WE MAY BE SWIFT

Evening Star, Issue 19924, 21 July 1928, Page 18

WE MAY BE SWIFT

ARE WE HAPPIER? SPEED PERIL ID CIVILISATION Lord Darling recently . informed the gas engineers that civilisation was a failure, and that the discoveries of science had made the world hardly lit to live in; and, as if to comfort his mind, a prophet learned in the lineal measuurements of the Great Pyramid at once announced the coming end of the world and the immediate doom of "Weymouth (writes Sir Edward Parry in the ‘Sunday Chronicle ’). His Lordship may bo right in thinking that our civilisation is a lailure, but the scientific tipster who thinks that the world will go out with a bang has all history against him. Civilisations have disappeared before now. Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Romo attained to heights of highly cultivated civilisation to which we have not aspired. But they slowly and silently vanished away, and it seems doubtful if their citizens knew that their civilisations were dying. To-day wo dig little bits of their wonderful achievements out of tho earth and putj them in our museums. A MORBID STUNT. It is possible that our_ civilisation is coming to an end. It is conceivable, [or instance, that a glacial period may cover np these islands of ours onco again with masses of ice, and centuries ahead another race of people may find spare parts of our aeroplanes and motor cars lying in the mud drift, and wonder what they were and what sort of anthropoid made use of them. But prophesying the end of the world is a morbid stunt, and if our civilisation is to go it will he because our race has become too eager for enjoyment, and does not value the highest, things. It is reasonable, to take stock of our affairs and consider whether the civilisation of to-day stands upon any more permanent basis than the civilisations of yesterday. We must admit that they were at least our equals in learning, art, philosophy, law, and politics. But wc seem to hold new records in t science, especially in mechanical science. OUR CLAIM TO CIVILISATION. At the moment the world we live in appears to have concentrated its energies on mechanical contrivances for rapid transport. Wc seek salvation in speed, and our claim to civilisation seems to rest largely on the pace we go. But is rapid movement essential .to.

human welfare? Does it make men better or more useful or even happier? It is chronicled that eighteen lives were lost on English roads on Whit Monday. Wo have long left oif counting the wounded. Are these casualties necessary to a happy holiday? Is mere speed civilisation? Does it make for righteousness that mankind is moved about tho earth at fifty miles an hour or whizzed through the air at 100 miles an hour? Tho world takes it for granted that tho wonderful mechanical inventions of to-day increase the sum of human happiness; but is it so? Is a child happier to-day because instead of learning to draw pictures with a pencil he goes round clicking a camera, and instead of learning to play a fiddle or a piano or even a penny whistle he turns on the gramophone? Who really has tho best of it on a summer holiday, the man who climbs Skiddaw and tramps over tho Quantocks or tho South Downs on two legs, or the stunt rider who snorts through these beauty spots on two wheels? Were tho sands of tho seashore put there for record breakers or for children with buckets and spades? In a word, does civilisation consist in parting with the simple pleasures of life? THE DOWNGRADE. When Lord Darling said that these new inventions were often a nuisance to others, he was not far wrong, and it is a delusion to suppose that they have made the life of the ordinary citizen safer and happier. In relation to the problem of civilisation they are merely luxuries that quicken the pace at which wo live without raising our moral standard of living. And as far as we can learn from history about the cause of the decay of civilisation, an age that devoted itself to luxury was edging towards the downward grade. Just before the Romans left England they had splendid roads, and chariots that raced along them at speeds that were not equalled again for centuries. The twilight of great civilisations seems always to have been clouded by heavv taxation, unemployment, and , the /ear of war. Luxury war, rampant, and teachers, men of science and business, and philosophers were neglected for warriors and makers of munitions. Meanwhile the Governments sought to feed and amuse the workers, and those who were out of work, with bread and excuses. HEADLONG. But it would be rash and foolish to apply these symptoms of decay to the present condition of our own affairs. A sensible man will not waste much of the short span of his life on earth in speculating whether the civilisation around him is waxing or waning. But at least lie will do well to rid himself of the prevalent heresy that the

' triumphs of mechanical contrivances - which play such a large pari, in the life of to-day are in themselves civilisation. : They may. and possibly will he. used by a. new generation as munitions iu the evolution of mankind. But real civilisation will depend upon a human desire, for peace, a. spread ■ of learning and education among the masses of mankind, and tho devclop- • mont of a higher instinct of right action and good conduct throughout the , world. Mere speed is certainly a seductive and delightful luxury, Wc all fall to the lure of it at times. The Gadarcno pigs attained a high rate of speed on tho slopes of the mountain, but they rushed headlong into the ocean of de- ■ sir notion.

NOT THE BEST RELAXATION. And for my part I regard many of these mechanical amusements of the people, from tin hares acid totalisot-ors to motor cars and aeroplanes, as having very little to do with civilisation. It is pleasant enough in holiday times to rush about and see new places. But. speed and tho continuous noise of speed are not tho host relaxation for a tired worker, nor can mechanical toys minister to the highest aspirations of a great and enduring people.