﻿THE 
  ISSUES 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  311 
  

  

  confidently, 
  has 
  seemed 
  to 
  many 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  civilisation 
  

   was 
  born 
  out 
  of 
  war. 
  Even 
  Maine 
  spoke 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Universal 
  

   belligerency 
  of 
  primitive 
  mankind 
  ". 
  But 
  scientific 
  inquiry 
  

   does 
  not 
  confirm 
  this 
  conclusion. 
  In 
  a 
  valuable 
  article 
  Mr. 
  

   Havelock 
  Ellis 
  (1919) 
  makes 
  the 
  following 
  points 
  : 
  (1) 
  Chel- 
  

   lean 
  man, 
  who 
  first 
  used 
  permanent 
  and 
  indubitably 
  human 
  

   tools, 
  may 
  have 
  lived 
  about 
  27,000 
  years 
  ago, 
  so 
  that 
  our 
  

   ' 
  historical 
  ' 
  period 
  does 
  not 
  cover 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  his- 
  

   tory. 
  But 
  what 
  Palaeolithic 
  weapons 
  and 
  art 
  suggest 
  is 
  

   in 
  the 
  main 
  hunting 
  not 
  fighting. 
  (2) 
  If 
  the 
  culture 
  of 
  the 
  

   primitive 
  Mousterians 
  survives 
  among 
  the 
  Australians, 
  that 
  

   of 
  the 
  Aurignacians 
  among 
  the 
  Bushmen, 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   Magdalenians 
  among 
  the 
  Eskimo, 
  what 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  these 
  

   contemporary 
  ancestors 
  of 
  ours 
  seems 
  to 
  show 
  is 
  that 
  war, 
  

   apart 
  from 
  regulated 
  punishment 
  and 
  blood-vengeance, 
  is 
  

   almost 
  unknown. 
  ' 
  Savages 
  7 
  are 
  on 
  the 
  whole 
  not 
  warlike. 
  

   (3) 
  " 
  War 
  probably 
  began 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  mankind, 
  

   it 
  developed 
  slowly 
  out 
  of 
  animal 
  hunting 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  a 
  

   regulated 
  attempt 
  to 
  secure 
  justice 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  gratifica- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  revenge, 
  it 
  was 
  immensely 
  stimulated 
  by 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   coveries 
  of 
  the 
  metals, 
  and 
  especially 
  iron 
  ; 
  above 
  all, 
  it 
  

   owed 
  its 
  expansion 
  to 
  two 
  great 
  forces, 
  the 
  attractive 
  force 
  

   of 
  booty 
  and 
  commercial 
  gain 
  in 
  front, 
  and 
  the 
  propulsive 
  

   force 
  of 
  a 
  confined 
  population 
  with 
  a 
  high 
  birth-rate 
  be- 
  

   hind. 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  r 
  " 
  War 
  was 
  a 
  result, 
  and 
  not 
  a 
  cause, 
  of 
  social 
  

   organisation." 
  

  

  We 
  think 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  risk 
  of 
  exaggerating 
  the 
  impor- 
  

   tance 
  of 
  a 
  high 
  birth-rate 
  as 
  a 
  factor 
  in 
  the 
  evolution 
  of 
  

   warfare, 
  for 
  primitive 
  peoples 
  had 
  their 
  own 
  rough 
  ways 
  

   of 
  keeping 
  a 
  population 
  balance. 
  Perhaps, 
  again, 
  Mr. 
  Ellis 
  

   underrates 
  the 
  importance 
  of 
  variation 
  especially 
  social 
  

   variation 
  as 
  a 
  cause 
  of 
  war. 
  Therefore 
  while 
  it 
  is 
  with 
  

  

  