Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-22

AoANl ulN bptutu the week, Is QeSeTN-
ing Of a more attractive name. for 1t is
better than It looks on the bill boards. II
is especially good in the hands Of the
present company, because the competent
actors give such satisfactory Interpretation
to the character parts with which It
abounds. The Strollers" is neither good
A nor bad, just Indifferent. Sally in Our
\ Alley" is one of the smartest Of smart
plays. and was thoroughly enjoyed by people
who keep up to date. To those who have
Jagged behind the theatrical procession it
might as well have been in Greek, for the
jests end sallies with which 1t abounds are
up TO the minute. The coming week has
In It much Of promise. Kocian and Mrs.
Campbell, with Pinky- Panky-Poo, being on
the list at the Boyd. At the vaudeville
house an excellent bill had good patronage
throughout the week.
Blanche Walsh has been the provocatlon
for a recrudescence Of the Tolstoy debate.
her success in Resurrection having led
to a general breaking out of the endless
argument as to the Intrinsic merits OF the
Tolstoy methods, coupled more or less in
timately with the interminable effort to
answer that question, older than any Of us,
and which will likely outlive US all
whats the use" In Resurrection" the
great Russian-for, whether we agree with
him or not. we must admit his greatness
has furnished an answer to one of his own
questions. He does not make il clear,
ultimately, that Maslova is to be raised to
the estate from which she has fallen
through the awakening of her own con-
D science and that OF the prince to whom
her downfall was originally due. In the
beginning, Maslova sinned from love, the
prince for pleasure. She continued TO
dwell in sin through sheer force Of cir
cumstances; he because it pleased him to.
After years their paths cross again, this
time with the woman in the dock, charged
with a brutal murder, and the prince in
the jury box, sitting in judgment on her,
whose fall he knew to be due to his de-
ception Of a girl whose innocence he had
destroyed. Into this crucible the lives OF the
two are thrown. They have drained to the
very lees the wine Of life, and they find
the lees bitter indeed. The woman meets
her fate with the calmness OF despair; the
man, self-impaled, writhes In agony until
ne has awakened in her at least a remorse
akin to his own, and out OF the ghost OF
their past they extract a hope for the
failure. Unfortunately, the play clings too
closely to conventionality. and Instead OF
ALLOWING the prince to follow his victim
and his atonement into her exile, 1t SENDS
her to Siberia and him TO marry a second
girl for whom he has professed love. Out
of the fire Of the ordeal they emerge with
little more than the smell of the smuggling
Of their garments, but each has felt the
purifying effects Of the flame, and each is
resolved TO do better. This is the "resur-
rection.' not of the body, but of the soul.
You will notice that 1t comes after DEATH
yea, even after decomposition. And you are
left at its conclusion asking yourself again.
What's the use?'
Tolstoy has taught us no new lesson, In
this or in any OF his parallels or preach
ments. He has merely added his testi-
mony to the accumulated mass OF EVIL
dence in support Of the automatic postu-
late that 1.-THE wages OF sin is death
That Maslova, when she receives her pay
in her hand, should suddenly confess what
she has all along known, is not a novelty
nor is the anguish Of the prince an atone
ment for his part in the transaction. He
too. merely draws his wage, and the spec
tacle the pair presents on payday oners
no suggestion as to the remedy, nor Is 1t
likely to be any more efhcacious as a pre-
ventiye or deterrent than any OF the other
like instances with which history teens
Nor is the conclusion at all original Win
Tolstoy. Tomlinson Of Grosvenor Square
brought IL back with him, direct from the
keeper Of the bottomless pit, who refused
10 waste his good pit coal" on a soul that
had in It not one trace Of original sin.
His parting words to Tomlinson were;
Go back to earth with an u~nsealed lip.
Go back with an Enclosed eye,
And give my words to the sons OF men
or ever they COM TO die;
We must pay for one by one
{ And the god that ye took from prlhVeu
Be with you. Tomlinson."
In Tolstoy's behalf one must admit that
he has gone one step farther than the
host of others who have followed the same
path. He has undertaken to practice what
he breaches. No one will question the
honesty of his purpose nor the sincerity OF
his endeavors. One must admit that he
' has earnestly tried to do himself that
which he mas urged that others do; only.
one must always feel a little skeptical as
TO the wisdom OF his course, a doubt that
is certain to be enhanced by a c%ontempla-
tion OF the result. Tolstoy forsook the
comforts and privileges that go with the
position Of a wealthy Russian noble-not
until he had drank deeply Of the cup OF
life, however, and has become as one OF
the people, In order to exemplify his theory
OF mans oneness. He has declined to de-
fend himself when assailed by the Greek
church and accommodated, because OF his
doctrine Of non-resistance. He has preached
a doctrine Of ~celibacy more austere than
any ever laid down by monasterlal ascetiC
or puritanical bigot, and without the saw
ing grace OF Paul the Apostles charity for
the bent Of other men. He has lived his
new life with probably more zest than he
lived the life he forsook. but he hasn't
answered the question, whats the use?'
Tolstoy, Ibsen, Suderman, D'Annunzio
Pinero. Chambers, Wilde, Maeterlinck, al
the list OF "mOderns,' have pointed un-
erringly 20 the disease. some have even un-
dertaken to locate the seat OF the disease
all have laid 1t bare, and given any whC
wished an opportunity to view it in It's
hideousnsss; and some attempt e
diagnose its extent and progress. but
none have offered the remedy, unless
IL be the Russian nobleman who lives like
a mouiik. Alas. his remedy, as eXempli,
ned In his own case. is merely retrogres,
sion. lie has shown how easy It is for Z
nobleman to live like a peasant; at no time
has he undertaken to show how a peasant
can live like a nobleman, and that IL
where the trouble lies. Mankind's strug'