第45章

“Ought“，isofcoursehereusedtodenotebusinessexpediency，notmoralrestraint。 Asasideline，whichaffordsplayforthestaff’screativetalent，whateverisexceptionallysensationalatthesametimethatitisharmlesstotheadvertisers’interestsshould，innewspaperslangbe“playedup“。 Businessenterprisesthatarenotnotableadvertisersmayberoundlyekentotask，as，e。g。，theStandardOilCompanyortheAmericanSugarRefiningCompany；and，indeed，itmaybeshrewdmanagementtoabusetheseconcerns，sincesuchabuseredoundstotheperiodical’sreputationforpopularsympathyandindependence。 Snobbery“ishereusedwithoutdisrespect，asaconvenienttermtodenotetheelementofstraininvolvedinthequestofgentilityonthePartofpersonswhoseaccustomedsocialsendingislesshighorlessauthenticthantheiraspirations。 Cf。，e。g。，MauriceLair，l’Imperialismallemand，especiallych。IIandIII。ThelikechangeofsentimentisvisibleintheBritishcommunity。Cf。Hobson，Imperialism，especiallyptch。 Iand Cf。，e。g。，Hobson，Imperialism，p。 Theselectiveeffectofwarfare，bothancientandmodern，hasbeendiscussedbyvariouswriters。ProtractedwarsOrawarlikepolicyalwayshavesomesucheffect，nodoubt，andinoldtimesthishasshownitselftobeaseriousculturalfactor。Itiscommonlyregardedthattheselectionresultsinaneliminationofthe“best“humanmaterial。PerhapsthemostcogentspokesmanforthisviewisD。S。Jordan，TheBloodoftheNation。The“best“inthiscasemustbetakentomeanthebestfortheprupose，notnecessarilyforotherpurposes。InsuchacaseastheChineseortheJewishpeoples，e。g。，averylong-continued，thoughnotinbothcasesaclose，selectiveeliminationofthepeace-dturbingelementshasleftaresiduethatishighlyefficient(“good“)incertaindirections，butnotgoodwarmaterial。ThecaseoftheNorth-Europeanpeoples，however，inthepresentjunctureissomewhatdifferentfromthese。Racially，themostefficientwarmaterialamongthemseemstobethoseelementsthatcontainanappreciableadmixtureofthedolicho-blondstock。Theseelementsatthesametimeareapparently，onthewhole，alsotheonesmostgenerallyendowedwithindustrialinitiativeandalarge，aptitudeforthemachinetechnologyandscientificresearch。 Selectiveelininationbywarandmilitarytenureinthecaseofthesepeoplesshould，therefore，apparentlylowerboththeirfightingcapacityandtheirindustrialandintellectualcapacity； sothat，byforceofthisdoubleandcumulativeeffect，theresultingnationaldeclineshouldintheircasebecomprehensiveandrelativelyprecipitate。 Withthecomplementofarchaicvirtuesthatinveststheseadeptsthereisalsoassociatedafaircomplementofthosemoreelementalvicesthataregrowingobsoleteinthepeaceablecivilizedcommunities。Suchdebaucheries，extravagancesofcruelty，andgeneralsuperfluityofnaughtinessasarenamelessorimpossibleincivillifeareblamelessmattersofcourseintheservice。Inthenatureofthecasetheyareinseparablefromtheservice。Theservicecommonlyleavestheveteransphysical，intellectual，andmoralinvalids(aswitnesstherecordsofthePensionOffice)。Buttheselesshandsomeconcomitantsoftheserviceshouldscarcelybemadeapointofreproachtothosebravemenwhosedevotiontotheflagandthebusinessinterestshasledthembythepathsofdiseaseanddepravity。Noraretheaccumulatedvicestobelightlycondemned，sincetheirweightalsofallsontheconservativeside；beingarchaicandauthenticated，theirculturalbearingis，onthewhole，salutary。 TheEnd