In a somewhat altered tone Helmer went on:—
“‘Alas! corporeal pinions do not so easily correspond to the pinions of the Intellect,’ are the words in Goethe’s ‘Faust.’... The opposite is true. Corporeal pinions we already have, but the spiritual wings have not as yet been found to correspond. Obedient to the will of man, the flying ship soars a thousand metres into the air, but the will itself remains in the depths. High and free, in beautiful premeditated curves, the artfully constructed pinions drive through the pure ether, while far below, enchained, remains the intellect groveling in the dust. By a marvel of technique, the gates into a new age have been boldly forced, but nobody seems to perceive this. The marvel is now only a few years old. During the first week or ten days, tumultuous jubilation, universal astonishment:—‘At last the millennial dream comes true!’ ‘How vast is human genius!’ But after a short while everything goes on as before. No trace of the new age. One further means of locomotion, a new article of commerce, a fresh sport and opportunity for laying wagers, one more childish toy, one weapon more, that is all!
“All respect for so-called human genius, but as far as concerns human imagination—it displays a pitiful feebleness. It ventures a few leaps into the air—a metre or two, like the first flying-machines—models as yet unprovided with motors; but forthwith it sinks back again to the ground. A door into the future forced open: whether from behind it, a golden radiance is to stream, or gloomy clouds are to threaten, people do not see—they have no desire to see. They shrug their shoulders, put on an air of sound common sense, and deny all discussion of future possibilities and revolutions. The matter is left to specialists, and no one any longer takes any interest in it, save as it may affect one’s private business or one’s private satisfaction.
“Above all, the military authorities always take possession of every new invention and it gets specialized into merely technical limits. Any possibility of its use other than for future wars is not taken into consideration, and hence, the more universal points of view, the indirect consequences, are put aside and only the nearest-lying applications are discussed.
“Shortly before the invention of dirigible airships and flying-machines, armies employed captive balloons and balloons driven before the wind; even then there were aeronautic troops—of course nothing more natural than that these should be entrusted as suitable experts with the introduction and maneuvering of the new air-vehicles. This was regarded in military circles as nothing revolutionary; it was simply a small improvement which might be made useful in connection with the existent system of tactics—that is to say, for instance, in reconnaissances. As a weapon also, the thing might come into use, and experiments were, indeed, made in this direction; but that was relegated to the dim future and would never attain any great effective significance, for its certainty of aim was of the very slightest, its radius of efficacy very limited, and by means of perpendicular guns the attack might be easily warded off:—such was the style of appeasement with which the suggestion of adding fleets of airships to the other effective forces was set forth and any wider outlook into the possibilities of the new acquisition was not admitted by government circles. Whenever practical necessity demanded such experiments in actual warfare, why, then they might be made, but it was useless to indulge in fanciful dreams of the future.... And the specialists continued to occupy themselves with present-day tasks, without abandoning the old ways;—as to the future, let it take care of itself.
“At bottom, indeed, it is not the business of various callings, making use of any new discovery, to investigate it in all its aspects; nay, this would even be too much to expect from the inventors themselves. Does the aviator understand very much about the scope of his invention? Occasionally and exceptionally he does, of course—but not because he is an aviator. As such he is a technician or an acrobat. Or, if he wants to make a show of ideal objects, he may be a patriot, and offers his apparatus to the ministry of war. He has no inkling of the fact that he has opened the way into a new epoch in which new conditions of life are to produce a new humanity.
“What these new conditions of life may be, many, indeed, of our clear-sighted contemporaries have already recognized, but it has not as yet penetrated into the common consciousness. On this subject I should like to say something to my fellow-men from the far-echoing tribune on which I stand, and especially to tell them about the mighty alternative that has so suddenly been brought before our race.”
Chlodwig paused. He seemed to be collecting his thoughts for a moment or two. This interval the public utilized for observations and the exchange of views.
Coriolan muttered: “Some such rubbish as that about flying I remember he put forth when he was at the Sielenburg.”
Countess Adele came to the speaker’s defense: “He talks right fluently.”