ALTRUISM 263 



lection will in the long run preserve those nations 

 with the highest ethical development, whatever tem- 

 porary success may come to the nation that is ruled 

 by the law of selfishness and greed. 



A second factor in explaining the dependence of 

 civilization on altruism is the fact that civilization 

 would not have developed if organization had not 

 been successfully accomplished. High civilization 

 demands numbers, and a small nation cannot hope to 

 stand at the summit of civilization. An individual 

 living as a hermit has no possibility of mental or 

 moral advance. In small tribes of savages, where no 

 more than twenty or possibly forty individuals are 

 associated together, the possibility of the develop- 

 ment of intelligence is limited and civilization is 

 impossible. As we follow through the various stages 

 of savagery, barbarism, and civilization, it grows 

 more and more evident that the evolution of society 

 is dependent upon the formation of large bodies of 

 men, aggregated together in social unity. The size 

 of a nation limits its civilization, and the highest 

 civilization is possible only in the larger organiza- 

 tions. The converse of this is not true, for mere 

 size is not sufficient to develop civilization. Nor is 

 it true that size is needed for intelligence. But it is 

 abundantly evident that the highest civilization de- 

 mands great nations. 



Now, the size of a nation is not dependent upon the 

 reproductive power of individuals, nor upon their 

 valor and heroism as soldiers. All races of men can 

 multiply fast enough to produce enormous nations, 

 if nations could grow by the simple process of repro- 

 duction. The size of a nation is dependent, rather, 

 upon the possibility of coordination of its parts and 



