New-York tribune. [volume], February 18, 1920, Page 12, Image 12

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The Lost Peace
The Adriatic controversy fur?
nishes clear instruction of what is
the matter -with international rela?
tions. Time has given perspective
to the dispute, and the world begins
to see why, with tho war ended,
peace does not come.
The war laggards have intruded
themselves as the chief mechani?
cians of the peace. The elements
which deprecated resistance to Ger?
many took charge as soon as hostili?
ties ceased. Paris became packed
with pleaders who argued that Ger-!
many must be satisfied first and
who denounced as gross imperialists
any who did not shout for peace
without victory.
Clemenceau arid Foch, Lloyd ;
George, Haig and Beatty, Orlando |
and Diaz, Roosevelt, Pershing and ??
Sims?all leaders, who greatly con?
tributed to inspiring soldiers and
civilians?were attacked as suspects.
Such might be good enough to do
the rough work of overcoming the '
enemy, but were not to lie trusted
with peace making. President Wilson !
put himself at the head of the pure ;
ones and appeared in Europe as the ?
champion of ideas pleasing to
Scheidemann and Erzberger, to Le- j
nine and Trotzky, to the Sultan and ?
to other friends of defeated militar- i
ism. Of course, those whose argu- i
ment s are force did not get all they I
wanted, but they saved much out of j
the wreck.
President Wilson's ideas bear about \
the same relation to ideals as the i
doggerel of 'a poetaster does to po- j
etry. To enforce peace there must !
i
be force. This detail was overlooked, j
Force meant an integration of j
power?an alliance among the na?
tions which won the war and must'
safeguard the poace if safeguarded.
instead of apprehending this simple '
truth, the effect of the President's
course was to destroy harmony and
to introduce discord.
Those who were consciously or un?
consciously pro-German or pro-Bol
shevik said an alliance would re?
establish the wicked balance of power
principle. Not so; it would have
created a preponderance of power.
Indeed, the President's policy
makes a return to balance of power i
principles almost inevitable. Signs
multiply of a new grouping of na?
tions. One can foresee a triple al?
liance of Germany, Russia and Hun?
gary-Austria, with border states
forced to adhere through the pr?s- !
sure of their powerful neighbors. :
Over against this coalition France,
Great Britain and Italy will be
forced to unite.
The only shred of any genuine
league to enforce peace is in
the Anglo-French-American treaty,
which the President takes no inter?
est in having ratified. For the cov?
enant league, so diverse in its con- \
stituents and so lacking in power,
will obviously be merely a talking
organization, a unanimous agree?
ment organization, such as was the
Hague league.
.^o the war was won, but so far
as concerned providing any marked
advance in the organization of the
world the peace was lost It was
lost chiefly because tho President did
not know how to attain the objective
he had in mind and would not let
any one tell him. This is the big
lesson of the Fiume quarrel.
Caillaux's Trial
Joseph Caillaux's trial is the last
pet in one of the notable melodramas
t)f the war. Mobilization came in
11)14 only a few days after the ac
ouittal of Mme. Caillaux, tried for
Shooting Gaston Calmette, the editor
li* Le Figaro. That affair was prac?
tically taken out of the hands of tho
court by Caillaux, who, as witnes?
and spectator, dominated the whole
scene. Even then there were hints
of his exceedingly close relations
with powerful personages in Ger?
many.
Caillaux went into the army as a
paymaster, but was soon forced out
of the service. Scandal of one sort
or another dogged him. He had
been one of the inner wheels in the
unified Socialist party an? his power
in the Chamber of Deputies had al?
ways to be rvckonpd with. He stood
l>ehind Malvy, who was Minister of
the Interior in several of the war
Cabinets and who countenanced more
<-r less thef obscure journalists and j
? . ' IL.?Ml ? ..MHF
agitators who were involved in the
Defeatist movement.
Caillaux went to South America
on some commercial mission. There
he got into touch with German
agents. Von Luxburg expressed
great solicitude lest the vessel carry?
ing him back to France should be
torpedoed by a German submarine.
He asked that Caillaux should be
cared for in case his ship were held
up under the rules of cruiser war?
fare. He also warned the German
press to put a soft pedal on flatter?
ing references to Caillaux's states?
manship.
Later the crafty web-spinner went
to Italy. Some of the important
documents to be used against him
were seized either in Rome or in
Florence.
The charge against him is that of
"having plotted against the external
security of the state by maneuvers,
machinations and intelligence with
the enemy, tending to favor the lat
ter's enterprises against. France and
her allies." Whether this charge can
be established is not clear. But there
is little ground to doubt that
Caillaux contemplated coming to the
head of the French Republic in case
of Allied defeat. He was the one
French political leader whom a vic?
torious Germany would have been
most pleased to deal with.
Who are Socialists?
The Judiciary Committee heard an
expert witness when it listened to
Morris Hillquit, who long carried the
party under his hat, expound Social?
ist dogmas, tactics and history. So?
cialism is a philosophy, a religion,
a lodge, a political party and a dozen
other things, and so difficult to de?
scribe at one sitting, but America's
socialistic high priest tried to do so.
Mr. Hillquit made it clear that in
the Socialist mansion are many
breeds ? Regulars, Centrists, Left
Wingers, Communists, Communist
Labor, not to speak of divers sub
sects. Mr. Hillquit is a regular, and
by successive expulsions of "unde?
sirables" has kept his organization
under control. Last spring the ex?
ecutive committee of the Regulars
suspended 40,000 members, including
the Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Hun?
garian, South Slavic, Lettish and
Lithuanian federations, and also the
Socialist organization of Michigan.
Yet at an election for interna?
tional delegates, after the house
cleaning, John Reed, now a Com?
munist, received .17,235 votes, while
Seymour Stedman, conducting the
Albany defense, received but 4,729.
As a candidate for international sec?
retary the much admired Hillquit
received but 4,775 votes to 13,262
for his opponent. The Communists
and the Left Wingers say the Old
Guard now numbers less than 25,000
and is a mere skeleton organization.
The chief 'cleavage is between
those who countenance or urge the
use of force and the moderates, wh/?
say the ballot should be given an?
other chance. Many Socialists, de?
pending on which company they are
in, talk one way and then the other.
This is one of the reasons why it is
difficult to classify the Assembly So?
cialists. Officially they are Reg?
ulars, and thus entitled to their seats,
but they have been known to applaud
when "Red" socialism was preached.
Who are Socialists? The "Reds"
seem to have the membership and
the Regulars the organization and
the party symbols. Yet it is neces?
sary to distinguish. The Regular
is within his rights, while the Com?
munist or "Red" is a criminal an?
archist, whose proper place is prison,
not the Legislature.
Persecuting K?rolyi
In October, 1918, a group of pro
Entente idealists, led by Count
Michael K?rolyi and Oscar J?szi,
overthrew the Hapsburg monarchy
and inaugurated the short-lived
democratic republic. Now it is re?
ported a charge of high treason has
been entered at Budapest against
K?rolyi and his associates by Prince
Louis Windischgraetz, a sinister fig?
ure of the ancien r?gime, now in
the process of reviving. The charge
is not new; it was first raised by
K?rolyi's own cousin in January,
f 918, when that statesman's anti
German agitation endangered the
Magyar junkers' war effort.
K?rolyi and most of his friends
are refugees in Prague, Vienna or
Switzerland, and the demand for
K?rolyi's extradition has been re?
fused by Premier Tusar of Czecho?
slovakia. So the Magyar govern?
ment resorts to tho expedient of
inventing ordinary criminal charges
to bolster up the extradition request.
K?rolyi is now accused of having,
while ! in power, misappropriated
state funds.
Now, whatever K?rolyi's standing
as a statesman, his personal integ?
rity admits of no doubt. Far from
misusing his office for personal gain,
he sacrificed his entire vast fortune,
one of the biggest in Continental
Europe, in the cause in which he be?
lieved. He who before the war en?
joyed a yearly income of over $1,
000,000 is to-day living with his wife
in a Prague garret amid utmost pov?
erty. This is attested by the Czech
newspapers as well as by American
witnesses, among them Professor
Philip Marshall Brown, of Princeton
University, who has represented the
United States government at Buda?
pest.
That the Czecho-Slovak govern
^J?ML.,_5_.-mWBSSSlSSSSSSSS
ment will resist attempts of the
Magyar reactionaries to get hold of
the unfortunate K?rolyl seems as?
sured. But Husz?r and Friedrich
appear to shrink from nothing in
their pursuit of revenge. Thus
Vienna newspapers report that evi?
dence has been uncovered concerning
a Hungarian counter-revolutionary
officer, dispatched with a false pass?
port to Czecho-Slovukia on the
errand of assassinating K?rolyi.
Even such an extremo step would be
but in keeping with the general
methods and principles of the pres?
ent rulers of Hungary.
Too Soon to Tell
The reports upon the first month
j of prohibition are naturally conflict?
ing. Some of the restaurants, no
j tably those popularly known as the
! "red ir?k" re.sorts, where wine of the
i country was included in a moderately
? priced dinner, have the prohibition
j blues and see closing near ahead.
I Some of the brightest lights on
; Broadway, on the other hand, seem
as bright as ever. What has been
? lost through the disappearance of
liquor is being taken in through the
sale of food; and viewing the cur?
rent prices of provender in the
hotels and restaurants, this is not
! difficult to believe. The high livers
: are still paying for their drinks?
'' but they are not getting them. Cer
I tainly looking the city over there it
| no abatement of amusements 01
recreations. The all-night proceed?
ings show somo dimming, but thej
are a tiny item alongside of the hug<
success of the season for theaters
moving picture houses and hotels.
These early returns are interest
j ing. It's a strange person who doei
not w'atch himself in the first week!
| of the drought to see how he i:
standing it. But we think the wis<
folk are neither unduly elated no:
depressed by these first conse
quences. There are obvious eco
nomic benefits of a prohibition law
if we can judge by past experience
If economics were all, there coul.
? hardly be two guesses. The ulti
? mate questions go far deeper, and ?
' may be a generation before they ca
| be answered. For one thing, ther
| is still the problem whether nation
| wide prohibition can be jnforced?
I real dryness, that is. Will peopl
bother to make home brew or wi
; they not? If they do on a larg
scale, it is safe to say that prohib
i tion is impossible of enforcement i
? the sense in which its advocate
1 understand it. Even if they do no
there is the further question of ho
completely the public conscience wi
; make the law effective. A larp
j sum is asked to execute the law, an
. it will all be necessary, it is easy 1
j believe.
So "the only fair attitude for tl
public to take is that of waiting
see, in the mean time obeying tl
law as it stands upon our statu
I books. Any one who expects a swi
- regeneration of the human species
surely destined to disappointmen
| On the other hand, give the speci
! time. It has been '"wet" a gre
many centuries. It ought to have
least a few years in which to gi
dryness a fair and thorough test.
.i i -
The Fraudulent Pacifists
One of the peculiar ment
vagaries of the times is the assum
: tion of those who serve Germ;
militarism in the livery of pacifif
that those who fought Germany a
such fools as never to see benea
the disguise.
For example, take the latest bo
;of Andreas Latzko, the Austri
; ai "My officer who pretends to (
? test war and who writes sen
mentally of its horrors. He arraig
1 militarism, and then, like others
his class, takes it for granted tr
all rulers, all governments, all p<
pies are equally within its gr
, Thus he insinuates the favorite ic
of the pro-Germans that the Kaii
was no worse than other rulers a
the Germans not more to blame th
other peoples in following him.
The next step is to imply that 1
Germans, merely victims of a ce
mon disease, were not afflicted
gravely as others. So Herr Latz
making excuses for German bitt
ness, says of one his characters
"He had but to recall the f
months to realize that a woman .
every cause to tremble for her
loved in French captivity! With
hands of a veritable hangman
hate-maddened French staff sur-.:
had probed his wound and torn
Iris bandages. Tho attendants
both sexes had done thair best
equal their commander In patri
zeal."
Again, describing the feelings c
German nurse, Latzko says:
- "Sho had nursed and bandaged
many Frenchmen and had Keen tl
suffer and die. They moaned
whimpered and complained; t
were liko weak and helpless child
whom one could console and
actively. But these strangers *
lay in her church (wounded (
mans) were not like sick child
They bore their sufferings with c
pressed lips and without compk
They remained bravo mon to t
? last breath."
Noble, magnanimous, patient (
mans ! Cruel, vindictive and cowj
ly French ! Germans began the '
without reason; they invaded pe?
ful .countries; they robbed
raped, looted and destroyed, depoi
and gassed. Yet they were not ?
ci all y to blame!
It is easy to identify a pro-(
man pacifist?that is, a pacifist who
is not a pacifist. He refrains from
discussing tho particular way the
war began. When a man avoids
this, when he assumes that a de?
fender is just us bad as an assail?
ant, he shouts what he is. These
fraudulent pacifists are numeroua in
America. They are addicted to writ?
ing books and to conducting what
they call "liberal" publications.
Judge them for what they are.
There should bo a prompt and
widespread response to the plea for
$450,000 to meet the critical situa?
tion of the Jewish charities of the
city. Hospitals, orphan asylums and
schools are among the institutions
in need. The great increase in liv?
ing costs is the occasion for the
shortage; and an increase in the
salaries of trained workers and ex?
ecutives is the most urgent demand. !
Justice demands this increase, and j
without it valued and experienced j
men and women will be lost. The.
drive to raise this sum lasts until
March 1. Contributions may be
sent to Felix M. Warburg, William
and Pine streets, New York City,
chairman of the Federation for the ;
Support of Jewish Philanthropic So- j
cieties.
Dr. Grayson denies the rumor that !
the President has had another re- !
lapse. But who is able to feel confi- j
dence that the truth is permitted to
be told? As long as no examination
of tho White House patient by im?
partial experts is allowed it is im- j
possible to form any opinion as to
whether the President's inability to
perform the duties of his office con?
tinues.
Never Such Streets
The Food District F^ays Its Com- \
pliments to Mr. Hylan
To the Editor of The Tribuno.
Sir: Tho Street Cleaning Depart?
ment promised on Wednesday to at
least make an attempt to improve the
condition of the streets in our section, ;
which is usually called the food dis- ;
crict.
It strikes me that tho most im- i
portant problem before the people to
d&f is the question of the high cost^
of living, particularly in so far as food j
is concerned, and if there is any see- j
tion of the city that should receive j
attention from the Street Cleaning De- j
partment it is the food and produce j
district, ? but it has been absolutely
neglected.
Never in the history of the West
Side have tho streets been so impas?
sable as they have been in the last
ten days. The loss in money is beyond
conception. Eventually the consumer
will have to absorb this tremendous
loss, and the cause of it is nothing;
but an incompetent administration. No
work of any kind has been dune in th?3
section except by individuals, notwith?
standing that relief has been promised
evor since last Wednesday.
Wo would like to have you send a
representative, to see the condition of
Hudson Street, from Chambers Street
north to Canal, and from Hudson
Street to West Street. This is the sec?
tion that distributes 99 per cent of the
food products, and we venture to say
that no one could accurately describe
the condition of the streets. 1
Within three blocks yesterday tho
writer saw four horses that were going
to be shot to put them out of their I
misery. If the Street Cleaning l>e
partment would spend one day in this
section with a gang of men it would be j
of untold benetit, because, if the sew?
ers were opened it would be of ma?
terial help. However, we suppose the ;
only thing to do is to grin and bear
it until we can have an opportunity to
obtain a more competent administra- i
tion.
Covering an experience of twenty-six
years in this neighborhood, the writer
has seen storms much more severe than
what we have had in the last month,
but never, have the streets been neg?
lected the way they have been durii
tli i s particular time.
BUTLER & SERGEANT, INC.
(Per It. V. Butler.)
\. v. York, Feb. 14, 1920.
Zero in Tenth Street
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The Stieet Cleaning Commis?
sioner says he is "making efforts to
continue the removal of garbage and
ashes as usual.'' His efforts have had
zero results in this neighborhood. No
garbage or ashes have been carried off
from this residential block, tenth.
Street between Fifth and Sixth ave?
nues, since three days before the storm
began. There are, therefore, nine days'
refuse accumulated. ? If the inefficiency
and lack of foresight of the city gov?
ernment aro to expose us to pestilence
as well as lire, what are we paying
taxes for? TENTH STREET.
New York, Feb. 13, 1920.
No More College Presidents!
To the Editor of Tho Tribune.
Sir: I have read in The Tribune j
several letters about putting up the '
president of Columbia College as a
candidate for President of the united I
States. Now, I'm not a politician?
Just a clerk, with a wife and threo i
children?one of the middle class union '.
follows. I cast my first Presidential :
vote for a college president, to please I
my father. I am seven years older |
now, doing my own thinking, and when I
? read this college Presidential stuff I
1 just ask myself, Why? Ain't eight j
years enough? W. B. G.
New York, Fob. IB, 1920.
Brotherly Love
(.Prom Th* Detroit Free rrnssi
Reading the testimony before the
Senate sub-committee investigating
Mexican affairs, we are convinced that
the Mexicans really love the Ameri?
cans like brothers?as, for instance,
Cain loved Abel.
V?.
The Conning Tower,
Sing a Mirthless Madrigal!
Gone are gaiety and grace:
What's the use of further feigning?
Gicelesa gloom supremo is reigning;
Sad the so-called human race!
Booze is banished and forever;
Yesterday returncth never!
Melancholy mirth wo make
Who have not a dram to take!
Fancies fade and pleasures pall;
Life is like a funeral;
Sing a mirthless madrigal!
Mourn the merry day that's dead!
Send the solemn dirge a-rolllng;
Set the gloom bells all a-tolling
For the boozo that's banished!
Wear the weed, and hang the craping:
From the doom there's no escaping!
Thirstiness for evermore?
Living's but a beastly bore!
Hypocrites hold carnival;.
Future loometh spoctreal;
Sing a mirthless madrigal!
C. W. W.
Once upon a time a man entered a
watchmaker's shop, to have^his watch
repaired. "When may 1 have my
watch?" ?sked the man. "In about
six weeks," answered the watchmaker.
"Why the delay?" the man inquired.
"There is a great scarcity of main?
spring repairers," said the watch?
maker.
And the man fared forth, and
slipped and fell upon the pavement,
which, owing to the scarcity of
shovelers, was icy.
The man tried to telephone to the
automobile service station, to get his
car, which had been promised to him
that afternoon, but the foreman told
him that there was a shortage of
mechanics and that he could not have
his car for two* weeks. It took the
man twenty minutes to get the service
station by telephone, owing to the
shortage of telephone operators.
"Well," said the man, "the subway-is
crowderl; the streets are repleto with
humanity; the restaurants brim with
human beings. Surely the population
is not dwindling."
And he werrt to his office and opened
his mail. And it came to him, as in
a vision, for he said, "I know what
all these ex-watchmakers, ex-snow
shovelers, ex-mechanics, ex-telephone
operators are doing. They are in the
publicity, or, a* it used to be called,
press agent, business." ?
"At 86th Street," writes C. C. M.,
"the parfit, gentil knight, before whom
on achy feet I am standing, folds his
newspaper and puts it behind him. At
81st Street he puts his glasses into
their case and into his pocket. At.
7LM Street he battoirs his overcoat. At
66th Street he grasps firmly his um?
brella and packages. And at 2.'kl
Street.my station?he gets out."
Sir Oliver Lodge's last lecture in
New York Ls announced. Still, a true
believer in the Ouija board can find
out what, he is saying iir Pittsburgh
or Chicago.
It is a sweetly solemn thought that
a milk shortage is of virtually no
effect on the ice cream crop.
THE BEAUTIFUL SNOW
"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year, '
Do you suppose," the Mayor said.
"That they could get it clear?"
"1 doubt, it," said the Commissioner, |
And shed a bitter tear,
GILES.
Secretary Vance, of the National !
Clothiers' Association, relieves us ul?
timate consumers of the blame for
high prices. They are, he says, the
fault, of labor. But wo know well
enough why labor gets such high
rates, don't we?
After a Florida resortor poses 'for
his photograph nine times and sends :
fourteen postcard.* saying "Wish you
were with us," the day, it seems to
us, is practically gone.
London Literary Notes
11. G. Wells wept each of the two
times he saw "Abraham Lincoln."
John Hastings Turner told ?ne his
book, "Simp!,- Souls," was based on his'
play of the same name. I asked why
his play hadn't been done. He said
they couldn't get a theater for it. I
said what a shame that a play like
"Simple Souls" should have to wait
when so many rotten revues were tilling
the theaters. Turner laughed at this,
and I discovered why later on; he's the
soie author, part author, dialogue writer
or.filler-in of half the revues in Lon?
don, and has made a pot of money at it.
The funniest thing that happened at
tin- opening night of "Sacred* and Pro?
fane Love" was Arnold Bennett pre?
tending he was shy, as Viola Tree
dragged him on the stage. He held up
a deprecating* palm to the audience,
grinned a green grin, and shuttled
away shaking his head. Miss Tree got
him on again, and he went, through his
pantomime all over again. The play
is a rotten, talky affair, and I'll bet
it's a big success in New York.
St. John Ervine has dramatized H. G
Wells's book. "The Wonderful Visit,"
and after Wells had read the play he
told Ervine he didn't like it much, and
told him how he thought it ought to
be done. Ervine replied: "You're, de?
scribing your characters the way you'd
write them to-day. I based my play
on the book you wrote twenty years
ago."
A. A. Milne is sick and tired of writ?
ing "whimsical" essayettes. He's busy
on a real creepy detective novel
_ P. W.
"Wilson's Friends Expect Quick End
of Lansing Furore," is the World's
headline; but Admiral Grayson and ?
Mr. Tumulty may* be wrong.
Not. that it matters, but the open?
ing of "Shavings" was synchronous I
with the performance of "The Barber
of Seville."
The "block" party gives the New'
Yorker his first chanco to see those
who have been his neighbors for ten '
years.
The esteemed Evening World is run?
ning a department called "What to Do ?
Until the Doctor Comes."
-
What shall we do until we get the j
telephone operator to call the doctor?
F. P. A.
THIS TIME IT LOOKS AS IF JONAH HAD THROWN 'f HEREsf"
OF THE CREW OVERBOARD
(Copyright, 1920, New York Tribuno Ine.)
Books
"Why," writes John Chandler, "do
you print only such letters as defend
!'J?rgen' and other immoral books? Do
? you want us to believe that you receive
no letters of protest against those fel- j
i lows who wallow in the slime of their ?
own imagination ? You may be inter-j
osted to know, for instance, that I have
read 'The Rainbow' of D. H. Lawrence, j
so highly praised in your columns by ?
Gilbert Caiman, and that I found in it ]
1 not once but many times the following
lewd words"
Mr. Chandler is correct in assuming j
that we receive some protesting fetters
against "J?rgen" and other books which ;
our correspondents find immoral, and
we would like to publish a certain,
number in tho interests of fair play. ;
The only difficulty is that almost in- ',
variably tho letters which bring the
accusations of indecency are much too
filthy to be printed with propriety.
John Maynard Keynes in "The Eco- ?
nomic Consequences of the Peace"
proves himself a masterly worker in ?
tho art of characterization, and in |
the light of the most recent interna?
tional developments he makes out a
good case for himself as a prophet as ;
well.
"If only the President hud not been :
~o conscientious," he writes; "if only
he had not concealed from himself j
what, he had been doing, even at the j
last moment he was in a position to
have recovered lost ground and to have
achieved some very considerable sue- :
cesses. But the President was set.
His arms and legs had been splicedi by1
the surgeons to a certain posture, and ?
they must be broken again before they i
could be altered. To his horror, Mr. |
Lloyd George, desiring at the last mo- :
ment all the moderation he dared, dis- ?
covered that he could not in five days ;
persuade the President of error in
what it had taken five months to prove j
to him to be just and right. After all,
it was harder to debamboozle this old |
Presbyterian than it lad been to bam?
boozle, him; for the former involved
his belief in and his respect for him?
self.
"Thus in the last act the President
stood for ?tubbornness and a refusal'
I of conciliations.''
Perhaps Mr. Keynes's estimate of
i Wilson is neither fair nor just, but its
plausibility is extraordinarily persua?
sive. None of the President's critics
, in this country has ever hit him half
i so hard. But Mr. Keynes does not
'necessarily vindicate or suppor. the
conventional American attacks on the
: personality of the President. Tho re
! proach of longest standing which has
! been brought against Mr. Wilson by
| his fellow citizens is that he is "the
scholar in politics." And Mr. Keynes
finds hi3 lack of scholarship one of his
chief deficiencies!
"The first glance at the President,"
he writes, "suggested not only that,
whatever else he might be, his tem?
perament was not primarily that of the
student or scholar, but that he had not
much even of that culture of tho world
which marks M. Clemenceau and Mr.
Balfour as exquisitely cultivated gen
I tlemen of their class and generation."
Much of the criticism leveled against
the President in this country took the
1 ground that he was an autocratic ideal?
ist who pre%fented poor Mr. George and
M. Clemenceau from visiting proper
punishment upon Germany. Keynes,
on the contrary, finds that he was a
Don Quixote dealing with men much
wiser than himself.
"To see the British Prime Minister,"
?i;
Hcyx?ood Broun
he writes, "watching the company, with
six or seven senses not available to
ordinary men, judging character, mo?
tive and subconscious impulse, per?
ceiving what each was thinking and
even what each was going to say next,
and compounding- with telepathic in?
stinct the argument or appeal best
suited to the vanity, weakness or self
interest of his immediate auditor, was
to realize that the pour President would
be playing blind man's buff in that
party. Never could a man have stepped
into the parlor a more perfect and pre
destined victim to the finished ac
complishments of the Prime Minister."
Mr. Wilson's most bitter foes in this
country have at least done him the
honor to be furiously angry at him.
The criticism leveled! by the English
author against the President is much,
moro devastating. Heynes is sorry for
him.
Probably we should have been able
to guess that parenthood was a profr ?
sion from the fact that the financial
returns were so completely inadequate,
but our realization of our professional
status has been made complete only by
the numerous books on child educa-.
tion which we have recently received.
It. is disturbing to find one's sen a
member of a profession for which he iras
never studied and in which he holds no
degree. To be told from many printed
pages, as we have been, that the for-*
mat.ion of the character of H. 3d is
completely in our hands gives us some?
what the same feeling which we
have if somebody should suddenly say:
'"Draw up a writ of mandamus," or
"Remove the appendix!"
"Whether a child gets the right
concerning truth, honesty, un.
ness, temperance ami 'ail the rest of
the virtues," writes James Phinney
Munroe in "The Human Factor in Edu?
cation," "depends on whether he is
brought up in an atmosphere where
truth is spoken, honesty and unselfish?
ness are practiced, sobriety is exer?
cised and the other virtues regarded."
That, it seems to us, is rat.li.er a large
order. Sobriety is easy enough, b it
the possibility of slip-ups from the
path of truth and unselfishness is posi?
tively overwhelming.
We realize that we will never be]
able to make ourself a perfect object
of emulation. Slowly but surely the
conviction is growing upon us that the
only way, we can satisfactorily fulfill
our obligation is to take exactly the
opposite tack and perform the difficult,
but not impossible, feat of practicing
nono of the virtues. If II. 3d is not t<
have a model of perfect conduct about
the house, ho should at least be per-:
mitted tho inspiring sight of a horri?
ble example.
But the most terrifying thing of all
which we learn from Mr. Monroe's book
is that the mind of a small child is
so exceedingly impressionable that the j
parent should understand, among other
things, "the -esthetics of clothing." i
We wonder just how much this im-1
plies. It served to remind us that we
went about the house one day last
month in a suit of clothes which had,
not been pressed, and just for that we
suppose H. 3d will grow up with a
total inability to appreciate the gran?
deur of Michael Angelo'? figure of the ;
young David. Fortunately, the warn?
ing came in time for us to save some- !
thing out of the wreck. We have!
thrown away all tho Christmas neck
ties. Thank heaven, H. 3d never saw !
them. He may yet mature to thrill
at the sight of a summer sunset on
the Grand Canal.
Sex and the Screen
A Defense of Movies as They
Are Censored
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: An item in The Tribune, un?
der the headline "Churchill Denounces
?stage," has jusc come to our attention
I-rom the clipping it appears that
Thomas W. Churchill, formerly presi
' i:? of the Board of Education, de
nounced the stage and motion picture:
in an address before the National Mo
tion Pic-, are League, at tho Broadway
Tabernacle, declaring that the ma?
jority of present-day plays and screen
attractions depend for their popularity
on "sensationalism and sex appeal."
The National Board of Review, a
volunteer organization*reviewing aboir
99 per cent of all dramatic picture!
exhibited in tl ntry and coop?r?t
ing throughout I ry with nu?
merous grou] ,. - ha>
ing i:. large th reg dation of
motion pictures. ?.. take
th this - nt ?
... admitted that tho motion picture
like the play, mu I r Us i
it is to make a:; popt
laf audience. But ti thrill
upon tho screen or the stage is eertainlj
no crime. It is, done in direel answei
to popular demand. Tho great power
of the motion picture is th it it supplie?
thrill an 1 roi tarn e to i ??? ,- masa o?
in v. hose lives the 1 I ng an
the adventurous are sinj nissint
pictures reHeye a suppression
They allow peopl whose existence is
drab to imagine themselves as heroes
and heroines. Sensationalism maybe
quite as innocuous a.-- matter-of-fatt
realism. To imply that ? ti ir.alisr.
- rel ited to indi cency anc
unfitrti ss for ; mind of I - ?rnera
public is erroneous in a hi h degree
As for "sex appeal," the picture? aw
' ilpabl ?'. ii .:. ed, : - presenta
tion of se> : ;?:al it
life, is. eulp ibli .. ? . press ano
the popular V.side fron,
this. t>. tti ? i divorce sex from
drama? fir , ..?on o:
? rr-otiv
power ;,:>.. .
Do( 3 Mr. ( ier th?'
dy in no gi ? ? ; the Eng
g stage i y other
... ti i ib in an:
[al ha th. -.- of sex bee::
.- ?ul . rdinati I or I out?
rhe gist of tl ? that opir
ions differ, i nd it i ly be objec
tionable to Mr. Chur i be en
? ?? inobjectionable to his neighbor
ivho is as well q ..... | ,0 hold ?
Mr. Cl Fhe criti
res is largelj
??'? an a temj I I i define by role
of thumb what is moral and what U
not moraL It is a mischievous deaire!?
guard one' : or fr< m influent*1
from which one's neighbor in nios:
guarded.
Mr. Churchill is further alleged '?>
have announced that inquiry i-'
- made in tl public school* ?-'
-New York to determine just what #
feet motion pictures have on the mini'
of young children. In this connection
it is interesting to not" that an in
ition recently carried on by tie
National Bo Review into t?*
charge that the motion picture WM *
sponsible for a large proportion <>'
juvenile delinquency concluarwi
proves that, this is not the fact. T?<
most experienced persons in the W?
of juvenile courts almost without e? ,
ception have declared and gone *
record that, the screen's connec'.i*
with the causa of juvenile error ??
practically ail.
WILTON BARRETT,
Secretary the National Hoard t?
Review.
New York, hah. 13, 1U-?. {