410 COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION 



cannot practically be avoided, we shall not be satisfied with any such 

 negative statement of our duties and relations. We need a more 

 positive guide, one also that will harmonize our attitude toward the 

 various elements in civilization. May we not, after all, find in our 

 own civilization the guidance which we seek? We have found that, 

 statically considered, as a definite system of customs and institu- 

 tions, we cannot apply it directly in solving the problems of colonial 

 development. It is clear that we cannot confer by acts of legislation 

 the results of our social and political evolution upon an alien people. 

 The fruits of civilization cannot thus be transferred. But will not 

 a study of the dynamic elements that have assured our social pro- 

 gress give us some clue as to a proper colonial policy ? While we may 

 well despair of bestowing upon an alien race the entire complex of our 

 civilized institutions and customs and beliefs, may it not be possible 

 to modify their social evolution in accordance with our experience 

 and thus to obtain for them gradually a higher degree of social well- 

 being and efficiency? The evolutionary and structural ideals of our 

 civilization may be of greater value in this matter than its positive 

 standards and its resultants in our social life. 



Defined from the structural point of view, civilization implies 

 a social organization of highly centralized energy combined with 

 great mobility of the individual parts. This mobility involves the 

 absence of a deadening fixation of activities by custom or caste, leav- 

 ing the individual free to seek the line of endeavor in which his own 

 energies may find their best and most fruitful expression. It in- 

 volves a constant betterment of the condition of humanity through 

 invention, and consequently an intensive cultivation of the natural 

 resources of the civilized state. The surplus thus obtained enables 

 the civilized society to devote a large part of its energies to the ad- 

 vancement of education, art, and science. The distinction between 

 civilization and barbarism lies, therefore, primarily in the mobility 

 of social forces and in the readiness with which they are able to con- 

 centrate their efforts at any given point. The impact thus produced, 

 no barbarian society can withstand. The positive superiority of 

 a given society is thus not due to the presence of a large armed force, 

 but to the maintenance of conditions which will enable it to bring 

 to bear at any time and at any given point the entire national energy. 



It is imperative that we should clearly see that in colonial politics 

 we have to deal with societies in their broadest aspects, - - with 

 civilization and not with individuals. The greatest mischief is 

 wrought by looking upon the natives as so many individuals, clay to 

 the hands of the potter, to be fashioned with ease into some resem- 

 blance to European or American. It is only as we modify the struc- 

 ture, principles, and customs of native societies, that we can exert 

 any lasting influence upon individuals. Just as the quality of our 



