The evening world. Newspaper, December 13, 1922, Page 30

; WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1988. » SUBSORIPTION RATES. Ee SCA a a Ta ie pee Sonntag Weeia..: “19 6 130 Awe Weld: 43 8 a ‘World Almanse for 85 cents; by mall 60 conte. BRANCH OFFICES. 1808 Bway, cor. 38th.) WASHINGTON; Wrete Bldg; A MM, 3082, Ave. Reet 14th and F Ste. VRONK, 410 E- tanh Be, neat | DETROIT. OPT ere BR ‘eshington PARIS, 47 Avenue de noo on oe 8 TONDON, 90 Oockspur Bt MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. the ‘cate Ampriated Prose in exclusively, entitled to, the use for repabs A PLATFORM MESSAGE. - $TS political aspect, President Harding's message to Congress last week was a plat- form message more than it was a program of legislation. The President was outlining the platform of: 1924 and opening the way for discussion and improvement. On many of the issues he is pre- paring for the next campaign claims that the Democrats are “stealing our thunder.” This applies whether the Republican candi- date in 1924 is Warren G, Harding or any other. Lut the President is not blind to the appropri- ateness of running a Harding candidate on a Harding platform. Good tactics, good politics and good citizen- ship alike point out the duty of the Democrats. They should not obstruct in a partisan spirit. They should sift the good from the bad in the Harding platform, endeavoring to improve on the good and to offer informative opposition on the bad In the next eighteen months the President ought to be able to learn a good deal about his own platform. in the main, and “in principle,” it was an en- couraging effort. In particular, and in detail, it is susceptible of great improvement. That is the task of an intelligently guided opposition. A Western Congressman is opposed to broad- casting Congressional debate. It's wiser to send judiciously selected and carefully edited ex- cerpts from the Congressional Record. A FUTILE FIELD. ANY readers are beginning to regret the trend in current novel-writing toward sneering at the commonplace. The novelist who devotes a whole book to satirizing the “standardized” dress, table man- ners, social conduct, business activities, opinions and small talk of the minor citizen of Main Street may have found a field for cleverness. But what a futile field! Satire is one of the great literary forms. The great satirists of literature, however, the Swifts, Rabelais, Cervantes and Fieldings, had bigger wims and objects. They were not interested in forming or flattering “superiority complexes.” They were not doing what so many of our present writers are constantly doing—slyly in- viting the reader to look upon a group of char- acters and inwardly say: “Well, | may not be better or holier than these. But, thank God, 1 am less commonplace!” Older novelists like Dickens and Thackeray were always ready to find dignity in the com- _monplace, true worth in hum-drum, “standard- ized” lives. Instead of forever insinuating that the only _ way to be distinguished is to be different, they wrote from the deeper conviction that any com- mon habit of belief or conduct that makes life seem more understandable and better worth liv- ing to great masses of human beings is worthy of respect. If you want to see how a truly large-size, full- souled novelist looks at plain people, go back and read the words with which George Eliot ends “Middlemarch,” a masterly story of English pro- vincial life: “The growing good of the world Is partly de pendent on unhistoric acts; and that things ot so ill with you and me as they might ve been, is half owing to the number who lived faithf Ny a hidden life, and rest in vn visited tombs.” hat thought alone is worth 10,000 “Bab- THE REAL REMEDY A TH result of the recent hazing scandal at the Naval Academy, two midshipmen y been dropped from the service and three been set back one class in the school. Other’ cases remain for decision by the officials hve } are With all respect to the authorities, occasional disutissals from service will not stop the hazing. Norjwill it serve io burden the taxpayers with the cost of another year of schooling for those An occasional inves! gation with attendant publicity is not the remedy. That rests with the % eA ARENT 185 AIST officers on duty at the Naval Academy. The way to break up hazing is by day-to-day dis- cipline, administered by those in charge. The way to prevent recurring hazing scandals is to put in authority officers who will not tolerate hazing and who will be on the watch to put down the first signs of the hateful practice. If such a course were followed there. would be no occasion for periodical investigations, THE TIGER GOES HOME. 5 eee accomplished, as he puts it, “the mission I have not received,” the Tiger sails back to France, leaving Americans to ponder what he has said. How many of them will ponder it and how much? Of those who closed their ears to anything M. Clemenceau might say before he said it, we need not speak. Their isolation is as confirmed as the isolation they would wish upon their country. But what about the open-minded? What about those who would not willingly sec the foreign policy of the United States congealed into phrases? What about Americans who are capable of look- ing upon momentous facts and crises of peace, even as they looked upon momentous facts and crises of war, as possible calls to duty? Some of M. Clemenceau’s parting words were as reassuring as any he has uttered during his visit. In his interview with Walter Lippmann, for example, he appeared with appealing frank- ness and force as the experienced French states- man only too well aware of the chauvinistic use French politicans make of whatever points to in- security for France. He would have no “annexing of Germans,” he “fears the Ruhr,” he wants no “protesting popu- lations inside the frontiers of France,” he is ready to be friends with German democracy-—“Iet Ger- many be as rich as she likes’—all he asks is Present agreement and support among the one- time allies of France to assure reparation and pro- tection for France. “The more agreement we have, the less force we shall need.” And in his farewell speech last night he said: “We have been quarrelling too often with Eng- land, and this might have been avoided if America tad been there.” “If America had been there!” Since the war, out of the abortive conferences, the frustrated ef- forts, the failures, again and again comes that cry to weigh upon American qonscience. M. Clemenceau has left facts for us to ponder. Hie has also left a profound truth in simple words that go straight to the soul of the matter “A nation cannot be great one day and small another.” THROWING THE SWITCH. | 1 begins to look as though Congress would side- track the ship subsidy in favor of rural credits, {If rural credit measures are passed ahead of the Ship subsidy, then Mr. Lasker’s pet measure will never get off the sidetrack. More than once we have seen a worthy legis- lative measure coupled with a bad one and both have passed on a trading basis. That was what Mr. Harding evidently proposed to do. That ac- counts for the brief mention of rural credits in the special message on the subsidy. Ht would have been a disgraceful trade. But ihe possibility was menacing Supporters of rural credits have power to force the passage of their measure. They do not need to trade. Once it is passed it strips the privilege mongers of trading stock. Farm bloc leadership will score a real triumph if it can succeed in winning the good bill without paying with a bad bill. The sidetrack is the proper place, for the subsidy grab. More power to the switch engine. Appreciation of the life and work of Dr. M Royal Whitenack of Newark will make a bright page in human history. But in such a case words are but futile things. His real memorial is to be found in the hearts of the parents and children to whom he was friend and counsellor ACHES AND PAINS Moslems cat with fingere instead of forks, not be- couse they were invented first, but for cleantiness. We know, they hold, who washed our fingers, but who knows who washed the forks? . I like the cop with the scar on his jaw Where the burglar’s bullet sped. The look in his eye says here is a man Who knows how to keep his head . Looks as if some of the venom of the snukes slain by St, Patrick had got into human peins in Ireland . A proud and haughty Picaroon Rssayed t eat a macaroon, The sticky cake stuck in bis jaw Such things should all be stopped by jay Cried out the peevish Picaroon, * With due respect to Prof. Coue may it ve asked when did the human mind fail to be euppties with autosuggestion? . The Standard Oil Company of Indian 3 worked its capital up from $1,000,009 to $150.000,000, alt on earning power. By the way, is any one petting myre oll in the wells? The vest Wmit setters ever ave the holiday window dressers JOUN KERTZ ‘ PA SS TER THE EVENING WORLD, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1922. Another Campaign Banner Comes Down! From Evening World Readers What kind of letter do you find most readable? the worth of a thousand wor There is fine mental exercise and a lot of sasisfaction te say much in few words. ey, UNCOMMON SENSE By John Blake Hl Weprright, 192%, by John Blain) WRONG ROAD. Isn't it the one in a couple of hundred ® ‘me to be brior. Double Indictments. he Editor of The Evening Wor! s you have often declared if not most, ma convinces the ; © And chivalric id “Be sure you are right and then go ahead,” is a maxim y safe to follow. which is perfect But, “Be sur it that time was which caused the of the Klan has ins to justify its wrong before you stop” is a maxim which ought to be preached early and often to the class of youths known as “starters” which is a very numerous class indeed. 'y cominon habit among beginner: deciding that the road is wrong as svon as it be little miry or hilly or hard going. All roads, right or wrong, a most always at the beginuing—if they are roads through is due to the which irresponsible people s can obtain guns. livan law only seems to apply to the loose shooting, Klan and yeflect with re- e that It once wa: in its heroic atte of Americanism ipt to preserve respectable class of storekeeper had for some time firearm. protection, which the police The law does not f din uplifting our democ hte dae should be hard, for man was It is necessary that they never intended for ease, and it is never good for him. There are hundreds of young men who begin with law or wnedicine or newspaper work or engineering who turn back the minute they encounter the very difficulties which are the real tests of persistence and ability. Back they go to take some other road that seems easier, only to find that it, too, has its stretches of bad travelling, and to leave that and take still another. Of course, any one will do best in the business or pro- fession for which he is best fitted, But there is much non- sense preached and believed by young men about the danger of getting on the wrong road. upward direction is better than no road at all and many men have got very, very far on roads that they travelled because of sheer pluck, even after they found out that some other road might have been ¢ It is persistence that counts in early life—dogged deter- mination to get somewhere, no matter how many obstacles stand in the way. Continual turning back and starting over is a waste uf time which will do more mischief even than taking the wrong road in the beginning. Discouragement lies along every way that is open to young manhood and womanhood. But it is merely a rough 1 And the passing of it will nake all manner it was intended as I have yet to see where a criminal sted for some crime tnvolving a gun was ever convicted under I have observed prob- ably one-quarter of felonies wherein the criminal was charged with rot. kening the central gov it from all but the pages Sullivan law, , the Klan was an essential he birth of the nation but reful preservation nly by our most ca of elvil law and justice can we uphold the worth of tho fended by « high priced lawyer—and lasingate: nnd the probability that he might have killed his victim with the gun he car- ried was entirely forgotten. A criminal who carries a gun should be indicted on two counts, that of the crime he attempted and also carrying a gun, so that if he ts acquitted on the first charge he will surely be con- victed for having a gun. Why don't the police enforce the Sullivan law as it applies to the seller This 13 @ phase of the thing which can be openly observed hy any one walking along Park Row and the Bowery or through the Italtan Reflections. To the Editor of The With the new and probably hostile Congress in view, President Harding may have revised his opinion about the approaching days of ‘‘normalcy."’ Probably because there are so many lame ducks in the present Congress much of its proposed legislation, con- ier for them. leg to stand on rin the Senate against a certain bill always has a good chance lly when its spons- s are openly displayed tn the win dows of pawnshops. ‘ Nea York De : place and not a barrier. the rough places to come seem easier, ors don't care De AAPA POD PPP DPD DPD OSAP DDD DPD PPD PDD PEPE Worth of @ Nation, Yo the Editor of The 1 XIIL—THE STORY BIOLOGY TELLS. Biology is a new study, which has recently found its way into the pub- le schools. The text books on physi- Ology are now written by biologists. To study dlology is to study life— that is what it means, the study of living substance. The old books be- gan with the birth of the child; the new books go back to the beginning of the unborn child. One of the great truths of biology. which our grandparents never sus- pected, is that every animal and every plant begins life as a single cell of protoplasm. It might be better to say, that every living organism begins life as a two-in-one cell; for before any of the higher animals and plants can be created, two cells of pre-existing protoplasm have to be brougiit to- gether and merged into a single cell. In antmals the mother cell 1s called an ovum, the father cell a sperm. The ovum and the sperm are useless until brought together. The moment they are brought together and unite, the united cell constitutes a new tn- dividual, At the moment the parental cells unite, a new being comes -nto existence, The united cell grows to a certain size, then it divides into two cells, the two grow and divide and so on untt! the unborm child ts fully formed. The process of growth and division are identical with those of single-celled animals, with this difference—instead of dritting apart, the daughter cells adhere together. So a human being is an assemblage of cells, a sort of community, wheréto the individual cells have Tearnéd. through the forces of heredity, to spe- clalize in different kinds of work. Muscle cells, for example, have be- come very elastic, whereas other cells have become adept tn other kinds of work, just us in a village some men are expert carpenters. otherg being expert in diferent kinds of employ- ment. For the forces of heredity, work- ing through countless .generations, have stamped upon the cells of the body an ability to do a! of work. Among thems have somehow learned to upportion the labor of fiving, go that each may do its part eficient!y. Another great act learned by biolo- sists has been expressed as the so- called blogenetic law. This law holds that each child passes through the same stages of development that its race has passed through; in other words, that each, child repeats the history of the human race. By studying’the development of a child, therefore, we can learn from it the stages through which the race has risen, Since a child begins life as a single-celled organism (the .| fertilized ovum), it follows that the ‘jearliest ancestors of the human race were single-celled animals. Becaus a human embryo passes through worm-like, hyra-like and gastrula- like stages, it follows from the law that there was a time when our an- cestors were no higher than these tort The gill-slits on an unborn child's neck hark back to an aquatic existence. The lanugo, or hairy coat- dng of hair, which a child sheds be- fore being born or soon afterward, suggests furry ancestors. According to the law, the fact at a child creeps before walking, and cries before talking, in@icates an anthropold ex- latence. Moreover, the inetincts which are tnborn with every child aie supposed to represent the lessons our ancestors learned us a result of terrible experience. Children still fear such things, for example, as their ancestors learned by bitter ex- pertence to fear. If the biogenetic law be true, there- fore, we can learn from e etudy of children more about the human race, and tho struggles through which our ancestors learned to walk erect, than we can learn from books. Is a child re-enacting human history, for exam- ple, when learning to walk? It crawis here and there, reaching after in lif vard going here and there reach. After many falls, the reaching leads to standing and finally to walk- ing on two feet. Many students of human nature be- lleve we may learn from children that our ancestqrs, reaching after tempt: ing things, which bung higher than their heads, lUterally tantalized them- selves into an erect attitude, Any road that leads in an WHERE DID YOU G&T THAT WORD? 238.—MERCATOR’S, PROJECTION. ‘Mercator's projection” {is & pbrase that ‘mmortalizes an {p- dividual. That individual ts Gerald Mercator, a Flemish geographer who devised the moderu method of map- drawing. No propaganda could be instigate the Ku Klux botter champion it timely “revival n which would ause than this From the Wise listened to him like tamily but will not probably act Just a distant relation. a friend of the are better than Hipshfield do the + pervaded all papers have carried front page stories Horace Greeley. 1 heartily during His imagination resembled the the obvious inf entiment strc organization and its poli When visiting Chicago Mr. Clemen- ceau insisted on seeing the slaughter hee being that wings of an ostrich. him to run,' though istied with these “Just like a battlefield,” Our American Legion, always on the did not make any comment to this comparison views, he remarked: degree of accuracy the noble we » Klan at a time the turmoll of Man is a bundle of relations, a known in the fruttege is the world. picture the white-hooded band one of those pi 1 mind so ver ‘ : Some prople are so fond of ill "Thou shalt not kil Douglas Jerrold would be equ and no man.—Disraeli. z Up to the time of Mercator there WHOSE BIRTHDAY? was no system of map-drawing. DECEMBER 18TH, — HEINRICH] His plan made it possible to put @ HEINE, famous German author and] #ivem part of the earth's surface on yer on the principle o: por, was born in Dusssidort, Ger-] tir ceiaite cod carnine. ee many, Dec. 13, 1797, and died In Paria,| ‘That system made it possible for « France, Feb, 17, 1856, He first took| cartographer of any nationality to anktort, but{araw & Map perfectly intelligible to e any man of another nationality, The name Mercator has acquired a course in banking at in 1819 entered the University of Bonn, and subsequently studied at|the fame of being treated as almost Berlin and Gottengen, In 1825 ie}a common noun. Mercator was joined the Lutheran Church and went} benefactor especially of navigators. on an extended tc mies to study she natur toms of the different countries. AL r through Europe settling permanently in Paris, Heine devoted a great deal of his time to political writing with the object of he publighed “Pictures of }iringing about a better understandiug 1" based on his observations, [between France and Germany. Among scenery und cus od his “Book 0 his writings ar he Newer Litera (ue of Germany.” “Youthful Sor an literature. rows.’ “Conditions in France,” “Ro ) imbued Heine wilh a H ©. and “Last Poems and racy, and his political writings | ts." Heine is considered the sitated bis leaving Germany and’ greatest lyrical poet of Germany,