850 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 



perty; (6) the priesthood; (7) a leisure class; (8) government by 

 law; (9) the state; (10) political liberty; (11) property; (12) a 

 business class; (13) a people; (14) a nation. 



The first two of these social structures are not now regarded 

 as useful, but they were useful when formed, and, indeed, the essen- 

 tial conditions to all the subsequent ones. The priesthood and the 

 leisure class are now no longer necessary to a high civilization, 

 but they still exist, and under proper limitations they have an 

 important function. All institutions undergo great modifications 

 and some are completely transformed with time. 



The case considered is that of the union of two primitive groups 

 which occupied at the outset the same social position, and that the 

 lowest known. It may be called a case of simple social assimilation. 

 That there have been many such cases there is no doubt, but no 

 such could be observed by enlightened man, for the simple reason 

 that no such primitive groups exist, or have existed since there have 

 been enlightened men. This may sound strange when we constantly 

 hear of existing hordes and clans. But I make bold to affirm that 

 none of the hordes or clans now existing are at all primitive. Nay, 

 I go farther and maintain that all hordes and clans, all tribes, and 

 all races are equally old. The lowest race on the earth is as old 

 as the most enlightened nation. There is no escape from this ex- 

 cept in the old exploded theological doctrine of special creation. 

 The theory of polygenism is a form of that doctrine applied to 

 human races. To admit it involves the surrender of the whole doc- 

 trine of evolution. If man has evolved from a lower prehuman 

 stage, he emerged as man at a given time, and all human races 

 have descended from that one truly primitive type. All human 

 races are therefore equally old. The differences among them are 

 not at all due to the time it has required to reach their present 

 state, because all have had the same time in which to do this. The 

 differences are wholly due to the different conditions under which 

 they have been placed and in conformity with which they have 

 developed. 



There has, of course, been a great variety of influences at work 

 in determining the direction and degree of development of the 

 races of men, but there is one element that has had more to do 

 with this than any other, or perhaps than all others combined; 

 that is the element with which we have been dealing, viz., the 

 element of social assimilation. When we realize that all human 

 races are equally old, we can readily see that all cases of simple 

 assimilation, such as the one sketched, must have occurred far 

 back in the early history of man. The period of social differentia- 

 tion may have been very long. It may have occupied half of the 

 two hundred thousand years that are commonly assigned to man 



