plucl
flower from the brow of Italy whicl
fought bravely by our side; but !
the civilization Of the world is to b
preserved and handed down unfair
nished to larger and better world
it must mainly y the two grea
branches of the English speaking
people. Great Britain is today tn
mightiest single entiety in the gov
eminent of mankind; holding swa,
over 80 different kingdoms. republic
and colonies containing more thu