Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-01-15
MONEY is THE EVIL
Col. Henry Watterson Believes
Time Alone Will Efface Mad
Guest of the Dollar
WHICH HAS SEIZED THE PEOPLE
Smart Set is ArraiRned for Babylonic
Practices-Large Audience
Hears Lecture.

!. Tri-city people turned out in good,
. numbers last evening to hear the lee
. ture at the Illinois theatre by Col
: Henry WattersOn. the distinguished
: Louisville journalist, sometimes called
: the star-eyed goddess of reform. OF
Society" He was brought here un
der the auspices Of the Tri-City Pres.
club a the attraction for its fourtl
annual entertainment. In former
years the club had offered Jane.
Whitcomb Riley, Sir Robert Bal
/. and Harry De Windt. and each
was well Patronized by the public
Col. WattersCn came on from his
; home in Louisville especially to give
his lecture here. He was introduced
by j. II. McKcever. of Moline. presi-
dent of the Tri-City Press club.
IF anyone has come here this even
ing under the impression that he. OF
she. would be RECALLED by any pre-
tended revelations. by any startling
dissertations and eXhiIarating dia-
tribes. touching that curious exhala-
tiun of polite society known as the
lSwagger Sct-sCmetimes calling itself
the smart set am afraid that | shall
disappoint his. or her. expectation, =
said Col. Watter>on. Anyhow. and in
the beginning. | must forestall that
misimpressi0n. | have no story to tell.
no mystery to reveal. AssuredIy. |
am not a crusader either as to man.
ners or morals.
Social Code Centuries Old.
| something over year ago a most
lameutabIe tragedy. taking for its
| H..
temple of fashion-the sanctum sane
forum Of the four hundred-led me in
the line of my duty as Il writer for the
press to say some exceedingly plain
and il may have been thought. some
very harsh things about the noveau
| riche-the idle rich-the God-forget-
| ting, wOrld-defying, pIeasure-Seeking
rich-Wh0 set themselves as law
unto themselves. who submit to no re-
straints except those fixed by nature
and the surgeons knife. even if they
subject themselves 10 these who have
no intellectual perspective except that
the longest purse brings down the
biggest titles. nor rule of conduct eX-
cept that impelling them to eat, drink
and he merry. for tomorrow il NAV he
someone ciSc'S turn. a code which.
am told. became altogether the rage
in Babylon some centuries ago
They. society? Has Caliban grace?
l. Tom Thumb manhood? Must the
Simian AMI the swell be accepted AZ
Interchangeable types, a. alternating
measurements of human breeding and
beauty? Indeed. one would think Sc
from reading some of the reports that
come 10 us from the inner circles of
that apotheoSis of boredom. that in
carnation of stupidity and affectation
which takes its cue from Leicester
square and the Curinthian club in
LondOn-which cmuIates the demi-
mOndaine of Paris -- which ctldies
round the abodes cf luxury and ali
mony at Newport. and thinks no more
of running down an ordinary pedes-
TRAN in its automobile than you and
| would think If brus hing away Il
spider or fly.
Would Initiate ImItators.
''Sursum Corda! lift up your hearts,
| at least have never wasted many
thoughts or nursed any serious fears
about such cattle. nor shall | do so
until munkey-dinHers become as pop
ular in Iowa and Illinois as they seem
To he i'm Rhode Island. | know that in
each of cur ccnter> of population and
wealth there is Il little cotcrie of silly
women and simpering Johnnies, which
would initiate the imitators; but they
are too shallow and too scattered to /
make much Roadway against society.
and by society | mean not merely
those who. by their character. their
earned the right To dwell in great
houses without the suspicion of the
oStcntatiou~ display of wealth-to
have picture galleries and libraries.
and horses and carriages. and. if they
please. yachts and automubiIeS-but |
behind them that great army of we'll
bred and weIl-tO-do-that noble Amer |
lean commenalitN. clean of birth and |
clear of grit-those cultivated men |
and women who live without scandal |
and travel without adventure-nnt |
rich, indeed. but quite able 10 pay a. |
they go-the rose and expectancy of |
true manhood and womanhood. the |
very buttre>> and beethoven of our
free republic.
These constitute what I call so
ciety. Eadiating from the home
thrice blessed in dad and mann and |
granny: yea. in Bill and Joe. Si> and |
Cots influence penetrate> the dark
and the light. reaching from the fire
side to the coUntinc-room. from the
counting-Toum To the asylum and the
hos pital. and. somehow. finding it,
way back To the roof-tree and the
hearth stone around by the school
house and the house of God: never a
thought of the divorce court. not so
much a. the shadow Of IA noble lord"
to disturb its serenity or to brighten