IS CIVILISATION PLAYED OUT?

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1921, Page 4

IS CIVILISATION PLAYED OUT?

According to Mr. H. G. Wells-, civilisation is fast tumbling to pieces, and'jno' efforts qi'e being made to stave off disaster. The same mournful dirge has been heard before, many times, and its reiteration is not likely to cause the nations of the earth to put on sackcloth and pour ashes over their heads. The' history of civilisation is nothing more than the history of nations viewed from a philosophic standpoint. The quaint conception of a Maori standing on London bridge viewing the ruins of the city is familiar to most people, and its realisation is just as probable—or improbable—as is the wreck of European civilisation over which Mr. Wells expressed such great concern. The evolution of civilisation has been well defined through the ages of the past to the present time, from the stone age of .primitive man to the era of the conquest of the air and the submarine; from the cutting of flint implements to the advent of high power explosives; from the language of gesture to wireless telegraphy. The whole question of what Mr. Wells terms “salvaging civilisation” turns upon the construction he places on the jvord itself, and at present the key to this query -has not reached New Zealand. But when this clever essayist ventures on the assertion that no efforts are being made to stave off the disaster of civilisation tumbling to pieces, it is evident bis prophetic pessimism is due to an attack of anarchistic fright that, restricts his vision and warps his judgment. Was not the recent war a gigantic struggle on behalf of civilisation? Ta nbt the League of Nations a great experiment in the upward effort towardshigher civilisation? Does not the rising flood of democracy, assisted by universal education and equal opportunity for all, make for increased mental , and moral power? Admitting that there are cankers and cancerous growths in the body politic, yet most of these lend themselves to treatment, while the wave of socialism and anarchy in certain ■ countries i-s but a passing phase resulting from the bursting of the dam of repression and the intoxication of liberty in the form of unbridled license that needs expert control before it adapts itself to new environments. So far as the British Empire is concerned there is not the slightest danger of the collapse of civilisation, nor are there any reliable grounds for fear of such a disaster. “The Empire,” says Mr. Wells, “must rest, not upon its strength in warfare, but on keeping peace within 'and without its boundaries.” We venture to think that although this sentiment i-s one that theoretically is all that could be desired, yet practically the Empire would be courting disaster unless it rested both on its strength in warfare and in preserving peace. The more inflexibly the efforts of the people are