The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-02

| ness Wnicn keeps man from relying Oh
his own judgment, from Joining party
unless well-known men are leading it. He
! says:
! the machine, upon analysis, turns out to be
| a lack OF self-reliance. Wherever you mar
! who gives some one else's corruption, some one
! elses prejudice as reason for not taking action
himself. You see cog in the machine that
! governs The proof of it is that he will dis,
suade you from striking the iniquity. He will
explain that you can't try it without doing more
| lslrm than good. You will find that at every
| point of defence, from the arguments Of Mr..
| Croker himself to the arguments Of some sainted
college president, the reasons given are Identical
/ cannot find anyone who defends stealing. They
only deprecate the action as beng inexpedient.
Still the practical 4man will say. What
/ is to be done? This is all very pretty, but
| what can one man do alone?" This is what
| Mr.. Chapman thinks he can do:
What, then, must the enthusiast do in the
] way OF organization! Let him 20 ahead and do
/ some particular thing, and ask the public to
help him GO it, lie will thus get behind him
! whatever force exists at that especial time for
/ that especial purpose. 1t may not be much, but
! no amount OF letter heads and great seals VIII
! increase it. Let him abandon written consti-
! tutions Let hun not be bound by vote or
] seek to bind others by vote. II YOU have
formal procedure, you are tied up, for you viii
| then have to convert six tailors into apostles
! before you can get ut the public. Content
I yourself modes7ly. See a friend two
and tell them what you intend to do. II they
won't help you, dc it alone. do not think you
are wasting your time il no one joins you.
The prejudice against the individual is part Of
the evil you fighting. Ii you keep on in
a consistent line of action, people will come to
You one by one, and your group VIII grow into
sort of centre Of influence. There will result
a unity of method well OF aim, which, as
your purposes become understood, will enable
you 10 act with the speed of thought and the
force of avalanche. One great merit Of this
method will be that your whole policy will re-
I main an enigma to everyone except those who
really want what you want, namely, to raise the
general standard. Only such men will seek you
out. Anyone else is a danger. Thus your or
ganizaticn will grow slowly, but will remain
unoapturable. un-get- -a0le, an influence, a
menace, a standard.
This is absolute truth, as straight as a
ray Of light and as forceful as a trip-ham-
mer. As long as the world lasts, it is true.
there will always be organizations; but it
is also true that the great work of Uplift-
ing society is done outside the org2niZa
tions, and that when this is once recog-
niZed, and the thinkers place themselves
in line with the mighty elemental forces
of the universe the effect upon cociety
viii be analogous TO that produced upon
material civilization by the invention of
telegraphy, the electric motor, and the in
candeseent light. AS in the material world.
so in the psyehical great results are
reached only by cooperation, conscious or
unconscious, with the fundamental laws
OF being.
The brevity of the authors sentences.
the conciseness of his statements, remind
one of Emerson, but it is Emerson talking
politics Here is another trenchant pas
sage, which might easily have been writ
ten in the stormy days Immediately pre-
ceding the war:
Reformers proverbially disagree, and their
us the quarrel always arises the point.
Can afford. under these particular circum-
stances, to tell the exact truthT' have never
known reform movement in which this discus
sion did not rage from start to finish, nor have
known one where any other point was involved
You citizens committee. The parties offer
10 give you half a loaf. Well and good But this
is not their main object. They want you to call
il a whole loaf. They want TO disspate yoGr
agitation by getting you to tell the public that
you satisfied. What they hate is the standard.
The between you and them is a spiritual
game Of chess. They must get you to say they
right. 1t is their only means Of retaining
their power.
Mr.. Chapman does not believe that
reformer should ever be contented with
partial success; he must never reap, but
always sow 1t is fact that every time
reformer does so compromise, he loses
power. Had Bryan given up his principles
for the sake of denomination he would
One must always be ready to risk some
thing 1t is impossible 10 eat ones cake
and have it, too. Che cannot be a re-
former and have good time, or even part
of good time, with the people whom one
is endeavoring to reform.
Mr. Chapman has a tonic quality which Is
good to brace people up in this vaeillating
age. Here is another paragraph with gin
ger in It:
Everybody in America is soft, and hates
fiict- The cure for this, both in politics and
social life, is the same-hardihood. Give them
raw truth. They think they will die. Their
friends call you a murderer. -Four thousand
ladies and eighty bank directors brought vinegar
and brown paper to Low when he WAS attacked,
and Roosevelt posed as a martyr because it was
said, up and down, that he acted the part OF
selfish politician. What humhug! How Is it
that all these things grow On the same root
fraud, cOwardice. fcrTnality, seniimentalIsIn
and a lack OF humorg Why do people become 50
solemn when they are making deal, and 50
angry when they are defending itY The righteous
Indignation expended in protecting Roosevelt
would have founded a church.
And speaking of churches, this is worth
noticing;
The general cowardice of this age covers
itself with the Illusion OF charity. and asks. in
the name OF Christ, that no ones feelings be
hurt. But there Is not IN the New Testament
any hint that hypocrtes are 10 be treated with
charity.
That last sentence ought to be posted
up in every Sunday school room in the
land. 1t would do more good than any
other possible suggestion.
Mr.. Chapman has told more different
kinds of truth In this little book than
one can find in most mems libraries. He
has in his chapter on Literature" put his
finger on the weak point in the literature
of this country. and held it there:
Life is ugly and necessary; art is beautiful and
impossible. The farther you 90 from the facts
Of life, the nearer you get to poetry. The prae-
teal problem Is to keep them in separate spheres,
and to enjoy BOTH The hypothesis Of dup
licty in the universe explains everything, and
slaves off all claims and questionings.
Such the convictions Of the average cult
waited man. His back is broken, but he lives in
the two halves comfortably enough. He has
TO be protected at his weak spot, Of course, aud
that spot is the present; ten years from now, to-
morrow, yesterday, the day of judgment, the State
OF Pennsylyana-all these you welcome 70.
Every form Of idealisn appeals TO him, long
as II docs not ask him to bulge out Of his arm
chair. This man does not know and has
no means Of knowing, that good books are only
written by whose backs not broken, and
whose vital energy circulates through their entire
system IL one sweep.
And that is exactly what is the matter
with American books and magazines to-
day. The publishers are timid, because
the pubic Is. one would think from the
passage that the author was a
novelist himself. so perfectly does he I'M
derstand the conditions in which the writer
works. But the probability is that he
is simply a clear and unbiased thinker,
whose opinions on any subject. even one
with which he is not familiar. are of
value because OF the intuitive truth of his
judgment.
4 man az work is like n sfriue, that s yibr.t
ing. Touch it with feather and it is numL
A siIGor will sing fiat If he secs a triend in the