CONSIDER THE GORILLA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 October 1939, Page 5

CONSIDER THE GORILLA

EARLY ATTEMPTS AT SECURITY.

It is often assumed that the spirit of nationality is something hew—only a few centuries old, so far as Europe is concerned. This is certainly not true, writes Sir Arthur Keith, the famous anthropologist. The spirit which induces men to cling together in permanent groupings for purposes of intercourse, of mutual service and of security, is as old as man himself. Such groups represent man’s earliest attempts at “collective security.” Even our remote cousins, the anthropoid apes, in their life in the jungle, give us the first glimmerings of the collective or national spirit. In the behaviour of the male gorilla we can trace the dawn of patriotism. Leaving his family group secluded in the bushes behind him, he comes forward to meet the enemy, and, if need be, he gives his life for its safety. The establishment of frontiers is still an older practice; frontiers are determined and respected by many forms of bird and beast. All primitive tribes live in a territory with observed frontiers. A frontier is demarcated as a means of preserving peace: It is as undemarcated or disputed frontier that is the most common cause of war. In the absence of aggressive neighbours, a tribe need only live inside its frontiers to have peace.