New-York tribune. [volume], February 06, 1916, Page 2, Image 38

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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MANIFOLD AIRE Ti
T73**.
mXaatf
IN
<s?
PAPERS
Percivft! Chuibb Enm_ierates Some,
Chiefibr Omission, Ekisiness Office
Domination and the "Dressing
Up" of Scandal, of Which
He Disapproves?
Sunday Papers Strike l?im as a De^
ecra?on of the Sabbath and
Productive of Feverish Men?
tal Turmoil Comic Supple?
ments Inane and Stupid.
By Edward Alden Jewell.
1 "PENITENCE :- | human virtue?or fal
penitent at some tin
or other in out lives, and if thereby
. ?< ined it ? i
- t aa other t ?an a rommem
able invest I
Pei cival Chubl
re for St I
that than Pcrcival Chttbfa should
dit rress go for chastise
r v l>r. Felix Adler, only he hi
ed certain equally pu
inst Araei . i n news
thereby insuring to your penitent
?leaned flowing at best. Am
. ertainly if you deli! erate'v go ii'- search of ,
?ant a Hogging you will ?.hens':
:p. the tablet?; of memory. So it is Pcrci
-. al Chubb. I pc?. ival Chubl
il in connection arith opinion di
this interview, then per. ?
- ill, lias bet vain.
Stripe one:
Greater among the sins cf American
newspapers most be recorded the sin of omis
"lt is true." declared Mr. Chubb. "that the
-*l which are e* ' more dis
credit upon the I . viude.^.
e true life of i -''?Tied,
because the ? ondrr
anee and -, thcr hand dealt ' reali.-e
that this ? ? of the minority; but the
minority which defends the culture and ethics
community mi -.ognized
. ?mmtmity s.,ul.
To what exte - -.:*a1 life oi
inanity expressed in the newspapers of Ameri?
ca? Alar., the extent is slender enough. Av?
erage ? - r life's
?. dines, and ;: the r mind
are not or are with piti orded,
what will be the calibre of the values which
these average men evolve for themselves? 1
am not in any 6ense decrying the importance
of news, you must understand. Only the em?
pire of news ought to be expanded so as to
embrace, and raise a' ire vital di)
: those finer and subtle!
:-. do not invite lurid veri . :c.
"For years I have been voicing the a|
for a broader journalistic cooperation with
the arts, with education. I have contended
that our schools and universities have no ade?
quate public forum by means of which their
degree of human service may be broadened and
enhanced. Cultural or ethical new?, is e
teemed ol light or but comparative importance
l'v the great mass of cur newbpapers. It is
not srnsatioM.il enough Vet ?t embodies the
highest and be.t sspirstiopa oi the people."
Mr. Chubb by t... means omitted fiom
his arraignment on the ?-, o?r oi omisaion
the failure of ihe pr?s-? to open us columns to
There is. he declared, an open oi tat it
ng newspapers that comment of
. . irt u| ? >- ? vines of labor parties
?". sssociations shall he held down to I mini?
mum. W ?? this should be Mr, Chubb ex
i '.f incapable of understanding,
r.nd he sdded:?"especiallj the labor
trovement is the great, vital movement ol the
da .*."
Prom the si;? of omisaion, and bef?te ad
ling himself to the mote positive or actu?
ally committed ?-ins. the St. I " licist at
ed the m hinerj
?
I !,t ? < . r . snd edi
e| irtmenl is deplorable. Ii testriits
truth. ? ial base of operations, and
in every way hampers honest < Ad
vertisera must be catered to, snd thus the
stamp of the dollar is placed up? opinion,
honest or I
I in connection with this curtailment of
, hill denotl ? the re
i] ci -r--ort<rs "from person
? Titrr "
'The- t to be more individual license,"
he declared. "K-r?rtrrs should not be autom?
aton.-", but per.-ons. Retorm in thia connec
. ira ftep toward that II ; lib
'ion of the press which must come about
Per civ M? Chubb, h litt isn't always pleased with the way newspapers
arc conducted.
From a South Sea Islander's Notebook
?T WAS noon on Broadway, and the crowds
hurrying to the lunch room were gay
with the white and tinted plumage of
girls from shop and office and sober
.* i olor s of business men's suita,
C l me look of blended relief and
the hungry worker who
s . n the way to his steak and potatoes.
1er walked with their, and heard the
Staccato notes of high terrien voices talking
of new business deals, of new men who were
drivers or failures, of cruel "bosses" and of
bosses who could be "fooled easy," of new
frocks made up by sewing evenings and Sun?
days and going without meat for dinner, and
of cats and king?, and especially ol litt'.?*
queens 1,1 rouge and tulle and prunes dis?
guised as callow consumers of I igarettes.
A seemingly endless procession of girl?
poured out of door ; the rush.
There were thousand, hi dark suits, all too
many in the I I';at is so 'ctviceable,
with ' - there t in some
thing fashi i H
of beauty. An girl vith a color
like the ?iinuy side of an August peach.
wore tan with a ?a<.e collai ? id a Btri
ruddily scintillating beads that made her rosy
cheeks a part of the beauty scheme. An Ami
ron in dark unobtnr ive plaid carried her body
like a splendid oak, proud and protecting, while
a fat little maid, who was minus three teeth,
was gay in circular ruffles and narrow skiit of
? radiant with friendly interest
in !iu:.;.ini*v.
The Islander drifted into a tea room on
Twenty-ninth Street and sat opposite an ample
and motherly person in the late twenties, who
had ' rdered salad end rye bread with a glass
: t you h ?te to eat what's good
? Is '-ery successful buyer
re not far away, when she
le gleam in the Islander's eye.
Do you know what I really want for my
We'!, it's a steak and potatoes an
? rolls with no end of butter, and
ervinga of chocolate ice cream for
dessert Isn't it a shame? And my chum is
eeled beanpole, who doesn't dare use lemon
juke to whiten her hands because acid is sup?
posed to be an anti-fat."
Her eyes were looking at the problem of fat
and the struggle for and against fat, and her
thoughts were tar away trum the dainty room
of the white linen and green palms when
finished her frugal meal and methodically
folded her napki: refully 6tacked her
dishes. A whole - .king young man
loomed in the front door and, recognizing her.
came smilingl i 1. fier pleased eyes
drop* e : I r a-, instant to the t;.ble and she
regarded the orderly pile of dishes with knife
and fork laid closely aereas, and the small
straight Lnes of the napkin she had just dis?
carded. She looked up again with a sweep of
eyes that changed swiftly from dismay to
challenge and then to happy mischief, as the
young man and the Islander and a few others
"placed her."
If the life ol a community, in its fullest sens,
is to be reflert-ed."
* Stripe three:
"I conde nil that mm h esteen-ed process 0
dressing up scandal and crime, ft would seas
that these things arc quite l.a'i enough, am
quite sensation.il enough, just in themseleei
to ev n; r the necea ty ol glsring emphasis
And then there ia thai ?.:ng up
..i '.;iri stuff.' The escapade of a ch<
at\iy the elo| ' ne it i ol young so? -
tute legp:. ? i loi the front page gal
leys. It a new psp? an consistently print i
in the front page it has achieve.;
real glory. Her- ia BU account of a great in?
ternational issue, and here is another account
ol Bn important ? ivic decision or crisis. Be
tween them ia I a -r.-iili?g fa. e of n debutante
or o* the bride who wan's a livor' e. The jux
?tion is ah? urd.
"Nov., then The reader peruse** the front
.'?led by its insistence
upon the :. ID?SCtS of whatever news
h-is been svsilsble. Then he ? two big
pages of sports, heavily illustrated. Then Tie
turns to two more pages devoted to finance.
And so it goes Culture" He will end that
very slenderly treated. This, in a general way,
s a picture of the Amen, an newspaper. There
.arc ex< ept rhere are a f< . which
appear honestly to be striving 01 something
bet'er. But for the most part our pi ess i
given ' rer to tb^se exce i
After touching upon the endowed newspa?
per, stating that it.. influence would always be
an excellent one, Mr. Chubb delivered
Stripe four :
"Let us hsve no more Sunday pa?>er^, T
are a date? ration of the Sabbath. They ou -.
not to come out. 'Ihree or four vast <*,arfl
editions v/ill ?'-mpletely immerse, ? ft?
They will fill ? house A -? j.t ?
i resl end net itat o . sd ? ???<? In?0 ,?
of feverish mental turmoil. I would ?if. .
rr ' ' ers entirely done aw?
i ?
"But," i asl ed -. CBfrtB
news.' Could It ' -. le t ? whoi
day' les?"
"Oh. no,' he repli? '?'. e need a,
ect any ne? We need idyl aid \- cVf:
to Monday - < urr,n 5^.
,idy as ? ? his legal 1 -.-exiate*-..
;? applied to Sunday in Englan
it not he in Americar'
Stripe five:
'The com, supplement v* to be it?;.
? I Or 1 ther it ought to he replaced by ?
supplement [ resent tead cf k
anity. The possibilities of this depart-r.*-.:
aie utterly disregarded and the young folks **?
surfeited with stupid gamhoh. Furthernort
the youth is unnecessarily e !^-.ated to 1
chronic disrespect for age and distress *e?
chivalry. Such comic art is r.ot necessary. |
is an evil of long standing, but one wh_
might be er.i<!;cated without any loss of pft?.
tig, to the newspapers subscribing to it"
Stripe six:
"There ought to be no study of the MU
I apers in the schools, a practice of recce
' rigin. Newspapers cannot teach school c_.
?iren much it will do them good to leirn .:
less they are first reforme!. Lacking cultart
they might have an effect similar to the pr?s?
ent popular vocational training, which teach?
pupils how to make money, but gives thenr:
?dea of how to --; end * entfj wir.
they get It. Culture ...d in hi-.-.
with education of every
There were other ? M, thojgh ti*
first and ma?rj>. ones have been exposed.
ought to be recorded that Mr. Chubb ii 3
kindliest castigator under ti'-e sun, for a'.; I
strokes are neither mild nor ': a't-hearted. '::
-lire ol ; . - . ..'. : ?
St ! e is right in every ? : ' '
it ?s thi; very surenei '?' Chubt
ouragea the t\ 1
?. hubb never once ?? ibeieth
moderate pitch prescribed
of the tea table variety. The light 0. ,-'
sincerity in his eyes never became clo-ie: I
scorn or malice. He spoke like an At
losopher, keenly a.".,i without frenzy of eic
tion.
nTlhai felhe Ford E: ?i- .. TamgM
?n
w
Inez Milholland Boissevain Learned the
Futility of Attempting Group Endeavor
Without Democratic Organisation and
the Uselessness of TacRling the
Peace Problem Unprepared.
Activities of a Woman Politician Failed to
impress her Favorably, and %She Was
Amazed at the General Failure to
Give Thought to the Great
Work in Hand?
?r IS a l< ng and sometimes perilous way to
. k in these times of war.
but Inez M.lholland Boissevain, lawyer,
suffragist and soh'ier of democracy, recently
returned with s.me of the hum m fragments
of the Ford peace expedition, quite frankly ad?
mits she learned lots of thinga she might hav:
missed had she stayed at home. Mrs. Boisse?
vain - - ? ,tc when she became
tonv:- ? ,, despotism was re
placing the freedom o? the democracy she had
| 1-een led to i era the work ui
the voya.I
'. and perhaps paramount in her view,
she I
that this politician was a woman?Mme. Ros
aifcs Schwimmer?made it the more interest
lag. Mrs. lioisbe\ain has heard and read and
made a great many speeches about politiciana
and i eil I i of ten diain but never
beioif -ieged to analyze one
from . - That she wasn't tavorablj
ptes?--- ? ?- ?
Qune evain o -erves, it waa
the
?iwimmei .; means it did
? ittei Prii - e suboi ...ted to method,
employing di I defence,
am! - the th.mgs she thought
a could dt ? -
She plannt.' when she got good and ready."
siys Mrs. 1 ' :am
s down our throats."
"She was **r idea would be violated
by precious fools who tneart well but didn't
know what they une sbout," ahe went on.
'that she cauBt -hed
4'ver the nev- re]
out by wirelc c ; tea fot <? le? tions
and even dratte'i n
and ladies' maids to help out with the voting.
"The one ?siea* fault with the C
however, w?.- ire to establish demo
cratic organisation Every oihe: flaw is di
re: tly traceable to that?even the planlesbness
? - : ed our lack of organization of
any sort, advertised the absurdities of the paci
? and threw into bold relief the Impracti
cability of their aims as they were going at
them.
"When the Scandinavian newspaper men
I aided the Oscar II they talked with Mme
Schwimmer four hours without gaining the
slightest inkling of why the ! ord party I 1 !
come to Kiirope. Al! the way across we hau
held meeting ? I but the one
we should have known about, had discusse.'i
, ... ?.non under the sun but the one fore
* in our minds. At the end of the two
weeks of the voyage no member of the partv
knew any more about its proposed method ol
-Hi-ompiishing its objects than when we left
New York. Mme. Schwimmer couldn't tell
the newspaper men. I spoke to them for hi
teen minute??, explaining my idea of the neu
conference I supposed we had come to
i ? , lish.
""Why.' Sold Judge Ren Lir.dsey to me, 'I
ea 1 it v\.d> wh.-ir we hid come for.'
ernor H
prise There we --.ere, .-?!! on that .?hip for ?
v ew not what; all eager to helo
race, but powerless to lift a finger to
? egin any aition that might bring results.' '
?t who ventured a mild protest against
the existing order of things brought up against
the expedition's Committee of Seven. How
they fared i?, well illustrated by this excerpt
from the committee's letter to Mrs. Boisse
vHin concerning her resignation:
"We do not rel that anv good purP'*?"
be serve i ling with you the difficul?
ties a. ? rhich you complain. So f. i - a,
-e were real they were incid
? .? nature of the expedition And it is
ilcar that your understanding of the conditions
las been different from our own. You thin':
that we i ame together as a democrat!.* body
//?<,/ \1 i I hol I and Boissevain, who, for one, came hack from the Ford
trip a sadder hut wiser person.
possessed of certain natural and inaliena.*''
rights to organize, elect officers and commu?
t?es, i'.n.l generally administei a rnl \/<
feel that we i ..nie sa gue
t?o more right, previous to - me l IB : from
him. to organize an! le; islate than wc ?
have ?i you personally did us the honor t.. in
vite us to your hoi <?? 1 ? iait
This i-, hew we read the invitation we :e
?.cived from Mr. Ford: and, having accepted
?1 in ?u.h i spirit, criticism of the conditions
taste."
Foi i 1 id -.turted back to the
United State- and the committee had been
designated to M I H ho?t in his place. The
letter, signed by Louis P. Lo?.hner as secre?
tary el the committee, brought a spirited an
i. .-> f'.jin
"We have Mr. Fed's own word, as well a?
Mme. Schwimmers and Mr. Lochner's at the
meeting before the election." she wrote, "that
democratic organization was to be the basis
of the expedition. My understanding then of
the nature of the expedition coincides with that
of those who organized it. To read into it
at this late day any other interpretation seems
to me little short of misrepresentation.
"Although I am not able to cooperate with
you. owing to what appears to me t.. be your
unsound m et h loi pi ...edure. nevertheless I
believe it is posaible and likely that the very
unsound elements of your programme ia wha*
together with the . soun !:iess of
your i lea, :. ay carry . ess.
You bring an ans? not entire'/
logical to a situation that is not entirely logical.
For there la very I.ttle that is logical about
war. If we lived in a world of p ilosophCfS
the ?ttts of the Ford expedition would not be
necessarv. Hu* then neither would war. . I
am unall * to cooperate because I am still un
able to work a ? es tha temperament?
illy not within my range "
"What was there to be done?" Mrs. B >i
vain demanded ?: her interviewer. "Male
to feel that we were guests, we were .-.urc not
to be rude to our host by auggesting thst some
of the other guest, g ? ? move on and ,i.
complish something. We could have estab?
lished a neutral congress?not of the left overs,
but of the pick of the expedition?by a proper
pooling of group intelligence. By study and
discusi?n we could have remedied our de:: I
en? y in international knowledge. But there
wa- no d.scusasion; there was quarreling. An i
it was frank, out ar.d out, every day quarrelin. .
too; not even parliamentary.
"Now. it ..ee.ns to me, instead of o'.fenng
what little wc had to an exhausted Europe.
we have 3liei:ated the ge d opinion of the na
tions we might have helped. If the seemingly
established principle of the expedition persist?.
I
the. few that are left to do the work can *:
complish nothing. ( I
"All along the cour - the j vraaf nob?*'
took the trouble to think We'll 9a**
good will,' they said i t emeelves, '*nd "?
Europe with a kiss and te - ' 9* _*
aren't stopped by kissee and tear?-i"
not In these ?lay?. T ie time ? ? ?If
neutral ci ? *fu[.
tion. It IT ""'l*??
anything but the very - ' ' '
In proper form wo
Constructively. '?
.her letter o? re .
the exped.t: :-. ?? ? ? ex - c^
ion ? i " ??? ? ? ' *?J
can, or? the need of en ? - *".**Z
method ly which it could best -? **J
gether with the ? !jr the *v "
anee ol luture wars. .,
"I took it for gra-- l ?,:- _"L*
n( the bot
rail ; r v ?. ue ,n I ? ? ???;0' ?* * .cr,
ol lele tt? s nil be ** '"^.t
'?' ! it:'
ing throughout thet : " * ?. ?
libletoget "??
must be the basis I -r ?* av'ot, ?<
by the method ol democratic oriani?*
which I spoke. . t?t;r
From the beginning 1 talked .*????
about the need foi vl.h,.
we .'-ere to accomplish t-;e purpoee .mfi
we ser sail. The 01 ^__*|l5
until thiee ?'ays before th? end e ^ ?
When finally formed it I ? ? -:-: f ,'..,_,
.ue. ir- - ? ?<;^' 'yjs.
nomination it was ele
Lochner'a, i i me ; "J up,.
hence re' I tl I the -*:- _ **,*! fc*
a whole, but that : I
? iduals. , . efai
"The expedition ?ras s failore, ?' M|f?
?, i'? ?e? il"?
ous one.'' concluded alt* 9*** ?.
I wouldn't have missed it tot *???"