The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-11-18
ROUND THE FESTIVE BOARD


Heu auulenCe. NOW SUBMIT 10 you
that it cannot be done, at least within
the limits of a chamber of commerce
dinner speech.
The United States is full of problems.
They are as plenty as the puzzles in the
prize columns of family newspaper,
and the attempts at solutions about as
wild as the answers of the puzzle
guessers. Newspapers and magazines
| are filled with the discussion of prob
lens affecting our social, financial and
commercial welfare and progress.
, Half Of the books that you will find
on the shelves Of a modern library are
! written upon religious, social, govern
mental and economical problems. Ev-
erybody seems to have his own partic-
ular problem, his pet problem, the solv
ing of which will set everything right
and the failure to solve which will send
us all to the bow-wows. Everyone is
, telling just what ought to be done and
pretty much everyone has different So
buttons to propose.
| Reform panaceas that will cure all
public Ills are quite as plenty as cure
all medicines, and the whole public
seems to be looking for some social or
political patent remedy. The advertise
nlents of these reform cure-alls seem
10 be patterned on the advertisements
! of medicinal remedies. The symptoms
/ of public disease are oil given in a
! way to make people believe that the
body polite Is on it's last legs, and that
only the specified remedy in question
J can save it. The public man is not
supposed to be equal to his position or
station who does not have remedy
made ready on hand for every trouble.
This desire for patent remedies is we'll
Illustrated, think, in the avidity with
when newspaper interviews are sought,
and supposed to be read. The inter-
viewer is abroad; he pervades society;
he appears to his victim unannounced,
in all places and at all times; he comes
at meal time and at bed time, and
every other time; he does not even
bring a letter of introduction or intro
duce himself, or inform one what news
paper he represents; but he challenges
attention boldly with such questions as
these: What is congress going to do
| about Cuba?" What do you think
about government ownership of rail-
roads?" do you favor government
telegraphs and postal savings banks?"
"Will you stand for woman suffrage?"
"Give us your views about the Greater
New York city election?" How should
immigration be restricted?" How
would you reform the currency"
"Will you vote for tariff commits
sion?" Ought senators to be elect
ed by the people?" Are you in favor
Alaskan boundary treaty." Are you
a civil service reformer or spokesman"
'In what way do you propose to keep
people from getting too rich, and to
make poor people comfortably rich?'
why don't you put an end to trusts
and monopolies?'
These and score of other kindred
questions which a public man Is ex-
pected to answer daily for the news
papers indicate, I suppose, the prob
lens which the public thinks ought to
be quickly, definitely and forever set
tied. But the strange thing is that
when the public reads the interviews
in the papers it does not seem to get
any nearer the solution of these ques-
tons than before. The first copy of the
old writing book seems to be again IL
Illustrated, verify that there are many
men of many minds as we'll as
many birds of many kindss'
If this morbid problem hunting in
Dictated only desire on the part of the
people to understand public questions
and have them rightly settled, it
would be healthy and commentaries;
but in so far as it indicates an unthink-
ing discomfort with present conditions
it is unhealthy, un-American and dan
gerous. tt it shows that the average
citizen can stop making money long
enough to forget number one and think
Of number two it is a hopeful sign but
if it indicates only that the average cit
izen wants to regulate things for the
benefit of number one, it is not so en-
couraging. Pope wrote, Whatever is
is right 1t seems as if considerable
portion Of the community reverses the
saying and declares that whatever
is is wrong" Neither assertion is ac-
curate or true.
We may admit that in the United
States civilization has not attained the
highest possible limit; that the admin
istration Of public affairs still lacks
perfection; that social conditions might
be improved, and human happiness still
further promoted. The ideal has not
been reached; it probably never will
be, for as we make progress our ideals
become more lofty and more unattain-
able We must not forger though, the
great fact that nowhere In the world
to-day can we find higher civilization,
a better administration, more desirable
social conditions or more true happi-
ness. Indeed, affirm that in all the
desirable results of civilization, in the
organization of human society, in the
rights and privileges OF men and wo-
men, too, in the form and purpose and
administration of government and in
the real welfare of its people, the United
States leads the world. He who would
pull down unless he can build better is
a public enemy.
Am I expected to deal with some par
ticular problem? All social, political
and humanitarian problems are COM
plex. No one question rightly settled
would dissipate all the clouds and
enable the United States to go on in the
clear sunshine of prosperity, happiness
and glory. Problems always have con-