New-York tribune. [volume], January 17, 1921, Page 8, Image 8

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

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M
' fferrt *? La?t?the Truth: News? Kdl
teriala?AdTcrtlsementi
?r ?T tha Audtt Rureau of Oreolationa
MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 1921
_br Kaw Tork Trlbuaa Ine . a 3*tw Yack
Oarparattaai. PublUnad daily. Otdan ????. Rreet
?*?<: O. Varoat Rtftara. Ti?-rr??U(lac>f. Helen
tauan RaM. Secratarr; R. R Maifla'.d. Traaaurar
AaUnaa. Trlbuoa Bulldlnf, 1M NaAMU Straat. Naw
TatR. Taiapaoaa. B??km? 3**a.
_UfnON RATKS?R? taall, iretudlat
rajUl* " IN THS V.MTKl) STATER
Ona Six ??a
Sf Man, PoatpaM. T?ar Montha. MjaHf^
Ou? waak. *?<r. _
?any anlj. 1?M ???? ?*?
Ona Wfrt. S?c ? ? ^
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?uadajr anly, Oana-ta. ?.a0 ??-? ?*>
FORlfoN RATRR
?air aad ta4ar.mw ????!? *MJ
at tha Puatofflea at New Toflt ?? Saoana
Clasa MaiJ Mattar.
SUAHANTY
Taa ?aa perehaaa mrrehandlia advorlliad la THC
TRISUNK with abaolut. aafety-lar If .Inatttfaa.
?a?! multt la any "M THE TRIBUNI WJJ"
I* aay yaar monay baefc upon raaueat. No raatopa.
?a aafaMta* Wi maka itad aramptly It tha
ajdnrttoar daaa not.
XSafRXR OF THR ASS0C1ATED PRESS
ft^g Aataclatad Pifaa la aicluslrely entttl?t to Ifca
RM tl r?pubIlcatlon of ah uaws dlspatchea
aradltad t* It or nvt othjrwiae credlted ln thw paper.
aad aia* tho local nnii ol epoutaaiaoua orlito pub
""*ad barein.
All rl*hU of republ'.catlon of all otkar rnattat
alao aro rseartad.
Franklin's Week
Benjamin Franklin was much more
than an apostle of thrift. He was
one of the greatest men of his time,
and is still recognized, both at home
and abroad, as one of the greatest of
all Americans. More than any other
figure of the Colonial era he repre
?ented in bent of mind and politieal
and philosophic instinct the America
of the future. He is more contem
porary with the America of 1921
than any of the others are. He was
a diplomatist, a business man, a man
of letters, a scientific investigator, a
sage and a statesman. His Poor
Richard's Almanac propaganda was
only a side issue.
Yet a thrift week is naturally as
?ociated with Franklin's 215th birth
day, which falls to-day. He conduct
?d a literary thrift campaign?
"sold" thrift, as the modern adver
tiaing agent would say, to the men,
women and children who purchased
or read his inimitable publications.
He knew how to clothe his preach
ment in crisp epigrams and unfor
gettable phrases. He was an artist
in presenting a somewhat homely1
virtue as embodying the quintes
sence of economic and social wisdom.
Franklin owed his own fortune to
thrift, coupled with business sagac
ityv He helped others to practice a
forehandedness which had made him
independent and assured him a
career in keeping with his exception
al talents. If he wasn't the father
of thrift he was one of its most
powerful eulogists aud patrons. His
exampie and teaching are highly
pertinent in connection with the re?
vival of the Poor Richard doctrine
which is now being attempted as a
remedy for current economic ills.
Thrift represents a reaction against
axeess consumption?against' outlay
for mere luxury or purposes of os
tentation. Franklin was not a
mortifier of the flesh or a crusader
against self-indulgence as a sin in
itself. His point of view was pri
marily materialistic, as it had to be
in' order to reach the public for
which he wrote. He urged self
restraint as a means of accumula
tion, not of spiritual betterment.
Yet he was imbued with the nobler
Bpirit of thrift. He joined plain liv
ing with high thinking and retained
always a freedom, simplicity and
modesty of life which marked him
Rs a true philosopher and a sincere
democrat.
Thrift is an economical force of
the greatest valuo when it operates
to check unnecessary outlay and to
keep expenditure within inc.ome. It
is also a moral force when it re
frains from more dishplay, which nec
essarily excites competition and puts
heavier burdens on others, weakly
tempted to emulation. Franklin was
an apostle of thrift in both these
senses; and his teaching is as whole
some now as it was 165 years ago,
before he had ever dreamed of help
ing to convert a loose collection of
colonial dependencies into the nation
which honors his memory to-day.
Militarism Proper if German
The latest manifestation of pac
ifist belligerency and liberal illiberal
ity is rather amusing. General Nol
iet, head of the inter-Allied commls
sion in Germany, recently reported
that Germany had broken the Spa
Rgreement on disarmament by keep?
ing an excessive number of the Ein
wohnerwehr, or civic guards, under
arms. To the demand that the
-arms of the agreement be carried
ont the Germans sent an evasive
reply.
It might be imagined that this de?
mand for the reduction of a reaction
ary military eutablishment, which
was obviously designed for the rcs
toTation of the former regime at
home, if not for aggression abroad,
would be hcartily approved by op
ponents of rnilitarism and junker
ism. The New Republic, however,
faithful to Its traditions, offers the
foUowlng comment upon the Incl
dent:
"The Gerraaa pouitlon, th?t dis?
armament of Bavarian And EaHt
I^Uflsian guards 1? for the present
tRtpOF.niblts and danjferous, M?mi roa
?^aMe.''
Piquancy h addcd to this obKerva
tion by the fact that the Ruhr coal
wJaara, who rcpreaant tha mora dem
<wr?t& ipirit i* Oaraaaay, ara thiaat.
ening to withhold coal from Ba
varia unless the Ku-Klux bands of
armcd conservatives are suppressed.
Nevertheless The New Republic,
self-appointed guardian of America
from reaction and militarism, has
put itself in the position of uphold
ing a flagrant case of militarism and
reaction in Germany. It would bc
unkind to stress the inescapable in
ference.
Crowding Out the Competent
Two of the most expert detectives
on the city poliee force are to be re
tired this week, after twenty-five
years of service. It is characteristic
of the methods followed under the
Enright administration that these
two men have done nothing in their
particular line for some years past.
They have been assigned to routine
duty, one on the West Side and the
other in Harlem, instead of being
left free to go anywhere throughout
the city in pursuit of the class of
street thieves in which they spe
cialize.
It seems to have been a habit at
Poliee Headquarters to crowd out
the competent. This is another of,
the many phases of management
there which can best be inquired into
by a legislative committee able and
willing to uncover the whole truth.
Making the Railroads Wait
The Comptroller of the Treasury
recently held that no further partial
payments could be made to the rail?
roads under the six months' guar
anty provision of the Esch-Cummins
act. Partial payments were allowed
up to the end of the six months'pe?
riod. Since then the Treasury has
refused to make anything but a com?
plete settlement with any creditor
road.
The Comptroller's ruling has
caused great hardship to the car
riers, which have bills of their own
to meet. President Rea of the Penn?
sylvania Railroad illustrated the
painful situation, even of the strnng
est roads, when he told the House
Interstate Commerce Committee of
conditions on his own system. The
government owed the Pennsylvania
$99,900,000. During the six months
from March 1, 1920, $59,100,000 of
this was paid. The other $40,800,000
is overdue and unpaid. Other roads
owe the Pennsylvania $10,000,000 in
tariff balances and cannot settle be?
cause the government will not settle
with them. The Pennsylvania is
earning its dividends. Yet it finds
difficulty in raising the funds to
meet dividend declarations, to say
nothing of ordinary operating
vouchers. If the Pennsylvania is
hard up, weaker roads are in a state
of penury.
The Secretary of the Treasury
and the Interstate Commerce Com
mission urge an aruendment to the
Esch-Cummins law to permit a con
tinuance of partial payments. While
Mr. Baker and Mr. Daniels are
! flooding Congress with exorbitant
| demands for military appropriations
I the Treasury Department is crip
\ pling the carriers by postponing
i liquidation of its debts to them, This
' delay gives the Treasury a little
, breathing space. But it involves
j gross injustice and delays business
| readjustment. The wrong now being
j done to the railroads is only one
i more evil legacy of the McAdoo
? railroad administration, which re
! fused to let the carriers pay their
j way in war time and burdened the
j government with deferred obliga
i tions which more than two years
j after the signing of the armistice
? are still undischarged.
The roads are not prospering un
; der the higher f reight and passenger
i rates granted last summer. This is
an anxious period for them. The
l least Congress can do in all fairness
? is to direct thc Treasury to continue
; paying installments on the balances
run up against them through the Ad
ministration's short-sighted railroad
policy. ,
Disgraceful
Public Health Service reports
show that 40 per cent of America's
disabled veterans are suffering from
mental derangements! Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury La Porte,
who made the estimate, says that
the government facilities for taking
care of these men are of the "scanti
est." He says further that unless
l help comes quickly many of these
' cases will become incurable.
This is a condition without excuse.
The government's indifference to the
needs of all classes of disabled sol
diers is a national scandal. Base
and emergency hospitals have been
closed from time to time since thc
war ended. Protests by organiza
tions, by the families of tho dis?
abled, by private citizens and by the
pre8s have been ignored. Tho Amer?
iean Legion has pleaded that the red
tape surrounding tho work of car
injj for veterans be cut and the work
be definitely separatod from the gen?
eral health Bervice and combined
with the War Risk Insurance and
Vocational Education bureaus. New
York State orTered to build a hospi
tal at once for thc care of the war
insane, to be rented to the Federal
government for ten ycani. This was
to bc an emergency measure. Thc
Senate Appropriations Committee
turned it down as too expensive, but
took no action on the proposal for
an appropriation for Federal hos
pital congtruction. Nothing getn
done.
Ia th* raaan tlxa?, to quoU Colonel
Galbraith, of the Ameriean Legion,
in his recent talk with Mr. Harding,
"the unfortunate men, who ought to
be in properly equipped hospitals
getting the best attention and know
ing that their dependents are being
provided for, are to-day, by hun
dreds and thousands, in poorhouses
and jails and insane asylums."
Despite the fact that the number
of war veterans requiring hospital
treatment is increasing at the rate
of 1,000 a month, and that medical
authorities estimate that this in
crease will keep on for at least a
year, the amount provided for their
care was recently cut by*$17,000,000.
The failure of the present Ad?
ministration to foresee and provide
for the future needs of the men who
have come back from the war
maimed and broken in health, unable
to begin where they left off, is a
blot on the nation's honor.
The Sex Line in Citizenship
If the naturalization laws are
amended as proposed, alien women
will no longer become citizens auto
matically by marrying Americans or
by the naturalization of husbands;
on the other hand, an Ameriean
woman will not lose her citizenship
by marrying an alien, except the
alien husband is ineligible to be?
come a citizen or except the woman
resides two years in her husband's
country or five years in some other
country.
The first exception is eminently
proper, but why the others? A man
may live abroad any length of time
and remain a citizen unless he be
comes naturalized in some other
country. However, the proposed
changes are a long stride in the
direction of woman's equity under
the law.
No wonder Ameriean women are
unable to understand why marriage
to an alien who for his own good
reasons does not wish to become a
qitizen of this country should auto
matically deprive them of Ameriean
rights, or why the conferring of
those rights on a woman of alien
birth by marriage to a citizen should
be automatic. Citizenship and
naturalization for women on the
same terms as for men is the proper
course.
The Bolshevik Rash
Bolshevism shows certain resem
blances to an infectious disease. j
Where it strikes it comes out in an
intellectual rash, with high fevcr
and delirium. After it rung its course
it leaves its victims mentally ex
hausted and needing a long conva
leseence.
Mr. H. G. Wells, one of the most
| distinguished victims to be infected,
is now in the last stages of delirium. j
He observed admirably in Russia?
as every where else?and his testi- i
mony as to human facts was valu- !
able as confirming Bertrand Russell
i and all the other witnesses to the '?
\ communistic break-down. But the in
fection got the better of him and set
j him to prophesying madly, lauding
j Lenine and asserting that Bolshev- j
| ism was Russia's only hope. When
i replied to on this last point he be
came abusive and called his oppo
| nent a liar, although the record
showed that he was, unfortunately,
\ himself the liar.
Now news comes from Paris that
j a very wise man of Europe upon
| human ways and doings, Anatole
: France, has also gone over to the
j Bolshevists?just as his countrymen
{ have abandoned these doctrines to a
handful of extremists. The enemies
| of the great man accuse him of bc
' ing in his dotage. But the infection
| theory seems the sounder explana
I tion. Every one will hope that Ana
! tole France will recover and live out
| his centu'ry, wiser than ever for his
I adventure with the Tartar germs.
Patience is the word we urge upon
j the loyal admirers of these great
I men, two of the most interesting
I minds in action to-day. The literary
; mind has always been prone to blun
I der when it wandered from human
. nature to those strange and rela
' tively unimportant human machines
j which compose our politics. Give
| Mr. Wells and M. France time to
j como out of their delirium and to
j convalesce. What are a million
! soviets compared to The Crime of
i Sylvestre Bonnard and The Advent
! ures of Mr. Polly?
No Hapsburgs Wanted
The Swiss nation is getting tired
j of the distinction of housing in its
j midst Charles, deposed King-Em
j peror of Austria-Hungary. Several
I nowspapers raise the demand, said
to be backed by overwhelming pub
lic opinion, that the exile of Prangins
Castlo be politely told to look for
quarters elsewhere?and some of the
editorials do not cven insist on po
| liteness. For Charles, fairly innocu
I ous though he may have been as a
ruler on active payroll, is much too
agile and bothersome for a monarch
j on the rctired list?in other words,
! he and his friends are misusing
! Swiss hospitality for the purposes
| of a widespread and noisy propa
ganda.
Conncctions between Prangins Cas
tle and the reactionaries at Buda
pest have heiMi notorious ever since
the collapse of the Hungarian rcpub
lic. The leadera of the so-called
Carlist faction?Prince Louis Win
dischgraetz, form<r Minister Benicz
ky, Colonel Lehar and others?aro
frequent visitors. So are th?
ernliiaries of tha Ludendorff cllquc,
of the Bavarian royalists and of the
Vienna restorationists.
A Vienna report has it that some
kind of action is being contemplated
by the politieal department at
Berne by way of ridding the coun?
try of its troublesome guest. It is
rumored that Charles is thinking of
forestalling such steps and transfer
ring his residence to Spain. There, at
any rate, communications with his
partisans in the territory of the for?
mer monarchy would be made much
more difficult. And, after all, a
Hapsburg would not have to feel a
stranger in the country of Charles
V and Philip II.
The Five-Cent Fare
Mr. Hedley, Explains Interborough
Demand for Emergency Relief
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: In reference to the editorial in
to-day's Tribune (January 14) entitled
"Traffic nnd the f>c. Fare," you call
special attention to that feature of the
Transit Construction Commissioner's
annual report showing the rapid in
crease of passenger tratlic in 1920. You
also call attention to failing prices and
reduction in wages. Upon these, as
major premises, you announco this
conclusion:
"The 5-cent fare is a long-term prop
osition. There is no satisfactory evi?
dence yet to show that it will not make
good on the lines it covers for the du
ration of the contract."
Applied to industry as a wholc, your
statement of conditions would lend
plausibility to your conclusion. Ap?
plied, however, to subways, there are
certain specitic conditions which should
be taken into account.
First, Wages?Wages on the subway
have not fallen from their highest peak,
and our wage contracts run to 1922.
The rate of pay of our employees is
now more than double the rate of pay
at the time we entercd into the con?
tract with the city. Our pay roll is
about $26,000,000 a year, or more than
67 per cent of all of our expenses.
Materials and Supplies?Coal ac
counts for about 15 per cent of our
expenses. We used to get coal, up un?
til about the time we entered the war,
at $3.25 a ton, delivercd at the power
house. Now the freight and lighterage
alone on coal amounts to $3.80 a ton
nnd we are using well over 2,000 tons a
day. While there has been recently
some reduction in the price of coal,
you can see that there is no possibility
whatever of getting back to the pre
war hasis.
Other Materials and Supplies?Some
are cheaper, but as all materials and
supplies, outside of coal, necessary for
the operation and maintenance of the
road constitutc only around 10 per cent
of the cost of running the road, it will
readily be seen that there is no possi?
bility of saving enough in this account
to pull the company out of the hole, no
matter to what degree prices may fall.
Even if these were given to us free
the company would still be losing
money at a tremendously heavy rate on
a 5-cent fare.
Growth of Traffic?Traffic on the In?
terborough has been increasing. ln the
last four years it has increased some
thing over 40 per cent, but this has.
been a period marked by the greatest
new subway construction the city has
ever known, and the mileage of subway
lines operated by the Interborough in
this same period has increased con
siderably more than 40 per cent.
Not only are there more miles of
road to operate, but it costs much more
to operate them, and in'addition there
is an increase in the investment and j
corresponding overhead.
While gross revenue of the subway]
increased 43 per cent in the last four
j years, operating expenses have in?
creased 126 per cunt. Increased costs
have more than eaten up the increased
i revenue.
I Thir, is an emergency situation calling
| for emergency relief. We do not ask a
| permanent increase of fare, but only
that such steps be taken as ure neces
! sary to preserve the credit of the com
! pany. It would be a mistake to speak
of this as an Interborough crisis. It
| is also a crisis for the city itself.
The essence of the wholc problem is
congestion and discomfort. There can
be no fundamental relief without an
? expansion program, and that, under
? present conditions, is impossible for
j either the city or this company.
The city will soon have $250,000,000
! of subway investment. It is a "frozen
credit." By making the subway self
! supporting it would rclease, for further
; public uses, this amount of money. It
| would be the first step toward a pro
| gram which could go far toward set
! tling the employment question in New
' York ? for a program to eomprise
: the building of schoolhouses, court
1 house, hospitals. pavements and tho
j like would become possibk if the city
{ were to have available ?25i),000,000 of
I additional credit released from the
debt limit.
While it is true that the Interbor
' ough Rapid Transit Company is seri
' ously affected in this situation, it is
j also true that the wisdom of tenipo
I rarily altering the rapid transit con
I tracts as to fare would be determined
not so much by its effect upon this
i company's fortuncs as by the fact that
I such an alteration could inure to the
public benefit. It would make possible
further rapid transit consfruction,
schoolhouse construction, courthouse
and hospital construction and the like.
FRANK HEDLEY.
President and General Mnnager, In?
terborough Rapid Transit Com?
pany.
New York, Jan. 14, 1921.
[The niain burden of Tlie Trib
tinc's articlc was to point out that a
contract is a contract. This vital
phase of the subway fare question
Mr. Hedley does not consider.?Ed.]
A Great Consolation
tFrom. The I'hitadelphia Inquirer)
Lady Astor, the only woman member
of tho British Parliarnent, confestoe
that she is opprassed with the sen.se
that she often finds herself at odds
with six hundred men, who, polite as
they are, fall to sympathizo with all
her aapiratlons. The volubJe American
peercsa should cheer up. Her fellow
membcrs at lcast lieten to her and the
prcas reports her remarks.
The ConningTower
SONG
You ask me why I love you, aweet,
What makea me worship at your feet.
You tell me why this hawthorn tret
Produced the blossoma that you see;
And tell me why these thrushes here
Are making music for your ear;
You tell me why the sky is blue??
And then perhaps 1*11 answer you.
?Wayne Gard in The Chicago Tribune.
Nay, I can tell the reason of
My logicless and reverent love:
I know not why tho hajthom tree
Produced the blossoms 3lhat I see;
Nor know I why these thrushes hero
Are making music for mine ear;
But, oh, my love, the sky is blue
BccauBe it'8 far away from you.
Considerable astonishment has been
expressed about the man examined for
the Brindell case jury who said he paid
no attention to the news columns of the
newspapers and read only the editorial
articles. He is not unique. There aro
many Tribune readers who rely upon
this Palladium of Piffle for their infor
mation on sport; and thousands of
readers confine their interest in books
to the enthralling adventures of that
merry young Broun soul, H. 3d.
The star Betelguese has a radius of
130,000,000 miles; and there are proba
bly Btatesmen there who get mileagc
allowanccs for tripa encircling the dear
old star. (At 8c. a mile, it would be
130,000,000x2x3.1416x$.08).
HEKB GOE3 THE BBIDB
{From The Bvenlngr Telefram]
FOR SALB?Arttatlc 8 ptece damaak ?et.
breakfast ault, poster bed; deslrablo brlde.
Apt. 21, 602 W. 139th.
Add triumphs of feminism: The Eve?
ning World speaks of the Fordham
Alumna! Association.
10! PAEAN!
These will not betray you?
Breadth of sky or sea,
Nor green leaves gainsay you
Wise felicity.
One small hill shall lend you
Shade and shower and shine . .
What girl shall befriend you
Like wild Columbine?
?
Woodland footways follow,
They will not mislead . . .
Yonder bends Apollo
To caress?a weed!
Radiant God of vagrant
Poets, when I praise
Thee?my verse grows fragrant,
And I bles-s my days!
Lee Wilson Dodd.
Old J. Pluvius, as the baseball writers
tcrm him, is the Street Cleaning De
partment's most valuable worker, and
deserves time-and-a-half for overtime.
Gotham Glcanings.
m
nmwsv&iw, -WMm
?C. iV. Van Anda is back from
Atl. City.
?Tom Lamont took in a show j
Tues. eve'g.
?Jim Bush the w. k. artist's model
has bought him a new suit.
?"Mothcr Earth" was covercd
Fri. a. m. with a "white mantle."
?Mrs. Jas. Preston left for Fla.
Tues. and Jim is baching il as they
say.
?Ted Robinson of Clcveland is in
town with the manuscript of a
novel hc wrotc.
?Sinclair Lewis of Washington
D. C. spent a few days last wk. in
our busy midst.
?Mrs. Julia Ferber of Chgo arr.
Tuesday for a protracted sojourn
in the "Big Town."
?Bat Nelson, Miss Annc Morgan
and Joe Humphrcys were to the
Garden h'ri. night.
?Jim Belden of between Otcgo
and Wells Bridge N. Y. has been
hitting it up in Gotham.
?Mrs. Eliza Gale of Portage
Wis. who has been hcrc for some
wks. left for home Fri.
?Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt is going
to live over on E. 57th St. near the
river, where she will bc a neighbor
of Art Samuels.
? Bill Tilden will be glad to learn
that Mary Garden is going to bc
m'g'r of thc Chgo Opera Co. Miss
Garden is Bill's heroinc.
Not since the topographical poetry of
Beatrice B. Bernhcim (cf. "Duluth,
Minn." and "St. Paul and Minneapolia")
have we liked an urban panegyric so
much as "Los Angeles, U. S. A.," by
Bertha Lincoln Heustis, and printed in
The Penwoman. It is too long to rc
print without confessing that we are
trying to fill space, but tgis is our
favorito stanza:
I love you for your beauty,
Your wonders day by day
Enthrall and hold mo close to you,
Los Angeles, U. S. A.
Some of the frequenters of certain
restaurants in our busy villagc think
'"The Inside of the Cup" is anti-prohib
propaganda.
Well, if the restaurants close at t
a. m., the boozo will last all the longcr.
There are 10,000,000 bachelorn in the
United States.
Watch the Prohibitionists point with
pride.
r. p. a.
THE LATEST REPORT FROM EMMA AND ALEX IN
WONDERLAND
_ _Copyright. 1921, Now York Tribune Ibo.
Booi\
s
There are persons to whom a preposi
tion is fis inspiring as a trumpet call.
Dangle an "on" before a dying essayist
and he will get up and dash you off
something entitled "On an Old Pen
wiper," or "On the Delighta of Wash
ing Before. Breakfast." It is cssential
that an essayist be an enthusiast about
more things than prepositions. They
are merely his springboards. He ought
to be a man who wears his Corona on
his sleeves, for there is no moment of
the day or night in which he is safe
from the onrush of idcas. I once knew
a man who was a complete essayist at
heart but a city editor by profession.
He came into the office one July after
noon and called me over. "As I was
walking downtown," he began, "I saw
a little piece of ice in the middle of
Broadway. Write me a funny story
about it."
The assignment floored me com
pletely. I idled over it for an hour
and then reported back that I couldn't
see a story in the suggestion. "What
suggestion?" said the city editor. The
thing had gone from his mind. He was
of the mould from which great men
are made. Having said of anything
"Let it be done" he at once felt not
only that :t was accomplished, but that
he had dOne it himself. The matter
never came to his mind again. At the
moment I spoke to him he was already
deeply engrossed in a scheme for a
story computing the value of all the
lobster salad sold ia the City oi" New
York, exclusive of Brooklyn, the Bronx
and Staten Island, in a single evening.
I have noticed that most ossayists
are like that. Their enthusiasms are
intcnse, but not of long duration. It is
just as well. After all, there probably
is no great field for expression in the
subject of penwipers. The essayist
does it once in a fine spirit of frenzy
and then goes on to something else.
If he were faithful to the one theme
there's no telling when he might ex
haust his market.
Sometimes I am inclined io distrust
the enthusiasm of the essayist. Being
a man much moved to write, he comes to
be so sensitive that even a puff of wind
will propel him into an essay. And
then sometimes on dead calm days he
will begin to write under the pretence
that a breath from some far corner of
the world has touched him. Perhaps it
has. But then again it may be that
he, too, is among the fakers.
"It is time, I think," writes Alpha
of the Plough in Windfalls, "that some
one said a good word t'or the wasp.
He is no saint, but he is being abused
beyond his desserts."
But why is it time? Fabre has said
some hundreds of thousands of good
'words about wasps, but even if he
hadn't, whence comes the cry of
"justice for the wasp"? The wasps
themselves haven't complained. Nor is
there much persuasion in what Alpha
sets down.
"Now the point about the wasp," hc
writes, "is that he doesn't want to sting
you." Of still less moment to the
world than tho wrongs of the wasp are
his motives and intentions. Anv wasp
who stings me will be wasting his time
if he lingers around after the deed to
explain, "I didn't want to do it."
Still, the wholo trick of the essayist
ia to pick side-alley subjccts. Select
ing at random from Windfalls, there
nre "On a Hansoni Cab," "Two Glasscs
of Miljk," "On Matches and Things."
Fow of them. it soems to me, are better
than pretty good. That is hardly good
enough. Tlie essay is a stunt. Either
the wrjter can balance his thcmo on the
end of his nose or he can't.
A Tale That Is Told, by Frederick
Niven, offora more difficulticB to tho
By
Heywood Broun
j complete expression of this reviewer's
opinion. If most people have as much
j leisure as I think they have they ought
I by all means to read this novel. Here
j is a superbly shaded style and the
| most deiicate edge of humor possible.
But I'm not going to go on to the end
: myself. In spite of all the charms
which I have mentioned they are not
j enough to reconcile me to the persis
| tent ambling of the author. I havc put
? the book away, with several others, on
; a shelf which I call "The Hope of a
! Comfortable Old Age." Some years
| hence I shall write about it again a
j little more fully. But if you love writ
ing for its own sake, or if you are go
I ing away on a long vacation, or if you
: have not that unfortunate itch which
j too many of us possess for a definite
I and rather smart-footed story sit down
! now and read Frederick Niven's A Tale
j That Is Told.
| . Here, for a sample, is a paragraph
which explains why they called the Old
Man to preach in America:
"Two deacons from America, touring
j Britain in search of a live clergyman
for their new edifice, were certainly in
the church on the day that he preached
that wonderful sermon of his, into
which came the words: 'We can ima^-ine
with what a ru*h the Israelites csrae
down into the vr.lley?as a wave break
ing,' as he spokr- he threw forward one
knee, thus tight'ming the silk robe, and
| at 'with what a rpsh' he swept the
j palm of his* right hand along the
? tightened silk so that the 'Ss-sh' of it,
: like an echo of the sea, went round
; the walls, up among the overhead frct
: work. The end of the movement was
i an upward swing of the hand almost to
j the shoulder; then, grasping the gown
j again, he stood tilted forward, paused,
I Iistening to the rush of the Israelites
i passing away beyond the laat rafters.
j The audience?or congregation?sat
I tense as at a play by Maeterlinck,
, whose harp is of the one string, the
Btrirfg of fear. It was moving. I heard
him preach that sermon in Glasgow, in
, Edinburgh, in Irvine?and always 1
! waited for that part with tensity.
| Those Israelites, in their way, were
| splendid. I remember when I saw
I Boorbohm Tree act, years later, I
' thought of my father."
Thrift at Waterbury
1 To the Editor of The Tribune.
.Sir: Tho number of inquiries al
ready received from our communica-!
tion in your valued paper from all sec
tions of the country convinccs us thut
the Waterbury plan will soon become j
nation-wide in its scope.
We are answering all serious in
| c^uiries as fast aa received, but would
j appreciate this additional space to re
j ply to various anonymous inquirers, all
j of whom express doubt as to the good
: laith of the merchants who are giving ;
J us the 10 per cent discount.
Probably the best answer to all ofj
j these is that "we are receiving it," but I
, to amplify that allow me to point out
| that while we do not admit that our j
I merchants would resort to sharp prac-'
I tice, we fail to see how they could I
; mark goods up 10 per cent and thenI
down again in the facc of present com
I pctition. Another factor is that our
members are pretty thoroughly posted j
on prices and they would be quick to j
uetect any such practlce. These, how
ever, are simply theories, and the facts
are, as before stated, that we are real- I
izing a 10 per cent saving at a time
when we necd it, and the best proof
that the plan works is, after all, that
it does work.
ln conclusion allow me to say to
Cynic, Skeptic, Doubter and others that
what wo are doing can bo done any
where, but lt requircs timo and effort
to start. The mistakes we made
will help others and all we have is at
the command of any one seriously in
terested. ANNE DENSLOW,
Secretary Equitable Thrift Associa
tion.
120 Grand Street, Waterbury, Conn.,
Jan. 14, 1921.
The Celtic Ku-Klux Klan
To the Editor of The tribune.
Sir: It is interesting to note our
most eminent Caliph Hylan's ord?r to
Commissioner Enright in regard to the
invasion of the Ku-Klux Klan. His or
der follows without attempting to pass
upon the merits of the proposecl activi
ties of the Ku-Klux Klan or any simi
!ar organization. There is no room in
the city for any group which runs coun
ter to law and order and tends to creato
class- antagonism. .
We cannot permit any nortion of the
law-abiding element of our population
to be browbeaten or intimidated, and
any attempts in this direction should
be met with stern repression.
Under the Constitution enur.l right*
and opportunities are accorded to every
man and child living in our country
No group or set of men can be a law
unto itself, nor arrogate to it^elf the
right to rule others by reason of tha
possession of money, power or as self
constituted guardians of liberty. GoT
ernment and authority must be re
spected and the police must see to it
that this is done.
How is it that our Caliph Hylan has
not issued a similar proclamation to
fore^tall the recurrence of any such
meeting as that at which Erin Boland,
s. i^retary of the Hon. De Valera. ex
prtssed fond hooes of a "vendetta"' be?
ing declared against everything Ilritifh?
A REAL AMERICAN.
Brooklyn, Jan. 14, 1921.
The Balloon Episode
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The navy?particularly the "old
navy," in which the best ol traditions
were born and perpetuated views many
of tlie publishcd stories and details of
the recent balloon voyage with no little
regret, not to say humiliation.
The naval service would naturally ad
vocate suspension of judgment until the
report of the court of inquiry shal! have
determined the circumstances of the
ascent, the purpose in view, the official
orders governing the trip and the rea
sons for not supplying proper equipment
and supplies foi- a midwinter flight.
Moreover, the naval service is quita
ur.animous in advocatinjr modesty of de
meanor, dignity of conduct Bnd re?erre
of ut'.erance on the part of tlie partic
pants pending the result of the official
inquiry. The element of aelf-adverti;e
ment and the merest suspicion of com
mercialism at this time are particularly
deplored. In short, the best traditiona
of the navy?previous to the present
unfortunate departmental cra?would
demand discreet silence and diplomatio
retirement from the public arena by
those whose military conduct ia to ??
investigated. NAVY.
New York, Jan. 15, 1921.
A Useless Complaint
iFrotn The Toledv Blade)
It seems a silly thing to complaln
that the government is doing nothmC
to punish the draft-dodgers, silly b*"
cause it is futile. The War Department
twiddlcd its thumbs when the doog
ing was on. It made a single spectacu.af
arrest after the coming of pcacc. And
the prisoner got away to ("icrmany.
The department cannot be expected to
ie interested in the subject to-day
more than it was two \ cars a?0. i;1'
deed, it cannot be expected to be inter-i
tetod in anything except the extrem?'
difficulty of working for h living after
a long season of relief from the ***
curaed todium of toil. i