New-York tribune. [volume], February 25, 1920, Page 8, Image 8

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First to Laet?the Tmth: Newa?Edl
torials?Advertiscments
M?rat*r ?t tlw Aiidii Bureau of Clroulallnni
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1920.
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MBMBKR or MIJE ASSOCIATTED PRF.S8
Tlie Assoclatcd PreM Is oxdusiraly oiHltle**- tn Uie
a?" for republlcatlon of al: ntvn dtapatcuea credlteti
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:ttre;n.
All rights of republ'.e Ion o all otber ujattrr
berelrt alio ?rn retencJ.
The Borah Group
So far Senator Borah and the other
ihcorrigibles associated with him
nave'been leniently treated by a pub?
lic opinion which by every visible
sign ia strongly in favor of the rati
fjcation of the treaty with reserva- j
tion-*.
There nro several rcasons for thvj.
Tn the first place, attention flowed
rhiefly to the President's attitude,
ihe unreasonablenoss of which has
been increasingly recognized. Sena?
tor Borah was opposed o the Presi- I
dent, and to many this was a great
tljerit, and they looked no furthcr.
. Moreover, perhapS Senator Lodge
either hoped to get the Borah group j
into his camp or feared, if he at
tacked them, that he might drive
aoubtful Senate rs into joining them.
Then it setmed esser.tial, if the
reservations were to be matured, to ,
get the incoirigibles to vote for
them, and it was necessary to keep ;
them in good humor. A game, as it
were, was played on both sides. Mr.
Lodge gained ihe votes he war.red, i
ahd Mr. Borah thought he was mak- >
ing progress i:i the old parliamen- ?
'.a'-y device ol i mending a scheme to j
death.
But now the situation has changed,
Rnd it is seen that if the rubber- j
stamp Democratic Senators who
obcy the President are responsible
for the deadlock, so are the Borah,
group?ono quite as much as the
other. There is equality of blame. If ;
the treaty is not ratified fairncsswill l
? lemand condemnation of both sets of
A.dullamites. The two will appear to?
gether as defendants at the bar of
history as men who separated Amer
ca from community with the rest of
the civilized world.
The Senate's Answer
Tiie Senate paid even less atten?
tion to Mr. Gompers's veto of the
railroad bill than the House did. N t
a sinplt Senator took the floor to
echo the protests of the brotherhoo'l
leaders r,n;l the American Federation
of Labor. The vote in favor of the
conference report was 47 to 17??
nearly three to one.
The only recourse left to the
nnions is an appeal to the President.
But since the i resident has already
Ordered a resumption of private
dperation on March 1 he cannot
well veto the bill without plunging
the transportation system into
chaos. The Senate and the House
have done something to repair the
injury inflicted on the railroads
through government operation and '
through the repressive regulation
which preceded government opera
t?n. The present bill is a com
promise?an emergency measure.
Whatever its defects, it will at least
bridge over safely the transition
period from government manage
ment, with its political makeshifts
and enormous defieits, to private
management, with its slow recovery
and its necess iry economic read
justments. This period should begin .
at once. No branch of tho govern?
ment can afford to delay it.
Mr. Gompers and the railroad ;
brotherhoods havo made a serious
mistake in not recognking this fact.
The Administration has natura*lly
been appalled by the results of gov- !
ernment operation. It has been re
luctant to surrertder power in other
tields. But in this field it has been
eager to abandon an inglorioui
venture. Not an echo has been heard |
recently of Mr. llines's half-hearted
proposal for a two-year continuation
of the present railroad regime.
If government operation had been
efficient Congress might easilv have I
been persuaded to continue it. If it
had made the railroads self-support
ing, improved their service and facit
ities, restored their credit and rlimi
Tiated labor discontent and the con
stant t^reat of strikes, the country
would not have demanded a retum
to private operation. But it has ac
complished nono of these thiairs. The
government has completely idemon
strated i(3 own failure as an opera
tor.
The on!y idternative left is a shift- !
ing of the burden of management
back to the Dominal owners. The
railroad ?flnlons are dissatisded with I
this Boiui/on. But they stand almost:
alone in being dissatisfied with it.
T'iey arp opposing their own specia: ,
intereaqt" aa a tiny minority,. to thel
interests of all other group*. They
i are inviting a struggle with the pub?
lic, which resents thoir unreasonable
and reactionary attitude. They may
or may not realize their isolation,
But .Congress realizes it. That is
why their appeal to the two houses
has been so calmly disregarded. It
was an appeal which broader and
more practical leadership would
never have counselled them to make.
Standing by the Turk
For six hundred years, wherever
I the foot of the Ottoman Turk has
; been plantcd, there have been mis
j ery and murder. He has not only
! brought horror to some of the fair
j est parts of Europe, but he has
Imade deserts of once populous parts
of Asia. He has been incorrigible
in cruelty and incapacity. He has
; been the great assassin of history,
| and he completed the toll of his
crimes by wantonly slaughtering
j 1,000,000 helpless Armenians.
Su this country hears with soul
' t;ickness that there. is a plan to keep
the Sut!an on his throne in Constan
tinople. Tf there is any governmen
tal power in the world deserving of
; being smashed altogether it is that
of the Turk. It should exist neither
'? in Asia nor in Europe. To recognize
once more anywhere the monstrous
excrescence would be to mock every
decent sentiment.
But, unfortunately, this country
is not in a position to oxercise any
legal or moral influence. The Presi?
dent, pursuing a policy never ex?
plained, saw fit to coddie the Turk.
There was not even a break in diplo?
matic relations. We have 110 stand?
ing in the negotiations. Moreover,
the behavior of the Administration
in the Italian affair and concernin'g
other matters has about bankrupted
our moral authority in Europe. The
offect of the course has been to pro
tect the Turk. There is talk of ad
dressing an American protest to the
British Premier. But let us be honest;
with ourselves. The protest, if we
really want to do anything for those
under the heel of the Moslem,
should be addressed to the Presi?
dent, demanding from him a policy
whicl: will remove ridiculousness
from our pretenses of humanitarian
solicitude.
The Shipping Problem
Stopping the sale.by the Shipping
Board of former German passonger
steamers may eventually save the
government some millions of dol
lars, but it doesn't touch the real
shipping problem.
That problem is an old one in a
new form. As a war measure the
United States undertook the con
struction, ownership and operation
of a vast merchant marine. Tho
Shipping Board had been estab?
lished before we declared war on
Germany. But since April, 1917, its
powers and functions have been ex-1
panded on a scale unknown before
in government shipping ventures.
The board has on its hands and
under contract more vessels than ic
can hope to use in our carrying
trade. Its methods have been very |
costly. It has done nothing to en
courage the belief that a govern?
ment monopoly in shipping is work
able or desirable. Government own?
ership and operation cost more than
private ownership and operation.
They were a necessity ;n war. The
country will hardly be persuaded
that they are anything but a luxuty
in peace.
The war has awakened Ameri?
cans to the fact that a merchant
marine is a highly desirable invest?
ment -for trade purposes, for na?
tional development and for defense.
A merchant marine is the natural
auxiliary of a navy. It helps to pro
mote commerce. Having created
such a marine, the United States is
not now prepared to scrap it or
sell it.
But if we are to keep our mer?
chant ships on the sea we must
adopt the most economical means j
of operating them. Competition is !
open and there are many caprer bid-;
dera for the ocean carryin.tr trade. :
Government management cannot be \
made efficient with our present low i
stan lards of efficiency in govern-j
ment. Tho problem for Congress!
is, therefore, to find a less expen- j
sive way of utilizing tho great fleet
which has been and is being
created.
Wiih the present strong preju- [
dice against governmcntal methotls
of overcost and underproduction, I
tlie natural reaction will be toward i
a transfer of the fleet to private
management and ownership. The I
government's great investment will
begradu.illy liquidated?at a severe
loss. But such a loss is unavoid
able. It would only be increased
by continued government opera?
tion.
Private owners or lessees might
be able to compete with the foreign i
competitors if some of the peculiar'
handicaps imposed on them by the
Lu Follette seamen's law were lifteh
lf they are not able to com?
pete successfully, the government
would have to aid them with sub
sidies, That is the law of the sea
Practically every maritime nation
has had to how to it in order to
equalize adverse conditions in com?
petition.
Yet the subsidy method is more
elastic and cheaper than a system
of national ownership operation
would be. The United States hesi
tated to try it before the war be
:ause our people we& satisfled to
let other nations handle our ocean
carrying trade for us. They aren't
Batisfied to pcrmit that now. The
old political obstacles to subsidies
and subventions seem to have bqen
broken down by our war expen
ence.
The shipping problem is next in
importance to the railroad problem.
Congress must soon begin to wresUe
with it. And the logic of events
points to a denationalization of the
carrying trade, similar in some re
Bpects to the return cf the land
carriers to private operation.
Hat or No Hat
"There are about forty live issues
in this country to-day in which I am
j interested," says Mr. Hoover, "and
j before I can answer whether I am a
! Democrat or a Republican I shall
j have to know how each party stands
cn those issues."
Mr. Hoover, however, resists in
vitations to say what the forty issues
are and his own attitude toward
! them. When asked to express opin
I ions he smilingly tells the reporters,
! perhaps truly enough, "now you are
i trying to get me into trouble." The
! public is familiar with similar aver
j sion to exact statements by other
: conspicuous men, and it has gen
! erally found that such'are candi
I dates.
Mr. Hoover is a Western man and
has a regional liking for frankness.
It seems time for him to come out
and say openly whether or not his
: hat has been thrown into the ring.
' No one will precisely know '.'hat the
; platforms will con'nin until the cori
ventions meet, and although Mr.
Hoover is inexpert in politics l;e is
, not so ill informed as to think there
is possibility of either convention
adnnting a platform and then ad
.iourning for a week or move to dis
cover whether the same parallels the
one Mr. Hoover has in the recesses
of his mind.
The Ugiiness of Democracy
We have net. much patience with
those aristocratic folk who roundly
condemn all democracy, its art.
and its accoutrements, as neces
sarily ugly. There were ugly
periods in the world long before mod
ern democracy was heard of. Wit
ness the roc >< o extravagances of the
years centering around 1700. There
has been some ugiiness in the wake
of democracy, and some beauty.
Witness, for the latter, the Wool
worth tower, or the Brooklyn Bridge,
or even the Pittsburgh steel district
from a train at night,
As for clothes, we hazard the
guess that women's clothes have sel
dom been as beautiful as they are to?
day. Only a few of the most suc
cessful periods of designoan be ratcd
ahead of the straight-hanging, fig
ure-following frocks of the present
era of sense conjoined with grace.
But men'r. clothes! There, in
deed, the ugiiness of democracy
seems to have coagulated. Laments
over the stovepipe trouser and the
lu>.rd-boi!ed derby have been per n
nial among artistically exj ert pe -
ple. Just how awfu! ?'? ?- were, how
egregiously they flattenod maie hu
man nature to one dea I level of dull,
drab respectability, was brought
home to many others by the war and
its uniforms. Never did Amer?
icans look so distinguished as in
the indistinguishabie garb < f their
regimc-nts. The color of the uniform
was not especially attractive?save
for the Marines. Yet what a sad
awakening for wives and sweet- !
hearts and friends when the uni?
form disappe'ared and "civies"_as
frightful as the word itself?reap
peared!
The point was, apparently, that
our uniform, for all its shortcomings,
paid attention to the fundamental
faets of the human figure and sought
to serve its actions, not distort or
eonceal them. It was, above all,
workmanlike and useful. Did the
lesson of tho uniform strike in? We
fear not. The only ou'. ?? ? we have
seen against the trouser lesumed is
this lament by Jerome K. Jerome
in Common Sense, the London
weekly:
"These good early Saxons, return
ing home from their daily toil with
their mattoeks and their scythes upon !
their shoulder.., looked self-respect
ing men. One felt that their chll- '
dren could run to meet them without '
shuddering. Labor to-day, bound
homeward, always suggosta rather an ;
army of animated scarecrows. Why
should the workers of the world, the
momqnt they were released from
serfdom, have discarded in every
country their useful, approprlate and
quite beautiful garments and have
dresoed themselves like tramps?;
Why does the Swiss mountaineer of
to-day neglect his own national cos- i
tume and send to London for a suit '
of reach-me-downs? What satellite
of Satan has convinced the British
working man that the way to win a
voung girl's love is to walk i ut with
her on a hot Sunday afternoon in an
ill-fitting suit of broadcloth and a
shiny black hat* in which he renem
bles nothing so much as a mute at
a cheap funeral? Won't somebody
give him a looking-glass? Can't
somebody show him a picture of what
he looked like in tho fourteenth een
tury: a clean-limbed yputh in Lin?
coln green with a gay cock's feather
in his hat?a lad that a girl could be
proud of?"
This seems a voice crying in a
wildernesT of trousers, alas! There !
are a few male garments that offer
a hint of hope?the golf suit, for in
stance, that gains in popularity
every seasoa. There ia also the p?s
sibility that clothea will become so
expensive that each suit will become
one of necessity?in other words, a
genuine working suit. In which case
we should all epeedily return to tho
artiatic glories of pensantdom. For
the less a man has to spcnd on his
costume the better he dresses?as
any stock broker demonstrates. In
the mean time democracy must plead
guilty of having elevated the male
of the species out of dignifled and
beautiful working clothes into the
most horrible casementa of gentility
a much tried universe has ever wit
nessed.
Alone and practically unaided our
Mr. MacStay boldly looked the bliz
zard of 1920 in the eye. It is
easy to understand why his naturaliy
serene temperament is annoyed by
snow shovelers who do not shovel
snow. But we. should have preferred,
for reasons of municipal dignity and
dramatic effect, to have had the dis
charge of our loaftng street cleaners
i come from Mayor Hylan himself.
But as the Mayor had his unavoid
j able engagement upon the sands of
I Palm Beach this perfect solution
was, of course, impossible.
The Union League Sland
\ A Reader Would Identify All So?
cialists With Bolshevism
: To the Editor of Tho Tribune.
Sir: In an editorinl appearing in
| this mornlng'a issue of your paper,
entltled "The Union League Resolu
J tion," there appears this statement:
". . . tho Guthrie resolution in
effest asks action on the unwarranted
assumptlon that all Socialists are Bol?
sheviki. Are tho Union Loaguera so
ill-informed r.s not to know that, CTon
in Russia the most courageoua defend
era of democratic principles are So
cialieta?"
It. is a serious matter for a metro?
poiitan daily which for so many years
has Btood 03 a dofender of American
. lnstitutiona to mislead its readera so
thoronghly,
Tho ir.vestigacion now being carried
on by the Judiciary Committee of the
New Vork Assembly as to the qua'ifica
; tlona of tho flvo Socialist Aasemblymen
alcet lo take. thoir seata in that body
,-niaes the inauo, among others, whether
the Socialiot party pf America., of
which the flvo Assemblymen-elect are
admittedly members, is a revolutionary
org.-vr.ization aoeking to bring* about a
change in the form of this government;
by unlawful moana.
it ie truo that some of tho "most;
couragooua dofonders of democratic j
principles in Russia are Socialists,'^
but tha ovidence already adduced be- '.
foro the Assembly Judiciary Committee j
hati shown that these same Russian ?
Socialiata ara repudiated and vilined
by tho Socialiot party of America. In
fact, the Socialist party of America'
'??is branded as traitor to the Socialist :
movomont tl:e gijeat body of European
Socialists in all countries, which, dur?
ing ihe war as after the war, supported
their respective governmenta and
adopted the policy of class rer.oncilia
tion.
While it is improper at this time to
prejudge the case or to urge either
the seating or the unseating ot' the
Assemblymen-elect before the evidence
is complete, il is equally improper and
subversive oi' the public interest to
confuse the public as co the real ques
tioii3 at issue.
You declare tho issue of the pendinp;.
m digation to be "whether the ac-j
< ised are guilty of personal offenae,"
und you as3ert that "there has been
failuro after five weeks of inquisition
to establish individual guilt."
It -would be improper for me and it
would make this a w.ry long letter to
cite the testimony that is pertinent to
this issue, but it is not only proper i
but imporlant that your attention be
directed to the fact that the writer
of your editorial haa evidently fallen
into the fallacy, rather widely preva
lent, that the Socialist party of Amer- '
ica is in agVeement as to plans, meth- '
oda and purposes with those Socialists'
in Russia ho are opposed to the
autocratic ... e of the Bolsheviki.
The contrary is the fact and has
been proved beyond peradventure of a
doubl in the proceedings now pendinir
at Albany. * |
ARCHIBALD EWING STEVENSON. !
Xew York, Feb. 21, 1920. j
[Mr. Stevenson seemingly over-:
Icoks the fact that there are So?
cialists and Socialists and that the
party's attitude as a party is ill_
defined. Why did 50,000 radical
Bolshevik sympathizers abandon the
party and organizo themselves as
Communists if tho regular Socialists
are Bolsheviki^?Ed.]
A Picture Given, Not Bought
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Kindly permit me to correct
through your valuable medium an
error that gained wide publicity by an
Associated Press teiegrum.
It was atated or inferred that $22,000
had been paid by the War Department
for the painting, "Thint Is the Glory,"
preaented by Secretary Baker to Red
Cross headquarters, in Washington.
As a factor ln the motif that resulted
in this remarkable painting by F. Luis
Mora, and to help clear the atmosphere
of embarrassment to the War Depart?
ment and all others concerned, please
permit me to aver that no payment
whatever was made by the department
or the Red Cross. the picture being a
gift from its collaborative producers to
the great minr,tering organization of
the fightinpr forces.
JOSEPH G. KITCHELL,
Ex-Major U. S. A.
War Department, Office of the Chief
of Staff, Washington, Feb. 23, 1920.
A Shining Exception
(From The M'lwaukee Journal)
Lloyd George's aon is in America, I
but, thank heaven, be ian't going to
lectura, ? i
The Conning Tower
A BALLADE OF SUICIDE
(AccrjU, dear Mr. Cheeterton. my profotmd
apologies.)
I botight. ? hempen rope short time gonc hy;
Ifb nice and new, and flt to bear my fall:
'1 ho cost of living ia eo cursed high;
1 fall to find a play that does not pall:
The magazinea?Doc Cranc writes for them
all 1
And cverywhere I flfo the jaza banda bray;
The nnwo.it novels aro spiritual?
And so I think III hang myself to-day.
ThlB in a joyless land?r,o dull. ao dry!
No longcr may I quaft the tumblers tail
Of lordly liquor; and no more may I,
For fil'ty cents, behold a g.imc of ball ;
Tho occult Lodgcs hnhl each locture hall;
I havo a baberdaaher'n bill to Day;
My landlady won't stand another stall?
And bo I think 1*11 hang myself to-day.
The only clothes tho clothiers supply
Are cut in nt the waist nbiiirdly small,
And ill boeome a gcnprllng, grnceless guy;
In Bpring there'Il be a Music Festival?
Two weeks and more of this infernal nquall?
My verses make no hit with F. P. A. ;
Fuir Mistresa Edna will not have me call?
And bo I think I'll hang myaelf to-day.
i/bnvoi
Princess, this is no place for folly's thrall,
This world to prohibitionista a prcy;
There's a convenlent hook upon my wnll?
And so I think I'll hang myself to-day.
_ c. w. w.
As a rule, the hallade isn't worth
? the trouble it takcs. If we were certain
of being able to finish one in three
! hours, we should do one whosc refrain
j is "But no one writes a Prcfato to my
books,"
If, in 1914. tho cost of living war,
100% American, we blast no confidence
in estimating it to-day as 214% Ameri?
can.
On Mars or Salorn, Sig Thinkfl, tho Tele?
phone Company's Orders 1o Operators
Are Something Like These:
1. During the congestion of telephone lines
j only essential calls should be answered. The
easlcst way to find out whether a call ia
! essential is to wait at least, five mimitas
j before answering. !f the flash is still on, it
; means that tho caller is anxious to get his
! numbor.
-. If after this intorval the number still
i seems to you non-essential, that of a newa
' paper or a department store, for instance,
just buzz !he busy signal. Most people
hate that sound worso than u. dentist's
machine.
8. For purposea of convenience the fol
lowing grouping ?f exchanges has been
made. Tho names mny ho used inler
changeably, m Lhey are noi very different
anyway: Murray Hill, Madison Sqifare and
Morningside; Barclay, Uryant. Aendemy and
Pla/.-t; Schuyler, Stuyvesant and Rhine
lander; Bcekman, Greeley nnd River,ide;
Worth and Circle. Gramercy and Vandeibilt,
Lenox, Coiumbus and Audubon.
4. Do not listen to more than tho firat
haif of a number. It saves titne in ! h- long
run, as the caller may give it \ip allogether.
6. If a wire is reolly busy, hrcak in w;th
an'.thci- call whenever possible. This is
known as "intenoivo utilily" und produces
interesting rcsults.
G. Do not hesitate to cut o(T a telephonist
whenever you consider the conversation
3ufTicient.
V. Pay no attention whatever to calls from
public j>ay etations. The nickel is in ihe
box, bo whj worry '.'
Mr. Percy MacKaye's "George Wash
ington" was displayed Monday; and
that and the success of "Abraham Lin?
coln" have aroused Miss Edna Ferber
to the. desirc to wrile a historical
drama. She has named it "William
Howard Taft." Our own historical
play, "Millard Pillmore," is practically
finished; but our "Thomas W. Wilson;
a Masque," will appear or, these Boards
ot Brilliancy first.
7n the Washington letters that Gen?
eral Shanka read Monday it. was shown
that General Washington's men were
frequently low in morale, uninterested
in the war, that they often thought
they were beaten, and that desertions
were frequent. Why the Department
of Justice didn't j 11 Washington for
alleged pro-Briticism it is haid to
understand.
"I Cannot Sing- the Old 8ong.s"
Sir: I temember thnt one, too!
It went:
"Fires that burn in quiet, long and bri-ight
iy glow 1
Flames that ru?h and riot soon to ashes go!
Llps th.it move not. often. when they do-oo
uro wise.
If you love rne Da-ar-li-u;g,?tell mc with
your eye; 1"
What a waltz it made?ar.d how (t tran.j
la'nd and transflgured the dumb awkwurd
noss and wordicss emotlons of many an
adolescent swain 1
And 1 nnvor knew who wrote it! Bless
inits on Samuel Minturn Peck and all the
aentimentallsts 1
But ?there wasn't a single cowhell in it;
Bnd?shades of jessamino and Southern moon
Lght one c-julun't posslbly Blnmune to it!
_B cr.rai Ba iwiaxi).
"You see," said Mrs. Wallaco Young,
of Lurchmont, Miss Brice's sister-in
law, "we live in the country, nnd I
haven't read anything about the charge
against my brot^er." Non sequitur No.
687. People who live in the country?
especially those who live in the suburbs
?are the carefullest of newspaper
readers. Suburbanites are more con
versant with topics of the day, as re
ilected in the newspapers, than city
chaps.
Ninety per cent of our inconspicuous
errora are hopped upon by suburban?
ites.
"Where aro the good oW-fashioncd
citizens," asked Vico-President Mar?
shall, the w. k. Vice-President, "who
used to think that two men could dia
agree and yet be equally patriotic?"
Well, sir, some are in jail, 80me arc
trying to reswit the Assemblymen at j
Albany, some aro Democrats and some I
are Republicans, some were killed fight- '
ing in France, and some were out of j
uniform between April 6, 1917, and No
vember 11, 1918. But the whole 'lot '
of them added togethcr are infrequent-!
Iy enough to carry an election.
"It is no secret," the Times account
says, "that the detectives have kept a
c^ose watch en Mi3S Brice's movement-'
for two weeks." Least of all, we
hazard, is it a secret to Miss Brice.
Of all the persons we have known who
have been under the surveillance of
detectives not one didn't know it about
ten nunutes after the surveillance
bege.n.
Old Fontaine Fox, the aged gambler.
is wSlling, he say5( t0 give us S10 for
each time Mrs. Franklin I. Mallory is
ealled the former Molla Bjurstedt if
?ell give him ?10 for every time Fred
Alexander is referred to as the veteran
tnternationalist.
What the melting enow needs is
apen aewera 0penjy tfri^ at>
-?-L_ g&-PrJk i
TlliPrwb "WILLFUL GENTLEMEN" WHO ARE HOLDING
BACK THE WORLD
Tonyrtptit. 1920. N*w YorX Tribune liit.'
By
Heywood Broun
Controversy is not what it n*od to
I be. Somehow or other a set u'~ rules
: has cnmo into being. When a modern
writer wants to get after anybody he
finda himself gravely handicapped by
the fact that though he may jump up
j and down 011 his opponent's soul, he
! risks disqualification if he commenta
ion tho shape of his nose. No writer
| of to-day who wants to pay off a
j score in prir.t ever thlnks of dwelling
on the cut or quality of his enemy's
clothea, no matter what he may say
! about the styie of his sentences.
It was not so in 1844. Then no holds
were barred and a joumalist could bite
?in the clinchea. One of the most com?
plete and satisfying battles of this sort
we found the other day in Augustus
Maverick's ''Raymond and New York
JournaliBm." Tho contestants were
Colonel Webb, the editor of "The
Courier and Enquirer," and Horace
Groeloy, o? The Tribune. The colonel
began the attnek on the morning of
Jar.uary 27, 1844, with the following
editorial:
"The editor of The Tribune is an
I abolitionist; we precisely the reverse.
: He is a philosopher; we are a Chris
, tian. He is a pupil of Graham, and
; would have all the world live upon
bran bread and snwdust; wo are in
j favor of living as our fathers did and
: of enjoying in moderation the good
I things which Providence has bestowed
I upon us. He is the advocate of the
Pourierism, Socialism and all the tom
fooleries which hs-e given birth to the
debasing and disgvting spectacles of
j vice iand immorality which Fanny
Wright, Collins and others exhibit.
|. . . He seeka for notoricty by pre
tending to great eccentricity of char
acter and habits and by the strange
ness of his theories and practices; we,
on the contrary, are content with fol?
lowing in the beatcn path and accom
plishing the good we can in the old
fashioned way. He l&ys claim to great
ness by wandering through the streets
with a hat double the size of Irs head,
a coat after the fashion of Jacob's of
old. with one leg of his pantaloons in
side and the other outside of his boot,
and with boots all bespattered with
mud, or, possibly, a shoe on ono foot
and a boot on the other, and glorying
in an unwashed and unshaven person.
We, on the contrary, eschew all such
affectation as weak and silly; we think
there is a difference between notoriety
and distinction; we recognize the so?
eial obligation to act and dres8 accord?
ing to our station in life, and we look
upon cleanlinesa of person as insep
arable from purity of thought and be
nevolence of heart. In short, there is
not the slightest resemblance between
the editor of The Tribune and ourself,
politically, morally or aocially; and it
is only when his affectation and impu
dence are unbearable that we conde
scend to notice him or his press."
Horace Greeiey replied in Tho
Tribune next day as follows:
"It is true that the editor of The
Tribuno chooscB mainly (not entirely) j
vegetable food; but he never troubles'
bis readers on the subject; it Moea
not worry them; why should it con-:
cern the colonel? . . . It ia hara '
for philoaophy that so humble a men
should be mado to sUr.d as its ex
omplar, while Christianity i3 per-*
Honifled by tho hero of the Sunday!
duel with Hon. Tora Marshall; but ''
such luck will happen. As to our per
Bonai appearance. it doea aeem time
that we ahould say somethlng.
Some donkey, a while ago, apparently
aaxioua to aaaail or annoy the editor
? W? pva ?n4 not woU lenowing
! with what, origjnated the story of his
' carelessheas ui personal appearance;
and since then every blockhead oi the
? same disposition and distressed by n
| similar 1 ck of ideas has repeated anc
exaggerated the foolery until, from its
| origin in tho Albany Microscope, it
, has Bunk down at last to the columns
of 'The Courier and Enquirer,' growing
: more absurd at every landing. ,Yet, all
this time the object of this silly rail
lery haa doubtlesa worn better clothes
! than two-thirds of those who thus as
' sailed him?better than any of them
j could honestly wear, if they paid their
? debts otherwise than by bankruptcy;
j while, if they aro indeed more cleanly
; than he, they must bathe very thor
oughly not les^ than twice each day.
The editor of The Tribune is the son
of a poor and humble farmer; came to
? New York a minor, without a friend
I within two hundred miles; with less
than $10 in his pocket and precious lit
tle besides; he has never had a dollar
from a relative, and has, for years,
labored under a load of dcbt. .
Henceforth he may be able to make a
better shW, if deemed essential by his
friends; for himself he has not much
time or thought to bestow on the mat?
ter. That he ever affocted eccentricity
is most untrue; and certainly no coa
j tume he ever appeared in would creato
. such a sensation in Broadway as that
James Watson Webb would have worn
I but for the clemency of Governor
| Soward. Heaven grant our assailant
|may never hang with such weight on
I another Whig Executivel We drop
i him."
Colonel Webb made no reply.
We were also interested to learn
| from Mr. Maverick's book (publiahed
; in 1870) that: -The whole Socialist
I heresy, which created a tempest twenty
five years ago, and which struggled
ulong a very thorny path until the year
1855, when it died a natural death
and passed into a tradition, after
having crazed some, ruined others and
disorganized whole communities, was
kept allve in its earlier days by the
influence, the arguments, the persis
tency of The Tribune."
It is also interesting, particularly
at We present time, when there is
more or less hushed talk about the
"spirit of the 'llerald,'" to read the
elder Bennett's announcement of his
impending marriage, which appeared in j
his papet on tho first of June. 1840,'
under the familiar caption "To tho'
? leaders of the llerald." Piled below
t is were the following subheads
'Declaration of Love," "Caught ac
Last," "Going To Be Married," "New
Movement in Civilization."
In his brief history of the theory
and practice of psychoanalysis, pub- i
;>*hed by Huebsch under the title
Psychoanalysia," Andre Tridon sup;
gests readjustmenta which may be :
made. in the light of "the new ethics - ?
"Even a person with a slightly ex- !
aggerated sadistic trend could be made '
uselul to society," he writes, "while
utilmng hia idiosyncrasy to valuable
ends. A surgeon's profession, a butcher- :
shop wouid, according to the man's
educational level, satisfy sadistic crav
mgs."
Yes, and there's also the copy desk
of a morning newspaper.
Now Find the Coal!
(Erom The Dctroit Ketoe)
Attorney General Palmer haa very
kmdJy favored u3 with an explanation
of how he got coal for the country
eo ?? wa have to^ind out now ia what
^?&x
t*o ,f?
A Government of Qnn
From a Yankee Document ii
Another Crisis
To the Editor uf !"he Tribune.
Sir: A recont copy of a New Vori
paper stated that "Secretary Daniels
j also revealed that after Congretl
'< passed a law permitting American of?
ficers to accept decorations from for?
eign governn.ents. President Wilfon
directed the State Department :o h>
form all European governments thit
the I'nited States did not wi , bo;
awards made."
Considering the present deadlock ia
Washington, and believing that there
are a few Yankees still left in the
United Svates, 1 cannot refrain froia
iiuoting a few lines from ,Lowell'fl
"Biglow Papers," written at Ue tirr.e
of another great crisis more than fiftjr
>ears ago:
"The Pres'dunt he thinks thet the
slickest plan
'ould be t'allow thet he's our or.'y man,
i An' thet we fit thru all thet dreffle '.var
,Jes' fer his private glory an' oclor;
'Nobody ain't a (loyal) man,' ,ez he,
' 'Thout he agrees, thru thick an' thlr.,
with me;
Warn't Andrew Jackson's (pol'tics) jes*
like mine?
An' ain't thet sunthin' like a right
divine
: To cut up ez kentenkerous ez I please,
An' treat your Congress like a nest o'
fleas?'
Wal, I expec' the People would'n
care if
The question now wuz techin' bank or
tariff,
But I conclude they've T>out made up
their mind
This ain't the fittest time to go lt
blind,
Nor these ain't metters thet with pol
tics swings,
But goes 'way down amor.gst the roots
of things;
* * . ? ?
Who owns this country
Leastways it ough' to be the Peop:e
and he.
Let him be senior pardner, ef he's so,
But let them kinder snuggle in as C?.
Did he diekiver it? Consid'ble numbsrs
Think thet the job wuz token by
Columhus.
Did he set tu an' make it wut it is?
Ef so, I guess the One-Man power
hez riz.
Did he put through the ''business',
clear the docket,
An' pay th' expenses out of his own
pocket?
Ef thet's the case, then eyerythirig I
exes
Is t' hev him come an' pey my ennooal
texes.
Was't he thet shou'dered all them
million guns?
Did he lo?e all the fathers, brothers,
sons?
Is this ere pop'lar gov'mci:' thet wt
run
A kiri' of sulky, made to kerry one?"
I have changed only three words o(
tho original. YAXKEE.
Ridgewood, N, J? Feb. 23, 1920,
Twisted Libevals
tFrom The Philadelphia fitfllilrar)
Mr. Asquith's demand foi a "el**8
peace" would be more convincing if
his definition of cleanness did not
unply making everything as ea?y ?3
possible for Germany.
It is a curious phencmenon that
modern "liberalism," from whstever
thesis it starts, inevitably reaches,
''ometimea by a rouudaboat route, ta?
eonclusion that tbe Germans sboold
escape the full conaequences of ?,?
orimo against civilization, V