Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-07-07
Is EVERYBODY CRAZY?
1T REALLY SEEMS THAT ALL ARE
QUITE LOP-SIDED.

Chicago. in the Attempt to Escape Response
b'ity Lifts the Lid From Her ExempIar.
! New York. and Her Rival Boston-All Days
| Are Now Fools" Days-There Is a Screw
| Loose in Everybody's Mental Machinery.
Washington Post.
Some weeks ago the Post printed
figures showing the relative proportion
OF crazy people in Chicago, New York
and Boston. The deduction drawn
from these figures was that Chicago
was the craziest town in the United
States, with New York and Boston
| jostling for second place. No details
were at hand to indicate the reason
for this interesting state of affairs. but
little thought on the readers part
no doubt furnished him with sufficient
reasons.
The Chicago Chronicle, in an ingen-
ious effort to show that Chicago is no
more crazy that any other town, makes
the attractive and thought-provoking
suggestion that there is a screw loose
in the heads OF q large proportion Of
people" 1t does not 60 so far as to
assert that all the people are crazy,
but it hints at such q state of affairs.
Sometimes it is a religious screw"
says the alienist Of the Chronicle !;
sometimes it is a political screw,
sometimes it is the screw that holds
the moral obligations in place." The
| Chronicle then takes the case OF the
prominent New York lawyer and club
man who has been exposed as an anony-
nous letter writer, and argues that he
is palpably lunatic.
We are bound to confess that the
theory of universal lunacy is alluring
1t has a plausibility that is extremely
difficult to explain away. II it is ac
cepted, most of the problems that now
confront the American people are
made Ineligible, if they are not
solved. The strikes, the speed mad.
ness. the headlong rush for wealth, the
worship OF the rich, the craze for ath.
letics, the tipping evil, the irresistible
desire to make a noise. the political
plot-these are all illuminated by the
theory that everybody concerned in
them is crazy. The mysteries OF va
cation season are solved, too, by this
theory. Men and women leave cool,
comfortable homes and go gadding
about in frenzy, seeking crowds,
noise, heat and excitement. and pay
ing hard-earned money for the exper-
iience. Why not admit, once fer all
that they are unanimously and hope.
lessly insane? That settles the whole
question.
1t is not new theory that large
proportion Of the human race suffers
from insanity to an unsupported de-
gree. Folklore is full of illusions to
the suspicion. The language is crowd
ed with words describing various
phases of mental arrangement. "'Tis
mad world, my masters!" The first
thought that arises when genius or
crank flashes new idea upon the
world is "He's crazy" In the rich
vocabulary of slang there is opportun-
ity for drawing fine distinctions be-
tween the varying degrees OF suspected
unsoundness of mind, and these dis.
tinctinctions are promptly drawn
whenever q man strays from the worn
path OF conventionslity.
In the opinion of Charles Lamb,
every man wore a piece of the motley,
at least on All FOOLS Day. At any
rate, he was touched" to such an ex-
tent as to understand that he was not
exempt from the universal malady
once year. But the world has pro-
gressed since Lambs quiet day. 1t
has gained much in speed, and is now
spinning down the grooves of change
at breathless pace. If all men we're
crazy on one day in Lambs time, the
chances are that they are crazy now
all OF the time. The very fact that
All FOOLS Day is no longer prominent
on the calendar bears out this conten-
ton. All days are FOOLS days now.
On the whole, We are strongly in.
clined to adopt the theory that there
is screw loose with everybody. 1t
will render unnecessary lot of puz-
zling over inexplicable phenomena.
Then, when somebody does or says
something that is so widely at odds
with the rest of the world as to com.
mand attention we may be able to ex-
plain his act not on the theory that
he is crazy-which does not explain
anything any more-but on the theory
that he has a streak of sanity in his
| makeup.