NATIONAL EVOLUTION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 653, 2 November 1909, Page 6

NATIONAL EVOLUTION.

ITS L3SSONS FOR NEW ZEALAND. ■ A great subject was handled.by Dr.'Borghotti . m the leiture which-ho delivered,at the Con< ' cert Hall'last evening, under thb auspicos of ~ the City Council Library Committee.- He dealt . with the birth, growth,. and decay of the nations that;; have ' successive#; - existed .in ; . Europe, and drew from their successes and • failures lessons for. New Zealand. His theme, - ' in short, was national evolution; and he i handled' it with' a familiarity born, of > careful'-, - thought and wide study. The" liihguago usGd , was forcible: arid idiomatic, 1)Ut : the. lecturer had| some .difficulty in making; himself .''hoard,,. *": This, : as ho explained,-was'due to the > fact .'that-English is hot-his native.;to'iigue, and that he : had - scarcely recovered from an lindisposic; tion :which: had-temporarily weakened his voice,' ' During .the first fifteen minutes of the'lecture, a number '.of people sitting near the back of the hall gave, up the attempt' to hear' and went : ,out, but: on tho chairman appealing for, a'more i courteous treatment of the lecturer,'the. exoduv was stopped. The only interruptittos' tofter that : . , r -were" the .applause, which pi'ived that, .-even if.'; a jfew, .words hero and thore were ' missed, thi lecture as a whole was understood and: enjoyed.. " Beginning with a survey of the rise and fall of nations and empires in Europe, Dr. Bop ghetti showed .how hew' races were; formed by . the 1 clashing 'of : two stocks,'' arid -how evolution went on by means of intermingling, .accom-, , panicd by struggle and suffering, until thr ■ goal, of'centralisation was reached. Then foI« lowed-decentralisation, and'after, that',•decay,;:* \ Thus England: readied centralisation . in -the, . glorious Elizabethan period, arid whoso decen« -, - tralisation was-the imperial*, expansion; of the succeeding centuries. The same- laws 'Of evolu«:. tion were traced in tho rise and fall of the ; Roman Empire, arid its'; successor','tho ' Holy ■> Roman Empire, and ; ,in the birth of modern Gormany.' The Renaissance arid the' Reforma- ■ ■ tion. with its consequent ■" -wars rojuvonatcd ''V History 6liowed that tho work bf Natur,e' ; wa9 , to raise mankind.; from individtfalism.Ho. nato. ■ racialism,.and.to;. Wankind—to • ■an even higher form of co-operation and brotherhood, .through- struggling, suffering,' " and' ,-V----intermingling.' >'. 'lunations of Central' Europe, had reached tho stage of-national'co-opera-tion, and, were neanng that of racial . co->.if. operation. The salvation of New Zealand i must be ,Songht in; the' samo - direction'.'We, must rise to nationalisii j. possibly, to'iapial--ism. .Loarni.ng irom history, the. benefits of a' blonding of races,, Tte:'should, as our. first - duty, follow v tho- example of -Canada,'-'.' and '. bring hither farmers from - Central Europe... We could send agents,, who would' obtain for 'us settlers of high-moral standard, with-large : families. In blending, with- a now 'stock' w«'-;-. should find .that social bond,which' was., the., main-factor;in 1 Our-.second,. duty .was', to acknowledge, the fact, that Nature meant this for'an ,agricultural nation, ■ ' and. nothing else.' We must; therefore, break > up land moriODolics, 'arid -allow '.nobody .to ' . have!' more;', land than he'.qould' use. If the: ' force to do this did not come from within, it . would come from without,, and thero would be-an end of New Zealand as a white, man's oointry. '.Our. third dutyW-'as tb;'creato.;here;'■what' the nations of CeitlAl -.Europ'q, "under : the pressure o£,,snrrouniiitfgs, had created long ago—an _ aristocracy'. of-intellect. .' This could lie achieved by exacting from all who wished to i practise as- doctors,- lawyers, ehem- ' - ists, dentists, etc;, or, to join 'the civil service, a vory -high standaH of knowledge.As soon as ,the new generation, thus educated, 'made its influence felt,' our attitude of ; mind V concerning life, religion, tho family, the: ptess, the State, and the outside world would ohnngo for the better. We should then have a clear conception of our destiny as' a . nation, and'- find that force, which would bo' neocisnry to work ■ out, - our' own,; salvation.. Let ns reform our, schools, and equip our youths' t<) -' underetand the interest of the individual •in connection with- that of tho nation arid of th» race. When wo . had j obtained • population, ' tnorality, intolligcnco. and . wealth, it woull : be. very, easy to havo also-a navv, an army, airships,/ and all that man could orcntO 'fol , : tho defenco of his-courilry. , The leoturer • receiwd a hoarly vote oi thanks. i'-.f.-S",