IF CIVILISATION CRASHED

Evening Star, Issue 19196, 12 March 1926, Page 8

IF CIVILISATION CRASHED

BACK TO DARK ABYSS COMMENTS OH MODERN TENDENCIES The late Lord Northclili'o often used to maintain that any man ought to be able to get all he had to say upon any subject into one column of reading matter, That his lordship sometimes monopolised two-thirds of a page in his own journals is only one of those little human touches that account for so much of the popularity of really great men (writes “ W'.K.L.,” in the ‘Liverpool Weekly rest - '). Without stopping here to argue a very debatable question, 1 agree that when one column is the extent of your allotted space, anything you may have to say upon any subject must necessarily bo concentrated into that cireumscribed area. There are occasions, however, when this can only bo accomplished with the active co-operation of the gentle reader—so much detail has to he lotfc to his imagination that ho must not only read, but weigh carefully all that the written word • implies- and covers. Such ah occasion now arises.

We are so accustomed to what is, that wo are prone to take it lor granted, and to forget what went before. for example, there are children running about to-day who have yet to hear of the Groat War, just as there arc likely youths of, say sixteen, who would not recognise a golden sovereign if they saw one. Yet these things only take us back to comparatively recent 1911.

What of the beginning of all things? What is the origin and meaning ol our modern civilisation?

In the beginning nil men were. free. They were free to cat when, where, and what they would, although in. those early days that would only amount to edible roots and berries. They were free to roam where they would, but il they wandered too far away from a river they might die a horrid death of thirst; whilst sudden death, in the shape of hungry (and thirsty) prehistoric monsters, ever threatened them at the riverside. .Kadi man was free to take what ho could, and each other man was equally free to take it Irom him—if ho could. Kach and every man was a law unto himself, but when two such lawgivers found themselves at variance one of them generally came to a sticky end. They wore free to live iingovernc«d, free to die unaided, and free to rot unburiccl. Bo much for their glorious freedom. THE FIRST LANDLORD. In course of time cereals wore discovered, and some unknown benefactor began to sow corn. The whole world was then a huge uncultivated wilderness, and anybody was welcome to squat upon any piece of land so long as ho could hold it. It was not enough to work upon the land in those days; the would-be tiller of the soil had to be prepared to hold it against all comers. Thus, when our unknown benefactor lirst sowed corn, he would enclose his plot, or, at any rate, stake a claim; and so we come to—Lire first landlord. When it was found that lle.sli could he used as human food, anybody could have it for the mere getting. But some men were more expert than others as hunters, trappers, and fishermen; and thus it happened (as before, and since) some lived in plenty, while others had little or even nothing. As time went on the experts became more expert, and, sated with surplus meal, would exchange it for fish or for corn. Here, then, we meet the lirst hulcher, the lirst fishmonger, and f ho lirst cornchandler. Modern commerce was in the mailing.

I'iventualiy (lie unsettled stale of society, in which every man was lor himsoil', became intolerable. I'\>r mutual protection, families banded themselves together and thus became tribes. This put. a stop So the gory conflict between individual men, lint, in place of ii, all they got was tribal wars. Jn the end the warring tribes, doubt loss tearing mutual extermination, amalgamated together the whole of the tribes in the country. Thus wo come to (ho first nation.

When first (be people got logelhef in tribes, the mult Undo of counsel was fount! to lead to stagnation in the arts of peace, and defeat ami disaster in rear. The remedy was duly forthcoming, ami tribal chaos was banished by the election of one supremo head, with whom rested flic filial word in peace and in war. Here wo have the fust chairman of committee, (he first com-mander-in-chief, the lirst prime mi ussier, the lirst king! It was inevitable. One, .summer’s clay some prehistoric genius, observing a heath (ire caused by the beat of the sum reflected how nice it would be to ait by such a fire •—in winter time. That was ilie beginning of tiro as the sen-ant of mam Possibly it was by torturing prisoners at the stake that the idea ol using fire to cook food was first conceived. Hero we find the original ancestor Booton, and the foster parent of eat-ing-houses, calcs, restaurants, bote's, and other queer fowl. Vt itli the final application of fire to crude metals, we see the birth of the tremendous iio.i, steel, engineering., mining, and shipbuilding industries oi 10-day. TilK LAZY AIsIMAL.

11l tilt' beginning, il H till! 11 Wanted to get from here vo there, lie walked. [ Hut man is an incurably lazy animal in tluiL respect, and ever sought lor oilier moans of locomotion. When tribal wars brought slaves, lie caused himsell to ho carried on some nulo tonn oi stretcher or palanquin. -Asses, camels, elephants, and oxen were later pressed into service, until .somebody invented the first, wheel Then wo had carts, then carriages then stage coaches, then ihe plebeian omnibus. Then came railways, to he followed by motors, and thus wo arrived at that tangled modern problem—transport. Now, just as the expert hinder began to specialise in the hunting, hilling, and bartering of bis meat, so the game ol specialisation went on, and to surprising lengths. To-day cattle are not hunted. 'they arc carefully and scientilically bred and reared by stockbreeders and larmors; they are mothered and tended by veterinary surgeons; they aro sold by auctioneers having special knowledge ol such sales; they are transported in special trucks by'the railways; they aro killed by slaughterers, carted by vanmen, refrigerated by cold storage experts, and eventually retailed in joints by a “ butcher ” who wouldn’t know how to slaughter a beast, even if he could find it in his heart.

It, is Urn same in every direction. The mini who made the lirsfc boob was a complete and self-supporting unit in a world of barter. But tile individual who machine-stitches tlin uppers oi your bools would find his occupation gone were it not for those several others concerned, both before and after those ■uppers wore stitched. Each is necessary. tho one to the other. The days are gone when any man can stand alone. At, every turning we prove this. We strike a mnHi. and immediately there is a flame. We turn a tap, and straightway water gushes forth in abundance. . We press a switch, and light is forthcoming. Wo lift the receiver and talk to people wo cannot see who may he scores of miles away. M o give tlie linker a few coppers, and the. prime, produce of I ho American whontficlds, alter passing through the hands of scores of contributory agents, is banded to ns in the compact shape of a. crusty loaf. And when we would he amused or entertained, lint aro too lazy to go to a theatre or a concert, hey presto! we just pick up tho headphones and there wo arc! A TERRIBLE “ IF.” . * An astonishing filing this civilisation of ours. A terrible tiling. it might

nrovc too, if any serious hitch happened to tiio complicated machine!' o aclc Even such a seemingly small matter as maichos-hmv could wc get on without them nowadaysf Civilisation - may bo oulua a blessi -, or a curse; but. in any case, X icallj don’t see that wo havq any option but to get, on with it. Primitive man had to take the world as ho found it, and make tho best of it. What that best could accomplish I have endejored to show for tho consideration of made s in this remarkable age of wireless, tho dole, cup ties, and— organised discontent.