WAR AND THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY 195 



WAE AND THE PEOGEESS OP SOCIETY 



By Peofessor I. W. HOWERTH 



THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 



WE in America are so accustomed to the idea of social progress, and 

 so familiar with certain actual or so-called progressive ideals, pro- 

 gressive factors and progressive movements, not to speak of progressive 

 parties, that we are likely to assume that progress is general and in the 

 nature of things. Such, however, is not the case. There are no grounds 

 for the prevalent belief in the "general evolution of mankind" in 

 which the nations of Europe, our own country, or any other country for 

 that matter, must necessarily participate in spite of its wickedness, ex- 

 cesses and folly. The very idea of social progress is comparatively new, 

 and the most superficial examination of the facts of social evolution as 

 revealed in history will show that social advancement is sporadic, local 

 and limited in time. Primitive civilizations were as a rule non- 

 progressive. Some of the modern nations, as for instance, China, are 

 practically in a statical condition. National decadence, or the reverse 

 of progress, as for instance in the later history of Spain, Eome, Greece 

 and Egypt, looms large in the background of the past. Extensive re- 

 gions in the Orient, once the home of advanced civilizations, are now 

 barren deserts from which all life has disappeared. National deca- 

 dence is in fact a more familiar phenomenon than national progress. 

 As Maine remarks, 



The stationary condition of the human race is the rule, the progressive the 

 exception.i 



Still, if the doctrine of social evolution be true, and we assume that 

 it is, progress has characterized all peoples at some time in their his- 

 tory. Even in the case of stagnant primitive peoples, as well as the 

 non-progressive nations of to-day, there must have been advancement 

 prior to the time at which they reached their static condition. A brief 

 study of the manner in which this advancement was brought about, par- 

 ticularly the part that war played, and now plays, in the achievement 

 of social progress is the object of this paper. 



It is sometimes said, and it seems to be widely believed, that one of 

 the essential factors in social progress is war. This declaration and 

 this belief, however, are unwarranted, as I shall proceed to show. 



If we should look into sociological literature to find a specification 

 of the factors of social progress and an accurate analysis of the several 

 circumstances, elements or influences which tend to the promotion of 

 civilization through progress, we should find practical agreement, al- 



1 ' ' Ancient Law, ' ' p. 23. See also Bagehot, ' ' Physics and Politics, ' ' Ch. I. 



