New-York tribune. [volume], August 08, 1915, SPECIAL FEATURE SECTION, Image 17

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SPECIAL FEATURE
SECTION.
Ito i0tl( ?M?wne
SPECIAL FEATURE
SECTION.
rxRTS ID ?I? ,V FOURTEEN PACES.
SUNDAY, AUGUST s, 1915.
PAKTS III AMI IV. FOURTEEN PACES,
Waif? th
Mi
Ouifif?iM
irinifliri?siM
The Whimsical
Irish Author
AsKs. What Will
the War's Work
Be? Will the Tide
of the Last Few
Years Be Chang?
ed? Will a Neut?
er Sex Corme For?
ward:? Will Wars
Types of Mind?
By James Stephens.
, Author of H ' Ar'* Ladie?," "The Crock ol
Gold.'' etc.
WILI "ark any peculiar differ
men who escape from it?
I h;.?t?*?ry what has been
ca'.'ed "a : heart" ib not uncommon,
ich to be more curiously
sen. If the Biblical r-;.t*e
- Paul are exact an inter
Either Saint Paul
vc to him by heredity and
which-mere habit of thoupht
jnd ! ? .tve rooted too deeply to be
f event.?, or he was
MaM not cred I .on to any
exter* ersion has been paralleled
- anees, and every
i man who was "bad" and
becar ?' ? I tably senti
I
The h we do not
hear t may have occurred
No! When I think again
of th.. it. I do not believe
good men evei bad. They may en?
anee ami tro mad, for
"gooc uality and must propre.-s
?long .' - . i can po upward into r?
ligior Bciousness, or sideward into
quaci itai rj ai d nonsense generally,
but it lescend to the animal qualities
whic
H ? ? h ian falls we may often demon?
stra'- ? er been pood, that he had
be?n a hypocrite. When a bad man rises?can
, the HUM thinp be said? Had he hern a hypo
critf- . ' There is very little badness
"It is probable that after the war a real change will be discovered in
masculine thought. "
* * ?*? *
"Men in the trenches share all things, as if they had never heard of
private property, that formula of left-hand magic. "
* * * ?
"Simultaneously with the rise of feminism in the world . . . there
has been a corresponding decline of masculinity. "
w 9 ? ?
"Sex and brains are poles with a common centre, and a change in the
one is an instantaneous change in the other."
* * * *
"It is to the female one must look for an evolutionary departure, and
I am inclined to predicate a neuter gender as a first step toward
synthesis. "
a> * ?j. *
"Adventure has been withheld from men and they have grown soft."
or g*oodness at the last, but there is conscious
and unconsciousness, and the difference
between these states of perception is all the
diffi rence thai exist.-. Illumination or percep
tion c.'iii i .'can come to a
of people simiil! . and it is worth
rouble to discover from what
kind of sh?
It is probable that after the war a real
chance will be discovered '*? maaeoMne thought.
Practically all the men of Europe are segre?
gated, or are being1 seprepated from the women.
They are livinp now in a masculine world. A
world of extreme activity and of extreme sim
plicity. All the complex businesses of life have
. d for these men: they do not cogitate any
Look Back at the
Last Twenty
Years?ThereHas
Been a F?mini?
sation of Talk
A m o n g? Men
?Adventure Has
Been Woman's?
Into Industry
and Into Politics
Mas She Ridden
Boldly,
longer the buyinp and sellinp and the female
chase which were not long ago their main pre?
occupations: they do not even trouble them?
selves about the getting of food. The end
toward which all their thoughts and actions
are arranged is a lamentable one?it is murder.
It is not the quiet, careless murder of birda
and beasts to which we are mentally accus?
tomed. It is the slaughter of men who do not
differ by a jot from themselves.
The fact that men should march to kill each
other is not sufficiently uncommon to be curious,
nor is the distinction we draw between an iso?
lated savagery and a i'o?eetive savapery sin?
guiar, for the blood-adventure is no pame that
was discovered yesterday: it is a pame so old
that we mipht have been justified in hoping
civilized man had outlived it, as we have all
outlived the little brutalities of our school
days.
But this war is not the blood-adventure that
we had known. It Is something vastly differ?
ent from that. It is a war in which no glory
can be reaped: in which scarcely an excite?
ment can be trained: it is a war of hard, manual
labor, of ?bill danger: a war in which man and
regiment and army corps have become anony?
mous and similar as ant and ant in the ant-hill.
And anonymous battling is not to the temper
of any man, less so than ever in these days of
budding individualities and egotisms.
It is not to this stultifying, mechanical as?
pect of the war that we must look for the
change to come in masculine thoupht, but to
its co-operative side, for as free trade was the
guiding thought of a generation ago so co?
operation is the world idea of to-day: and as
( iintlnnr.l on ae.enlh finge..
D_m
E;
m
An Intimate's Angle on ih Prime
Minister of England?"A Tired,
Disillusionized Man, Fun?
damentally Lazy."
By an Intimate of the Asquiths
NENTH of the inhai.:. I
? Min?
ia ? blind confidence
habit. Y el cer
? !' I hem would Ik- able f. ;?c
. the workman over
''Good old Aaquith ! 'E's
! ? ? . ?. tocrat, after din
the same spoil, re
"Sound man, Asquith,
'
why he holds these opin
-, feebly: "Oh, well.
hing, and
?
Mr. .stolidly, h?- is
i would like every
\io is anything bul
? pol?. . ind makes no attempt
?he people's tribune.
? ijuent nor inspiring,
though thi are always exquisitely
1 ? ? ?: nister i.?, in tact, a muter
? r of hearts. Kven
W 1 T' with which Nel
?lumn . walla of London are now pia?
lo t?.o hii-h when honor
take," was uttered in i'ry.
the quiver of passion?of
.intr.
? ! ! BONO?
1 Mr. Aaquith speak on many
H im of Commons and at
'rations, aid the effect is
It it that of a suhtle intellect
itself and then?there is
? .\ in the speeches
v. Lint's the pood of it all?"
Th* the Prima Minister ia a tired
"?d (i : man, he is essentially ami
fundamentally lazy, both mentally and ptiy?i
c'">'. fakiiiji a decision as much
*s h*' talking upstairs or across the
Borsei
?n Iit1 as in large this dislike, thi-?
?winking from making up his mind is shown.
"?en a particular hook wa.? to he presented
to ??il i. on her birthday, her father
flayed about the choice of the binding till
*??* birthday was past and then wrote her an
??a??rate letter of apology rather than face
"A* disappointed child at breakfast!
? :'!:eve if the Prime Minister were select
iTiZ a motto for his own use he would ch
?"Wthing for a quiet life." lie takes not the
the expensive and elaborate
alt?rai le bj Mrs. A <|iith in the official
I lownii . Streel and provided the
? in which he sal wai ?bop and comfort
R/ould nol ' otice whether it "... ?
with the ancienl chintz, prodded in the eco
nomical d Queen A ictoria, or with price
eathei I huh ' "ordova.
? ? hal he > an assume an urbanity
meti - almosl r< aching geni?
ality, Mr. Asquith ? a popular host. He smiles
upon you, if a trifle vaguely (for
he has nol Mr. Lloyd George'? memory for
and has often t?? be prompted) and en?
joy? a good story if the humor is fairly obvi?
ous a: ?1 it is nol too lonp. At the huge
isually pi*.en about twice in the
'-. the host is nol
ill fairly late in the evening, for he is a
believer in the after dinner mal?* chat "over the
wall uts and the wine," and doei nol look with
much favor <?n hi- wife's modern notions, ac
cording to which every "''' adjourns to the
drawing room at the .-ame time.
What Mr. Asquith really enjoys at these
functions is a quiel chat in a retired corner
with som< or woman who can in
? him. ne-. ' upon political
question? of the ?lay! "Find out who the
young man with the pince-nez and the fair
hair i-; and bring him to me." he will say to
me at one of the l?ip official parties, and a
young journalist or budding actor?for Mr.-.
Asquith i- a a***** ?' mixtures?
will find himself the observed of a!! observers
as he '?? ewesl detective novel or
the latest play, while lords and ?iiplom
fume impatiently at In ir;p kept waiting. When
it is the turn of the lord or diplomatist, the
Prime Minister may assume an expression of
extreme boredom, but though he may look as
though about to fall asleep where he stand.-, his
mind is really alert. Hehind all, however, is
the haunting, ever recurring question, Cui
I do not think he has ever answered it
to his own satisfaction.
\M|| nil Mil PERSONALLY AMBITIOUS.
For the Prime Minister is not in the least
personally ambitious. It will probably bore him
inexpressibly uhen he becomes a peer and
has occasionally to dun the robes, but Mrs.
Asquith will till the r??:e of peeress with im?
mense credit and with infinite satisfaction t.
It is more than probable that, had
it not been for family influence, Mr. Asquith
would ha.e resigned the Premiership some
Id is run on i
la?, i.. ;. rns in every de?
partment, the grand I ;?" Pi ime M in
curious contras! t<>
thai of hi cellor, at No. 11.
Tho upercilio ' ?, in looks
ii|. the round chei ked
Wei h maid who door.
<..? |i attribut? lo Mi . V quith Mie re
? ply can't afford
?1 !" w '?'.'...!' y Lore
dorp, suggested retiring from I
tion.
It is idle now to -prcnl.it'' what would have
been the result ha?l ho done so. Certainly no
one COUld have kepi thai "h< '
glomeration of antagoni tic n? ? " the
Liberal Cabinet i to quote i?ord !?? ;- rt l <
together, as Mr. Asquith did. Revolting fol?
lowers, more inarticulate than their leader,
were talked hut; they were mi phyxi
atod beneath a flow of subtle word . No one
England's War Prune Minister--He h Anxious tor a Quiet Life
and Wishes Every One Else to Haie the Same.'
Tlhere ?s No Deciding Power in Him,
a Man of Subtle Intellect,
Lonely, Yet Placidly
Happy.
has ever p.1 in such a marked degree
as the Prime Minister the pift "*' saying 1
thing which each person including th?
aker himself can interpret i?i his own
way. In every one of his pronouncement
there is a loophole. I remember Mi i
quith asking her husband a simple qu<
as to the hour in which he would have the cal
' around. The butler, who wa in l1 ?
at the tune; Mrs. Asquith and myselfw?
quite cer ain that the reply ha?l been different
in ea.li case, aii?l in the end Mr. .'l'ii'h could
not decide what he had said and u.-e?i a taxi!
I Lometimes think that the reason why s<
many people feel that curious blind con
that th?- Prune Mini-ter will manage tu "pul
thing- through" i.- that he i- so typical!*,
British, so stolid, slow and unimaginative
there is no danger that lie wi'l become ?
?>r enthusiastic over any conceiva
Mis h?-art will never ?'? i id. In
the large Study on the ground floor ??t- No. 10
Downing Street you may find the
the house and ??f the d< I of England,
sunk deep in an armchair, hi
the ' 11 of one hand agaii
the other. Is he asleep or meditating .-??me
aming about golf, which, by
the way. he [fly badly? You
? y place the papers needing his signature
on the table, trusting that they will be signed
in time for post. It is quite possible that
they will be left till next ?lav. for ?ven the
signatur?' to a simple letter requires as much
determination as though it were a death war?
rant!
To meet Mr. Asquith crossing the parK in
his rather ill-fitting and it m ?
? d?somewhat dusty clothes, you would
take him for s .s man of husir ?
perhaps a country squire in town for a short
holiday. His ruddy cheeks and tufts of white
hair sticking out from under a hat at least
a size too large suggest a .-??journ at the sea
?I? or a walk across breezy moors.
?r'AR KKOY1 POLITICS AM? DECISIONS.
And no doubt it is in some -iund
inps that the a?rime Minister prefers to tind
himself, far from politic ! far from
the necessity of makinp up his mind on any
subject, be it the pattern of I or the
Aieia--ation of war. Every Priday, thouph
tin? heavens fall, thouph London lay in flames
and ruins beneath th?- Zeppelin bomb*, I be?
lieve Mr. Aaquitfa would motor down t<? bis
charming estate m Berkshire, there to remain
in tranquil lurroundings amid the trees and
Rowers till Monday. To see hun lying on a
sunny bank with his hat tilt?-?! ??ver his eyes
???? a picture of pei feet content and ;
llf want? no newspapers nol even a novel -
and Mi Elizabeth complains she ha I ?
"shake father" when the luncheon l"'ll :
In his family n M r, A quith is plac?
idly happj. ? ? jroung
barrister of twenty-five, h?4 married pretty,
retiring Helen Melland, whose faded picture, in
an old-fashioned frame, -till han''; in hii
room. Passion may have fluttered her .
around him in those far-off ?days, but, on his
wife's death, tl "ine spring
?to have - : ?pe i : the an perhaps
has never ?hone M brightly airain. Many
people we ed when, three y. .ir?
later, the staid and serious barri ter married
one of the mo .?cadera of ? small
intellectual clique il " Margaret
I ant was by many believed t?? be the
nal <?;' M: B extraordinary interesting,
thoU?gh scarcely attractive, heroine, Dodo.
Thoinrh the Prime Minister is in many re
ipects a lonely man, one of hi n I I ?king
characteristics is an almoat fanatical loyalty
to men whom he ha- ..nee trusted; lie _M
never been known to thr?.w over a political
supporter, no matter how that rapport! r may
have failed him. The recent reshuffling nee?
?. for the constitution of the Coalition
Cabin ?nth drrp p.r?onal
irrief. He looks ten years older?a stricken
man. ?
Al I matched him from the back windows
?.f Downing Street, pacing the little plot of
ill ?garden, while the band o. t
side ?.n the Horse Gitarda' para?le ?played "It's
a Long, ?Long Way to Tipperary.'* I felt I
was looking on at a deep?a painful?montai
tragedy. A momentous decision had to be
taken; the "wait ami s?'e" policy no longer
d, and. bitterest of all, colleagues of long
standing had t.? be if only temporarily?
she!
The possibility of such hesitatimM and
heart-searching in the hour of Britain's
greatest peril sheds a ?trong?an almost sin?
liter light upon the character of the man in
whose >.:.? -. lie?.
Had Mr. Asquith ; a strong will,
l well M ? t, his name might
ha .non the
pajre it i? t".? soon to say
whether the . KMltain more than an
indctinite smudge.